Garlic as a Natural Antibiotic

You may have heard of garlic, nature's antibiotic...or simply an old wive's tale.The verdict is being discovered through scientific experiment. It is very possible that you have heard of methillicin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vanomycin-resistant entomocci, (VRE).

In a news-brief found online, by Nicole Johnston, published in the Journal of American Chemical Society. Two studies were presented at the 41st Interncience Conference on Anti-Microbial agents and Chemotherapy. One researcher suggests positive results for testing garlic against VRE cultures, in-vitro. The scientist explains that VRE takes residence in the gut and that using food as means of delivery by which to eradicate these bacteria would be an ideal concept. Allegedly, even when in small doeses (4000 µg is the size of an an average garlic clove).

Allocin is the prevailing chemical ingredient in garlic, it's the one responsible for these antibiotic properties. It is known to be a colorless liquid with a pungent smell; antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. It's known to have many other studied properties beside defense against resistant strains of bacterial infection.

Studies published between 1995 and 2005 might indicate that allicin: reduces atherosclerosis and fat deposition; normalize lipoprotein balance; decrease blood pressure; anti-thrombotic; and anti-inflammatory.

The Archive of Internal Medicine, (a one-time-paid-for medical archive) has a publication pertaining to garlic; what we do and don't understand about the mysterious and medicinal plant. It's origins date back over 3,500 years, to the Egyptian's - using it for both culinary and medicinal purposes. First mentioned in the Codex Ebers (Ebers Papyrus), garlic has it's roots in historical medicine.

HowStuffWorks.com, has a good page on using garlic medicinally. From here, I will extract crucial information to the potential garlic-user.

Regardless of the good things about garlic, it suffers a lot of adverse interactions with today's medications and treatment options.

Garlic Precautions:

• If you're allergic to lilys, onions, leeks, chives, hyacinths or tulips stay away.
• If you're expecting a medical procedure such as surgery or dental work, garlic is known to thin the blood and interfere with coagulation. If you're on regulatory medicine for your blood stay away.
• Garlic is known to interfere with birth control, cyclosporine, as well as HIV/AIDS medications; be sure to talk to your doctor before beginning a regimen.
• Garlic can cause an upset stomach, irritate the lining of the stomach; cause heartburn; abdominal pain, or diarrhea; if you have a sensitive stomach, go easy on the garlic.
• Raw garlic is caustic and can leave burns on the skin; be extra-careful around the skin of children.
• If you are uncomfortable (or those around you are uncomfortable) with the degree of odorous garlicky smells, emanating from your skin, breath, or sweat - reduce intake.
  
  Supplements?
• Supplements are typically derived from thinly sliced garlic, dried a low temperatures to prevent destruction of precious alkaloids.
• Misleading advertising would have you believe that supplements provide defined levels of allicin; however, they often provide unconverted allicin: alliin, and the enzyme that converts alliin into allicin: alliinase.
• Conversion rates are often affected by a multitude of variables.
• Advertisers are often only telling you of the potential conversion values, which may never come to fruition, due to improper pill-coating which leads to the early destruction of the precious alliin and subsequently to the non-production of allicin
• If you must buy supplements, look for for "standardized," values. This means that each bottle should have a "standardization," of ingredients. If there is 1 gram of allicin a pill in all other pills should be standardized as such; there should be 1 gram per pill
• Pharmacy-grade supplements only prove to be .03% allicin; fresh powder to contain 0.5%; but be on the look out for 1.3 standardized, measured allicin release (as per the nutritional information of "allicin release".