Since you asked
Speaking of garlic, I visited my friend Betsy who lives in a tree on the next ridge over to ask about the state of the universe. Betsy, munching on fresh arugula and sitting on a limb twenty feet above ground, tuned into psychic vibrations (she has friends all over the Pleiades), and responded, “Since you asked, there is mist turning into fog where clarity once mattered. I suggest you stomp around and sing out loud for truth. Spread the word. Also, I notice you have not yet eaten any garlic today.”
“Yeah, it’s nine a.m., so at lunch I’ll add some to my red beans and rice,” to which Betsy listed in the most soothing voice ever 13 breakfast recipes that include garlic, and she was kind enough to stop there.
The benefits of garlic made it into chronicles in China 5000 years ago. To be officially recorded meant its benefits had been experienced over time already. The Ice Age had faded into memory, and folks like us and the early versions of garlic connected. No lab trials required to notice that garlic changed how food tasted. Grandmothers instinctively knew to include garlic in recipes, rub garlic on wounds, eat garlic to ease intestinal distress. A century of observant grandmothers counts as science.
And not just in China. Garlic sprang up like magic across southern Asia– from Tajikistan to the South China Sea. It might have been the pre-eminent herb along the trade route from Asia westward. That’s how garlic spread to Egypt and around the Mediterranean into countries whose restless sailors dedicated their investors’ collateral to spreading garlic around the world.
For good reason. We might never have discovered the health benefits of garlic if not for its culinary virtue. Betsy said voices of ancient Sumerians told her they flavored both bread and beer with garlic. Nevertheless, historical records focus more on its medicinal uses than recipes. We should give ourselves credit for figuring out these things.
For example, we noticed mosquitoes and other pesky insects don’t like the strong odor of garlic. Simply crush a garlic clove or two and rub the juicy pulp over your arms and face, and mosquitoes, horseflies and all but your closest friends will not violate your personal space.
Even in ancient times, folks including Hippocrates and his bowling team were aware of the antibacterial properties of garlic. During World War 1, antibiotics were scarce along the front lines, and Russian medics used crushed garlic paste to treat wounds that earned garlic the nickname “Russian penicillin.” Some cultures use garlic for snakebites and leprosy sores.
Similarly, the Ayurvedic tradition prescribes applying garlic juice to acne and pimples but goes far beyond that in embracing the importance of garlic for stimulating your body’s immunity response. From this tradition comes the phrase, “Garlic is as good as ten mothers.”
Pliny the Rascal, our favorite Roman naturalist, wrote Historia Naturalis, a 37-volume description of pretty much everything known about the natural world at the time, and he prescribed garlic for 61 different maladies from coughs to hemorrhoids to tapeworms. Pliny and I say, “Eat your garlic.” Betsy in her tree agrees. She grows her own, and so should you. It’s easy.
In his book The Healing Benefits of Garlic, John Heinerman recounts being away from home when he lost a filling in a tooth which caused considerable discomfort. He purchased some garlic and a small jar of peanut butter, crushed the garlic and mixed it with a dab of peanut butter and crammed the mixture into the cavity. He said within minutes, all pain ceased. Just like Pliny said.
Much research lately has focused on garlic’s ability to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. Impressive! Not just for pimples, but cancer prevention! And the good news is I grow my own, and you can, too. Plant in September, harvest early summer, repeat.
Also, Betsy said you and I can make that fog go away, and, “Eat your garlic.”