Garlic
Allium sativa
Family: Allium
Energetics: Hot, dry, tonifying
Actions: Hepatic and circulatory stimulant, hypotensive, blood thinning, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial with targeted action to the lungs, immune stimulating, emmenagogue, alterative, carminative, vermifuge, rubefacient.
Your food can also function as herbal medicine! This fantastic herb is relatively cheap and easy to find at the grocery store year round, and one you can grow with relative ease at home, with patience. On SJI, they can be planted in September and harvested in early Summer.
Circulatory benefits galore - garlic builds the quality of the blood, while simultaneously thinning it and lowering blood pressure. Garlic is full of antioxidants and has been shown to lower risk of cardiovascular disease when consumed regularly. It can also lower total and LDL cholesterol.
A powerful immune stimulant, garlic can be worked with during upper respiratory infections especially. Sulfur compounds from garlic are expressed through the lungs and they directly kill microbes and stimulate a mucosal immune response on their way out. Be grateful for your garlic breath!
Garlic can be called upon during illness to stimulate white blood cells and helps build a fever and is indicated when cold shivers have stalled out the heat and you’re ready to sweat it out.
As both a blood thinner and a blood mover, garlic is also an emmenagogue that is indicated for a slow-to-start cycle, and brown and clotted blood. This herb is safe to work with during pregnancy.
Garlic is carminative, meaning that it aids in building the digestive heat needed to break down our food. This effect is best achieved through eating it in your food! Spice it like you mean it and aim for ingesting 2-3 cloves of garlic per day for a medicinal effect.
Preparations of garlic can be topically applied to stimulate blood flow and bring fresh nutrients to an area which can allow for pain relieving action as the blood moving actions are quite anti-inflammatory in nature.
This herb is effective against fungi, bacteria, viruses and parasites in the digestive tract when the garlic makes contact with the affected tissues, which can be achieved through tea and capsules. Garlic is wonderfully antimicrobial and can be used internally for cases of persistent infections of the GI tract and externally as a wound cleanser. This use has been documented as far back as in the ancient Roman Galen’s work as he used preparations of garlic infused wine to heal the wounds of gladiators injured in battle.
Onions (Allium cepa) have similar actions to garlic though are not nearly as strong.
Strictly avoid internal use when taking blood thinners. Avoid high doses of garlic before a surgery. Monitor blood pressure regularly if taking hypotensive medications. This herb is contraindicated in folks who run hot and dry as well as in cases of hypersensitivity and heartburn, as garlic is incredibly hot, dry and stimulating.