Garlic. It’s use dates back thousands of years as both a traditional medicine and a seasoning. Cultivated for 3,000 years in China and many Asian cuisines, it’s also been in used in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.

The ancient Greek name for garlic was scorodon. According to Fulder and Blackwood, French physician Henri Leclerc derived this from skaion rodon which he translated as rose puante, or “stinking rose”. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans used garlic for healing purposes. In 1858, Pasteur noted garlic’s antibacterial activity.

Historically, garlic has been used around the world to treat many conditions, including hypertension, infections, and bites. Currently, garlic is used for reducing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular risk, as well as for its anti-neoplastic and antimicrobial properties. During World War 1, the Russian army used garlic to treat wounds incurred by soldiers on the Front Line. Although Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928 largely replaced garlic at home, the war effort overwhelmed the capacity of most antibiotics, and garlic was again the antibiotic of choice.

Today, garlic is used by herbalists for a wide variety of illnesses including high cholesterol, colds, flu, coughs, bronchitis, fever, ringworm and intestinal worms, and liver, gallbladder, and digestive problems. In a study conducted in Russia in 1955, garlic extract used therapeutically was found to bind with heavy metals in the body, aiding their elimination. Workers suffering from chronic lead poisoning while working in industrial plants were given daily doses of garlic extract and saw a decrease in their symptoms.

Garlic contains many interesting compounds that have been linked to a host of proposed health benefits. One of the key components is allicin. Allicin is the major source of the bioactive compounds that provide garlic’s strong taste and smell. But not all scientists agree that allicin itself is the main beneficial ingredient, since it breaks down quickly into other compounds.
Lab and animal studies suggest that garlic (or compounds from it) has a range of benefits. For example, it keeps blood platelets from sticking together, which reduces the risk of blood clots, and may have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering effects.