Perspectives on Garlic

I have been saving some of the dialog on garlic that has come through my e-mail in the past few weeks.  It all began when one member sent the link to a video on garlic with this note:

• I ran across this information from Dr. Bob Beck on garlic.    It is a brief video    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14aZbjs0mIY
  
  
  This man is pretty impressive.    For a long time, I havn't been comfortable using garlic.   I didn't know why, it just didn't feel right to me.  I grew it in my garden these last two years.  Amazingly enough, even the ground squirrels ate it.   Along with everything else.  
  
  
  I would like your opinion on it.    I have 4 oz. of the essential oil now and would like to use it, possibly for a plant pesticide?    I won't use it for human or animal use now, either oral or topical.
  
  
  
  
  Thanks!
  
  

This video, which I forwarded to all the Buyers Club members, stimulated several to write with great insights on the use of garlic.  I have one of their comments here, and hope that others will share theirs again, as I have deleted a few from my mailbox by mistake.

Thank you all in advance--you all had some great insights and perspectives on the use of this extremely potent medicinal plant.

I myself stopped eating garlic many years ago, when my guidance came to stop.  Later, as I began to explore Chinese medicine and other herbalists' perspectives on this plant, I found lots of evidence to back up my decision.  Now I rarely use it, mainly in tonics for certain Parasite cleansing, for which there is no equal in my book.  In my experience, Garlic can clean out parasites that other herbs, including black walnut and wormwood, can not.   It is also a fallback remedy for severe infections, viral, bacterial, and even fungal.  

I have noticed that it is a great insect and animal repellant.  And the essential oil, though very strong, does seem to have a more harmonious frequency and aroma than the raw plant.  Here is a comment from another member on the used of garlic:

• Thanks for sharing this information, I have a similar picture, but I'd like to add a few thoughts.
  
  
  In using any oil or herb, there are times when it is helpful and there are times when it is counterproductive.  The key to all of this is for us to really listen to our body(or our clients) and respond appropriately.  I have read lots of stuff that coffee is good or bad, green tea is good or bad, etc.  I have learned that for most experiences coffee is counterproductive to the root chakra except in very specific instances (so far, I have only heard to use it when someone has digestive cancer and it is used for enemas to remove waste from their system so they can eliminate the toxins and cancer waste from from their body).  Green tea has caffeine and for the most part is not healthy but in specific circumstances where someone is extremely out of balance.  So far I've always found something more effective to add to the diet that does not contain caffeine.  I don't use any black pepper in the diet as it becomes toxic when it is heated.  It builds up in the digestive tract and is a source of blocking nutrition absorption in the small intestine.  Cayenne gives that peppery flavor, but helps eliminate the digestive blockages and supports heart health.  
  
  
  To keep balance on the subject,  I would share that when my daughter had tetanus, I used 6x garlic as the main part of the healing and it worked wonderfully, though other herbalists around me were skeptical.  When someone has an abscessed tooth, I put an onion poultice on it to draw out the toxins & slow or stop the infection, then I have them use marigold until they can get to a dentist.  For each of the descriptions of the five organs, I have used garlic as a part of the regimen for healing kidney infection, to boost the immune functions in cases of exhausted spleen energy, eliminate infection in the heart and liver and lungs.  In the super virus realm, 6x garlic also seems to be quite effective, and I have at times used it in conjunction with essential oils when someone's immune function is severely depleted.   It does destroy the good bacteria in the body and I always use yogurt or probiotics in conjunction with it to minimize the digestive side affects.  I do the same when I use oregano, thyme or tea tree internally.
  
  
  I really appreciated (another member's) instinct in not using garlic after having a baby.  I did not use it at all while I was breastfeeding, and the mothers in our community have come to the same instinct on their own.  It creates gas in little ones and upsets the delicate balance in the newly forming digestive tracts.
  
  
  I believe that everything on this earth has a purpose.  While garlic has been greatly overused and in some cases contributes to distress in the system particularly where healthy bacteria are concerned, there are times when I hear to use it because that is exactly what someone needs to bring their body back to balance and health.  I think that the overuse of garlic  in the diet is partly the cause of the rise in the number of yeast conditions in people.  This of course would not happen by itself, but by making many food choices that disrupt the health of the good bacteria and creating an acid environment for candida to thrive in.  Garlic has been touted as a cure all for at least the last 30 years and it has been way overused in the diet because of it.  
  
  
  Use it wisely!
  In light and love

Many thanks for all of your insights and comments--if any more are still available, please copy and paste them into the comment box so others can get the benefit!  There was another great comment on the Chinese medicine perspective, which seems to have been deleted from my inbox.  And several others offered comments as well.

I appreciate all of the members and your wealth of experience and information!

In Gratitude,  Kathryn