Garlic will not resurrect the dead, nor cause the blind to see! It can rightfully, however, be called a miracle herb because of its uncanny effectiveness in preventing and treating a multitude of diseases. Still, garlic is no magic bullet or instantaneous solution to any ailment! And no one should expect it to be.
In our era of push buttons, clicks, pill popping and emergency surgical interventions, we more than expect fast and definitive responses to any malady that can present itself. But just like it takes time and a certain amount of “effort” to weaken one’s health, lower one’s immunity, to catch a cold or an STD, it will take time and effort to get one’s health back and to heal: Even garlic as a “one-stop” remedy requires a caveat: Garlic needs some time and effort to help you – ideally, supported by improved nutrition, rest, adequate exercise, proper elimination, personal hygiene, as well as restriction or removal of destructive habits such as smoking, excessive consumption of sugar, alcohol, caffeine, or other detrimental lifestyle behaviors.
We Get Sick because We Can
Mortality/ human frailty, is not a popular subject. If it was, maybe we would examine our eating habits or lifestyles a bit more closely. We are, however, often taken aback when we fall ill. After all, Hollywood’s got us on a non-stop binge, lapping up indomitable super-hero, sex-fantasmagorical images of self. On the big screen we all do look and feel bigger and better than mere life itself. A more somber portrayal of mankind in recent times, though, was “The Titanic.” The breathless shout, “I’m King of the World,” symbolizing human pride of life-power and accomplishment (the indestructible Titanic) soon gave way to this lesson: we don’t own life – life owns us. And death can be sudden and very unexpected, and where is all the titanic vainglory then? The king of the world image?
The tragic ruins of the Titanic serve to remind us that Life is its own maze and has many unpredictables; it also has established rules. When, knowingly or not, we break those rules, including rules of health, they break us. When we do get sick, of course, we should not feel guilty, but use the opportunity to examine our habits, whether nutritional or lifestyle, and make appropriate changes.
From the Inside Standpoint-of-View
It is remarkable we can forget that our lives are in, and depend on, the organs we carry inside us: these include our liver, for example, that performs more than 500 tasks, including detox and vitamin storage, our heart that pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels and beats over 100,000 times every day, our incredible immune system that like a company of ninja warriors, pursues and destroys invading and dangerous microbes in the body. When looking at ourselves from the inside standpoint-of-view, some may say we begin to resemble, on the outside, a rather inferior and insignificant mere outer shell (tell that to Hollywood!).
Make Changes to Stay Healthy
Life and health is not a given. We must support and protect life, our health: Despite pills galore for everything under the sun, as well as Colonoscopies, Angiographies, Ultrasonographies, the CT’s, MRIs, ICUs, surgery, doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals ad infinitum, we must do our own part to preserve health, our immunity, our well-being. The following are key reasons we get sick; making changes in these areas may go a long way to improve health: stress (reduce it), unhealthy food and beverages (eat a healthy diet), lack of water through dehydration (can lead to multiple conditions), lack of exercise (weakens the body), personal hygiene (keeps infections away), proper elimination (removes toxins), bad choices, including, smoking, drinking (lowers immunity), indiscriminate sex, (sets us up for disease, STD’s), drugs (can destroy mental health and kill you).
Garlic as Medicine
Many of the conditions that we may use garlic for did not develop over night, and of course, we should not expect them to be cured or resolved over night. Garlic, like any other medication, must be taken regularly; and, for specific diseases, consistently, and in a prescribed manner. Just like prescription pills are taken twice every day, or once every two hours, etc., garlic, for specific ailments, should be taken in a similar way.
Garlic is a potent remedy that not only attacks infections directly, but works with the body’s immune system to bolster and stimulate it. Not only does it fight infections, but helps destroy cancerous cells. It also cleanses the arteries and veins, reducing cholesterol and lowering blood pressure, thus working to prevent heart attacks and strokes. However, garlic cannot work on its own. It requires that the body be strengthened by good nutrition, which promotes proper elimination and disposal of wastes and toxins, enhancing garlic’s therapeutic effects. It appears that a toxic lifestyle, which includes stress, lack of rest and exercise, poor nutrition and detrimental lifestyle habits and addictions are our greatest enemies in causing disease. Though garlic can help fight and prevent disease, it is up to us to reduce the “toxins” in our life through practicing a healthier lifestyle.
