The garlic is believed to have originated in Central of Asia. It continues to be one of the regular item of China's diet even today. Garlic was being grown in ancient China, Egypt, Greece and Rome and was used both as a staple food and a medicine for several ailments. Garlic has been held in high esteem for its health building qualities for centuries all over the world. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, recommended the use of this herb in infectious diseases and particularly prescribed it in intestinal disorders. An analysis of garlic shows it to contain high percentage of minerals and vitamins. It also contains traces of iodine, sulphur and chlorine. In herbal medicine, garlic has been traditionally used for such ailments as asthma, deafness, leprosy, bronchial congestion, arteriosclerosis, fevers, worms and liver and gall bladder troubles. Eminent ayurvedic authorities are of the opinion that garlic is good for the heart, a food for the hair, a stimulant to appetite, a strengthening food, useful in leucoderma, leprosy, piles, worms, catarrhal disorders, asthma and cough. The unpleasant odour in garlic has been found to be due to its sulphur content. This mineral is present in a greater degree in its volatile oil, which has marvelous therapeutic value. Garlic contains a volatile oil and its medicinal properties depend on this oil, strongly antiseptic, it seems to have a remarkable power of inhibiting the growth of the Koch's bacillus. Applied locally, it is freely absorbed by the skin and penetrates the deeper tissues. Thus, garlic is regarded as a rejuvenator. It has been found to help remove toxins, revitalize the blood, stimulate blood circulation and normalize intestinal flora. The ethers in garlic juice are so potent and penetrating that they help to dissolve accumulation of mucus in the sinus cavities, in the bronchial tubes and in the lungs.  

* Values per 100 gm's edible portion

Chest Diseases: Garlic has proved to be highly effective in certain diseases of the chest. It has been found to reduce foetid smell of the breath in pulmonary gangrene. It is useful in tuberculosis of the lungs. If given in sufficient quantities, it is a marvelous remedy in the treatment of pneumonia. Garlic can also be applied externally to the chest with beneficial results as it is an irritant and rubefacient. In Ayurveda, a decoction of garlic boiled in milk is considered a wonderful drug for tuberculosis. One gram of garlic, 240 ml of milk and 1 litre of water are boiled together till only one fourth of the decoction remains. It should be taken thrice in the day.
Asthma: Three cloves of garlic boiled in milk, can be used every night with excellent results in asthma. A pod of garlic is peeled and macerated and boiled in 120ml of pure malt-vinegar. After cooling it is strained and equal quantity of honey is mixed and preserved in a clean bottle. One or two teaspoons of this syrup taken with fenugreek decoction once in the evening and before retiring, has been found effective in reducing the severity of asthmatic attacks.

Digestive System Disorders: Garlic is one of the most beneficial foods for the digestive system. It exercises a beneficial effect on the lymph, aids in elimination of noxious waste matter in the body. It stimulates peristaltic action and the secretion of the digestive juices. Crushed cloves of garlic may be infused in water or milk and taken for all types of disorders of the digestion. It has an antiseptic effect and is an excellent remedy for infectious diseases and inflammations of the stomach and intestine. It is an excellent agent as a worm expeller. It has also a soothing effect on the various forms of diarrhoea. Problems such as colitis, dysentery and many other intestinal upsets can be successfully treated with fresh garlic.
High Blood pressure: Garlic helps break up cholesterol in the blood vessels, thus helping in the prevention of hardening of arteries, which leads to high blood pressure and heart attacks. Garlic has a dilatory effect on the blood vessels, that is, it has the effect of making the blood vessels wider, thereby reducing the pressure.
Cancer: Garlic preparations, including extracts and juices, have been used successfully against cancer in both animal and human studies. Recent studies done in Russia have found garlic preparations to retard tumor growth not only in animals, but also in human beings.
Skin Disorders: Garlic has also been used successfully for a variety of skin disorders. Pimples disappear without leaving a scar when rubbed with raw garlic several times a day. Even very persistent form of acne has also been healed with garlic. The external use of garlic helps to clear the skin of spots and pimple and boils.
Rheumatic Affliction: Garlic is used extensively in the treatment of rheumatism and associated diseases. Garlic has been shown to exhibit an anti-inflammatory property which could account for its effectiveness in the treatment of arthritis and rheumatism. The most popular method is to take the garlic cloves orally, although some reports indicate that pain can also be relieved by local rubbing on the affected parts with cloves of cut garlic. Garlic oil is rapidly absorbed through the skin and into the blood stream and quickly reaches the affected areas.
Heart Attacks: Garlic may prevent heart attacks. It is recommended to take garlic regularly in the setting of high cholesterol. Even if a patient takes garlic after a heart attack, the cholesterol level will come down. The earlier damage may not be repaired but its consumption will minimize the chances of new attacks. Garlic helps with its properties of anticlotting of platelets i.e. prevents an excessive tendency of platelets to group, forming clots, and fibrinolytic i.e. disintegrates fibrin, the protein that forms blood clots. This makes garlic highly recommended for people suffering from heart attacks.
Wounds and Ulcers: Garlic has been used as an antiseptic in wounds and ulcerations with beneficial results. Garlic juice with three parts of distilled water has been employed as a lotion for cleansing infected wounds.
Diphtheria: Garlic is an excellent remedy for diphtheria. Its constant application by chewing a clove of garlic reduces temperature. About 30 or 60 gms of garlic can be used in this way every three or four hours a day for a week.
Whooping Cough: Garlic is an excellent remedy for whooping cough. Syrup of garlic should be given in doses of five drops to a teaspoonful two or three times a day in this condition. It should be given more often if the coughing spells are frequent and violent.
Sexual Debility: Garlic is a natural and harmless aphrodisiac. It is a tonic for loss of sexual power from any cause, sexual debility, impotency from over indulgence in sex and nervous exhaustion from dissipating habit. It is said to be especially useful to old men of high nervous tension and diminishing sexual power.
 

It is used both as a food and seasoning, it is, however, extensively used as flavoring and, seasoning in the preparation of soups, sauces and pickles.
 

Lecturer, Dept. of Panchkarma,
Dayanand Ayurvedic College, Jalandhar.
E-mail: drparv1@gmail.com