Garlic And Immunity
Garlic (Allium sativum) grows in the form of a bulb consisting of several cloves and produces a strong characteristic odour. The Egyptians fed it to the labourers who built the pyramids in order to build their strength and protect them from illness, and also used it to treat bites and skin irritations, according to the Hearst Medical Papyrus. The Greeks and Romans also knew it well, bringing it with them on military campaigns wherever they went to treat wounds. Dioscorides summarises the medicinal uses from antiquity: it is good for treating oedema, expels flatulence, kills many types of worms, and externally it is good for nits and lice. He adds that garlic clears the arteries, heals old coughs, treats acne and running ulcers.1
Garlic was considered a poor man’s Theriac by the Roman physician Galen, which was a title given to a preparation that was said to heal any complaint. The official Theriac was often made with great public ceremony in places like Venice, and it contained many exotic and expensive ingredients. A modern version of Theriac, also containing an extensive list of ingredients, is Swedish Bitters which is found in the health food shops. It contains a herb of just about every therapeutic class, something we rather disdainfully call polypharmacy because it requires no particular skill to prescribe. Doctor Christopher’s Immune Formula is a more satisfactory variant with antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic herbs. It contains the indispensable garlic along with vinegar, honey, wormwood, black walnut, lobelia, comfrey, marshmallow root, oak bark, mullein, skullcap and barberry.2
During the First World War garlic was widely applied as an antiseptic dressing to purulent wounds and its cultivation was encouraged by the British Government. The juice was extracted from the bulbs and applied to sterilised sphagnum moss because of the shortage of suitable dressing, and this timeless approach saved many thousands of lives.3 Garlic was also used to treat tuberculosis before the advent of modern antibiotics, and it was trialled successfully at Dublin Hospital where they used it as an inhalant, compress, tincture and ointment. It was also trialled by the City of New York and found to be the most effective agent they had.4
Garlic is one of the most potent herbs available to support the immune system and regulate bowel bacteria. Modern clinical research has demonstrated that it stimulates immune cells such as ‘macrophages, lymphocytes, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and eosinophils by mechanisms including the modulation of cytokine secretion, immunoglobulin production, phagocytosis, and macrophage activation.’5
In addition, compounds in garlic are strong activators of detoxification enzymes in the liver, and so directly support the body to deal with metabolic wastes and toxic chemicals. As an antioxidant-rich herb, garlic indirectly supports the body’s defences by ‘enhancing superoxide dismutase, catalase, and GSH-reductase activities.’6 Garlic has also been found useful in chelating heavy metals such as lead.7
Garlic is also indicated for treating heart problems. Garlic compounds are anti-inflammatory, inhibit platelet aggregation and stimulate fibrinolysis when clots have a tendency to form (anti-thrombotic). Garlic compounds also reduce serum cholesterol by the same mechanism that statins do which is the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase. In addition, they reduce atherosclerotic processes and the size of arterial plaque. They may also raise protective HDL cholesterol levels which is beyond the activity of conventional pharmaceutical drugs and, remarkably, they can help to reduce blood pressure.8
Furthermore, garlic compounds appear to have direct anticancer activity. These compounds have demonstrated antineoplastic and anti-proliferative activity against colon, lung, skin and breast cancer cells, while they also induce apoptosis in leukaemic cells. Nevertheless, this kind of laboratory research does not indicate specific treatment for cancer using garlic alone, but it certainly recommends garlic as part of the total care needed to treat this condition, as a systemic immune tonic.8 The tonic effect on the bowel and intestinal bacteria also broadly favours a healthier physiology that protects against malignancy.
Lastly, garlic is a tonic to the glands: it supports blood sugar regulation as well as the thyroid, adrenal glands and reproductive organs.9 The endocrine system is often treated in clinic so garlic is a valuable adjunct to treatment for the support of a body under stress, ensuring health, strong immunity, fertility and vitality. Eaten daily in amounts of one or more cloves, it is protective against all the metabolic diseases of modern life.
Garlic can be chewed fresh by the hardy, or rubbed on bread with olive oil as is done in the Mediterranean. For children it can be crushed and rubbed into the soles of their feet. It can also be mixed with olive oil or cod liver oil, or dried and put into milk. You can make the oil by putting crushed garlic in a jar, covering it with oil for a few days and then straining it before rubbing it into the skin, and you will soon smell the garlic on the breath indicating it is acting systemically. Garlic can be made more palatable by mixing it with a little warm honey and apple cider vinegar. Simmering and straining this mixture makes a cough syrup called oxymel, and you can add chilli for the circulation or herbs such as sage and thyme for added antimicrobial effect.
Other supplements for promoting immune health are probiotics, olive leaf extract, zinc and vitamin C; however, remember individual vitamins cannot replace wholefoods because they do not contain the diversity of bioactive compounds that plants contain.10 Nevertheless, probiotics can alter the gut’s bacteria in a beneficial manner, and herbs like garlic and wormwood can kill parasites, fungi and bacteria, but the beneficial effect will not persist past the treatment period unless the underlying causes are addressed.
A version of this article appears in the 2021 eBook Wholefoods and Common Medicinal Herbs.
References:
1. Dioscorides P. De Materia Medica. South Africa: Ibidis; 2000.
2. Christopher J. School Of Natural Healing, 25th Anniversary Edition. Utah: Christopher Publications; 1976.
3. Grieve M. A Modern Herbal. London: Tiger Books International; 1994.
4. Delaha EC, Garagusi VF. Inhibition of mycobacteria by garlic extract (Allium sativum). Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1985;27:485–6.
5. Arreola R, Quintero-Fabián S, López-Roa RI, et al. Immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory effects of garlic compounds. J Immunol Res 2015;2015:401630.
6. Ariga T, Seki T. Antithrombotic and anticancer effects of garlic-derived sulfur compounds: a review. BioFactors Oxf Engl 2006;26:93–103.
7. Kianoush S, Sadeghi M, Balali-Mood M. Recent Advances in the Clinical Management of Lead Poisoning. Acta Med Iran 2015;53:327–36.
8. Braun, Cohen. Herbs & Natural Supplements, An Evidence-based guide. Elsevier; 2005.
9. Messegue M. Health Secrets Of Plants And Herbs. Collins; 1976.
10. Myles IA. Fast food fever: reviewing the impacts of the Western diet on immunity. Nutr J 2014;13:61.