We are still in the thick of cold and flu season, so I wanted to share some information with you that may come in handy, especially if you like to avoid antibiotics.
Note: I am not a health care professional and will never claim to be. The information that follows is from my own personal experience.
When James was not quite one year old I had my first bout of mastitis. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but knew I felt horrible (feverish, achy, etc.) and was barely able to take care of things around the house. I went to the doctor’s office where I was told I had mastitis and needed an antibiotic. The antibiotic did help, but it took a few days before I felt back to normal.
In the meantime, I started trying to do things more naturally. I did lots of research in the area of natural living. During some of my reading I was made aware of the benefits of raw garlic and its antibacterial properties.
When I got mastitis again some time later, I decided to skip the doctor’s office and try garlic first. Would you believe the garlic worked as well as, if not better than, the antibiotic? I have successfully treated mastitis with garlic 5 times. Now that I know the signs and symptoms I am able to stop it before it has a chance to get me down.
Mastitis is not the only illness I have had that garlic has treated. Anytime I start feeling sick with a cold or flu, I start taking garlic.
There are a couple of ways that I have taken raw garlic. Note that I said raw and not cooked with foods. Ingesting raw garlic is the best way to benefit from taking it.
The first way is to remember the old adage, “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.” Mince a clove of garlic and mix it with honey. Swallow the garlic and honey mixture. Have plenty of water handy.
Another way is to chop a clove of garlic into pill sized pieces (Not as small as the pieces in the picture above.). Swallow the pieces like you would a pill. With either method, I recommend taking the garlic with food. Not only will your tummy thank you, but it will be digested faster.
If you are nursing I suggest not overdoing it with the garlic. A couple of cloves per day should be enough. If you are not a nursing mother, or if you know how your baby reacts to large amounts of garlic, I would suggest taking a clove of garlic every 4-6 hours the first day or two. Once you start feeling better you could still take a clove per day until you felt 100%.
I have to share with you about a friend of ours who tried garlic for the first time this winter and had success. My friend called me one morning after having been sick for several days with a very bad chest cold. She had been trying every home remedy she could think of, but asked me if I knew of anything else she could do.
I asked her if she had any raw garlic and she said she had some that she had grown herself. I explained to her what to do and she said she would give it a shot. I was concerned she might end up with bronchitis or pneumonia.
When I called to check on my friend the next day, she said she had taken lots of garlic the day before and was feeling noticeably better. A few days after that she felt almost 100% better and didn’t need to take any more garlic.
It really was a great feeling to be able to help my friend. Maybe this information will help you sometime as well. Isn’t it wonderful that God created something so stinky that could be so helpful in fighting illness? :)
Have you ever used garlic to combat sickness?
