The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Fungus
Posted by Jenn (Vancouver, Bc ) on 11/28/2009
★★★★★
Garlic, garlic, garlic!!!
It's cheap.
It's convenient.
It works!
I've had a fungal/bacterial infection on both of my index fingers for 5 years and I tried all the remedies suggested but nothing worked so I gave up. Shortly afterwards I started cooking with garlic a lot and noticed the fungus on my left hand was clearing up fairly quickly. I did some research and found out garlic has powerful anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. I stared using it on my right hand and it worked! All you have to do is split a clove in half and rub the juices in and around where the fungus is for a few minutes (3-5). Do this every other day before you go to bed. Don't rub the juices in vigorously for more than 20 minutes or make a paste out of crushed garlic and wrap it around yor finger because it will burn, literally. A little goes a long way. You should start seeing results within 4 weeks if the fungus isn't too bad, 8 weeks for extreme cases. Toenails can take up to 3 months because they grow much slower than fingernails.
Colds
Posted by Jennahwithanh (Newcomb, New York) on 03/06/2012
★★★★★
I chop it fine and mix it in salsa, add a little honey and cayenne pepper and eat it with some corn chips. Opens those passages up real nice and tastes yummy too! :)
Colds
Posted by Denise (Soperton, GA) on 04/03/2009
★★★★★
Yes! Garlic is a wonder cure to have on hand. I read about it's properties a few years ago and have been using it every sense.
It works like a natural antibiotic, it kills off the bad stuff and leaves the good stuff along.
When I have a Cold or Sinus infection I will use it. I cut up a clove of fresh Garlic as small as I can. Then I will swallow as much as I can in one swallow with water to chase it down, swallow just like it was a pill. You do not have to eat it or chew it . Do this 3 to 4 times a day. I usually do it for 5 to 7 days. I store the cut up garlic in a small glass bowl in the refrigerator.
Colds
Posted by Sonja (Swanley, England) on 09/08/2008
★★★★★
I have used garlic for years. Every time I get a cold I eat one clove of garlic 3x a day. I enjoy the taste, so have it on bread with pate, or meat always raw. It is not very social... but within 3 days feel great. It is very effective. I also love horseradish for congested sinuses/ blocked nose. just a bit of it with some meat and you can breath freely..
it is easy, cheap and works without fail.
Broad Benefits
Posted by Robbie (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) on 08/04/2008
★★★★★
This is going to sound hideous... and it is, but it does the trick.
When ever I have a cold I have a number of remedies I use.
In Scotland we have a thing called a hot toddy which is basically whiskey, cloves, honey and lemon made into a tea.
However, my other remedy (and this is the disgusting one) I have used and it works... is blend some garlic cloves and water into a blender. Then gulp down some of the brew at night. I normally just try to drink the whole thing. I don't really bother with measurements, Just play about till you find something that works for you. It's the garlic your eating, the water just helps it go own. Plus it's broken up and therefore absorbed into the body quicker and easier.
I also do the same as a mosquito repellent. Blend the garlic and water together and pour through a siv. The pulp I place in plant pots on my pation and the water garlic solution I place in a squeezy bottle and go around spraying my windows and door frames. All blood eating creatures hate garlic.
You can also use Listerine which surprisingly mosqutios hate for some reason. I use a combination of the two.
Fountain of Youth
Posted by Douglas (Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A.) on 03/03/2008
★★★★★
I'm 41 and people think I'm in my mid twenties, really.
I started using natural health remedies when I was about 12, probably younger. I learned about them from my grandmother who seems to have a kitchen antidote for all my summer ailments of fever, cold, nerve tonic; she even burned her own natural repellents.
I consider myself self-taught, and garlic is something I think no one should be without.
My studies over the years has lead me back to garlic everytime I treat an ailment for myself or recommend to someone else. From the common cold to prostate problems to longevity.
What makes garlic uniques is that it increases the potency of whatever you combine it with. For example if you take a multivitamin that has 500mg of vitamin B1, taken with garlic the potency of B1 will increase 5 to 10 times 500mg. It is the case with other essentials.
Currently, I'm taking garlic (including my multi) for a concussion after a nasty winter ice fall. Of course, I went to the hospital for treatment, nothing broken or torn, yet the pain and damage at the cellular level which doesn't show up on an X-ray, I know is there because of the dizzy spells and aches and pains I'm experiencing.
I know I need rest, water and garlic, for now.
Tooth Abcess, Infection
Posted by Chanana (Aubrey, USA) on 02/06/2008
★★★★★
My mom had a severe absessed tooth a few months ago (almost a year). It was so bad she could not sleep at night. She used garlic and it cleared the infection and it has not returned. She cut raw garlic and rubbed the cut edge on the tooth and gums a couple of times a day and also ate a whole clove a couple of times a day and then gradually reduced the garlic intake as she felt it healing. She also used whole cloves (the spice you use in pumpkin pie etc. )as a local pain killer. If you bite down on the whole clove it releases a potent pain killer. just wanted to chip in some info that can hopefully help others, this is a great site...
Ear Aches
Posted by Brigitte (Houston, Texas) on 01/11/2008
★★★★★
Garlic works to alleviate ear aches. You simply must be sure to take the garlic clove and expose the tender inner flesh by scoring the outer flesh of the garlic; then wrap the garlic clove in a light cotton gauze to prohibit the ear from making direct contact with the garlic clove and place this into the ear canal. Be sure that the garlic clove is large enough to prevent its becoming lodged in the ear canal. leave it there and you will find that the pain will disipate. I have used this remedy repeatedly with great success. When my oldest daughter was about two years old she found it so soothing that if the garlic fell from her ear she would pick it up and place it back in her ear all by herself. Garlic works to alleviate ear aches.
Cysts and Warts
Posted by Humberto (USA) on 01/10/2008
★★★★★
Months ago I got a small wart on my finger. I also killed that with garlic.
Colds
Posted by Esther (Lymanville, Pennsylvania) on 11/08/2007
★★★★★
Chewing raw garlic, which is hard on the stomach and bad for the breath, vs drinking garlic tea, which is neither, is very effective against colds.
To make the garlic tea, chop a garlic clove or two into a cup, add boiling water, followed by lemon and honey to taste.
The garlic will settle to the bottom.
Be sure to spoon it up and chew well when you have drunk the liquid.
Drink a cup of garlic tea frequently, at least once a day, when everyone around you is passing a cold back and forth, or at the first hint of a scratchy throat or runny eyes and sniffles. I am religious about this, and have not had a cold in years.
Colds
Posted by Laura (Seattle, WA) on 10/16/2007
★★★★★
I've been using garlic for years for a variety of things. Usually I use it for colds. At the first sign of a cold, chop up 4 cloves of raw garlic and eat. I prefer to use it as a garnish on an already garlicy type food like soups or spaghettie, it helps make the taste not so obvious. Keep up with 4 cloves a day, then reduce the number as your symptoms decrease. This can stop a cold from manifesting, or it will shorten and weaken your colds. I used to have chronic bronchitis after every cold, now I haven't had it in years. I also only get one cold a year usually. Yeah, I don't smell great but I'm not missing so much work!
I will also use raw garlic juice on rashes and bug bites. It stops the itching immediately, and I pretty much use it for anytime I might need a phytoncide.
Sensitive Teeth
Posted by Jan (Southern Utah) on 01/27/2025
My lower right back molar had a piece of tooth break off. Right cheek had a swelling and under the right lower jaw down neck a little had a swelling and stiffness. This is what worked for me for pain relief and reducing swelling. Cut off of the garlic clove a small piece of garlic the size of the tooth. Put the raw side on top of the tooth. The outer uncut skin of the rest of the garlic doesn't feel hot and burn-ish to the tongue or gums. The tooth absorbs the cut side of garlic and you can feel a warming pleasant sensation to the area of abscess. You can leave garlic piece on tooth as long as you like one hour or overnight. It helped my tooth abscess go away. Don't eat anything with sugar or it will flare up again. Use re-mineralization toothpaste or tooth powder to brush teeth with; add a drop of clove oil to also help with sensitivity. Try herbal natural mouthwashes.
High Blood Pressure
Posted by jake (chicago) on 04/14/2024
★★★★★
garlic - fresh pressed - I recently started with yogurt 1-3x per day for valley fever. Dr. Weil of Arizona suggests garlic as it is strongly anti fungal.
What I have found additionally is that it is cure for high blood pressure. Art's recommendation - carditone - took me down from 160 - 180 systolic to 130 - 140 range, but the garlic has brought my level down to 100 - 115 systolic. Of course the 100mg nattokinase I started a month back undoubtedly has contributed as well.
Storing Garlic
Posted by Orh (Ten Mile , Tn) on 06/19/2020
★★★★☆
ORH here,,,,,,,, as all know, I's kinda wild and strange. We harvested our garlic bulbs, 1/2 bushel, and have dried them. My dilemma is where to store them as my choices in the past were to too sporty. Know they need to be cool, dry, dark, and in open air. Research showed the the garlic odor will kill bacteria and fungus. Being SJS, here is my solution. I am going to put them in a mesh bag and hang them in front of our central A/C unit. That will meet all the fore mentioned conditions and maybe improve our log cabin air. So, this is another tale of mine, but all use garlic and have quandered where to store. Don't think this will change the smell and it may not work on the toxins in the air. But, I needed a story to tell. ====ORH====
Colds
Posted by Susan (California) on 01/16/2016
★★★★★
For colds, I take the minced garlic without chewing it. That way you have no garlic smell on your breath or between your teeth. Just brush a little after swallowing, just in case.
Garlic and Blood Thinning
Posted by El (Al) on 12/20/2013
Hi. I felt I was coming down with the flu, so ate lots of garlic. Next day, I had a horrible nose bleed. Since then, I've had bruising. Apparently, the garlic thinned my blood too much. So, if I want to take garlic for the flu or whatever, what should I take with it so I won't bleed? I've always been a free flowing person, so when I donate blood they have to do extra wraps. Low BP, too. Suggestions?
Garlic and Blood Thinning
Posted by Mike 62 (Denver, Colorado) on 12/20/2013
El: Farmers add yucca liquid extract when watering fields high in clay because the natural soaps do something to the electromagnetism making the water wetter. Wetter water can penetrate the clay when regular water does not. Thinning the blood requires removing matter from the blood and the garlic does not do that. Garlic makes the water wetter. Pour some soapy water in a cup. The water stays there. Poke some holes in the bottom. The water leaks away, not because the water was thin, but because the cup was leaky. The capillaries are weak and porous from not enough nutrients from eating cooked regular food. Watch raw food videos for the best body and brain of your entire life. You can also take raw grassfed animal products, superfoods, and home brewed water kefir like I do to function at peak performance.
General Feedback
Posted by Om (Hope Bc Canada) on 12/18/2013
Regarding garlic, I was reading the pet section and indeed some had died from ingesting garlic. Different bodies have different tolerance to herbs even in general. In my case, if I ingest more than a sliver of garlic, I feel so nauseous that I hope to regurgitate it which does not happen and after a few minutes all is well again.
Eastern medicine, such as Ayurveda, state that as for garlic, too much for some can damage kidney and liver.
Great caution with regard to the place garlic was grown. What comes from China has a good dose of arsenic and a study claims people who ate garlic regularly also had high count of arsenic in their body.
Garlic is a powerful medicine and ought to be respected as such instead of a dish consisting of lots of roasted garlic for normal consumption. Bodies have different chemical composition and here we come to understand that medicating is a very individual procedure that demands much discrimination and insight. Om
Milk for Garlic Breath
Posted by Tracey (Britt, Ontario, Canada) on 01/10/2013
★★★★★
There was a post for getting rid of the smell of garlic on your breath, MILK, yes milk. A big tall glass will get rid of the smell. :) Hope this helps.
