There's a shocker. People have known for centuries of the curative powers of garlic (Allium sativa), and it seems the reductionists have picked up on the clue. From the BBC:
The chemical which gives garlic its flavour could be used in a "smart bomb" to fight cancer, scientists say.Welcome to our world, fellas. It's also an excellent agent to fight bacterial and viral infections, as well as doing wonders for hypertension and high cholesterol.
Gee... maybe you should eat a clove. Or twelve.
Posted by Evo Terra at January 17, 2004 01:19 PM | TrackBack (0)I've been reading about herbs recently. Apparently, twelves cloves of garlic is considered toxic! I've read that somewhere between 0.5 and 3 is enough to reduce hypertension, which is my area of interest.
Posted by: Iain on March 8, 2004 05:08 AM"Believe half of what you read..." 12 cloves of garlic might be toxic to a six ounce mouse, but not all 185-lbs of this boy's frame!
I'll eat 8-10 cloves as a snack in a single sitting and have never once come close to death. Now, folks who've come near me after ingesting 8-10 cloves might be near death, but that's a whole different subject!
While I suppose it would be possible to OD on garlic, the threat is no greater than onions, leeks, oranges or gooseberrys, I suppose.
12 cloves toxic... goodness!
Posted by: Evo on March 8, 2004 08:45 AM