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Garlic adds flavor to foods, pizza or to an odor hiding behind a pleasant smile. Some people dislike it, others like it a lot.
Besides taste, however, garlic also has many health benefits.
It contains a number of active compounds, the most significant of which is allicin. And it is precisely this that helps fight bacterial and fungal infections.
However, it is necessary to use fresh garlic, preferably organic (or at least European, not the kind imported from China).
Naturally grown and unprocessed (uncooked) garlic provides the strongest effect, because nothing in it has been burned or destroyed by heat.
For some time it was believed that garlic allegedly had the potential to even treat the MRSA bacterium, that is Staphylococcus aureus, which is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin.
This assumption was subsequently confirmed by several studies.
Staphylococcal infection
A study published in 2003 in the journal Medicinal News Today demonstrated the preventive effects of allicin.
MRSA infections, as they are commonly called, are caused by superbugs against which most of the antibiotics known today are ineffective.
However, when these infections were treated with garlic, recovery occurred within just a few days.
What was the trick?
Research showed that allicin strengthens specific areas of immunity and even has the ability to restore suppressed antibody production.
These antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory substances literally restore health to the whole body.
Treatment of staphylococcal and other infections with garlic
Infections usually spread when skin contacts the source of infection. Many people are carriers of staphylococcus, but they never develop symptoms of infection.
This bacterium is fairly resilient and can survive on various porous and fibrous materials such as pillows or towels.
If you develop a staphylococcal or other type of infection, there are several ways to apply garlic.
These are the 4 most commonly used:
Option No.1
Eat 2 to 4 grams of fresh crushed garlic per day. Crushed, because only then is allicin activated.
One clove of garlic is approximately 1 gram (of course it also depends on its size).
Option No.2
If you do not want to eat raw garlic, then consume 600 to 1200 mg of garlic extract.
The University of Maryland recommends splitting the dose and taking it 3 times daily with food at 400 mg each.
Option No. 3
20 ml of garlic oil is another option.
Many people prefer consuming liquid allicin in supplement form to raw garlic or taking extract supplements.
This is mainly because they consider the oil to be the form closest to real garlic consumption, but with a less drastic taste.
Option No.4
Use garlic topically.
A 2003 study by the University of London found that garlic (and allicin) removed staphylococcal infections that doctors intended to treat surgically. This prevented operations and the wounds healed on their own.
Even for topical application you must crush the garlic (similar to regular consumption) so that allicin is activated.
Wait 2 minutes and then mix the crushed garlic once more.
Then apply such garlic to the affected area, but only for a few minutes, because garlic is so strong that it can even cause burns on the skin (colloquially “to mature” the skin).
If you want to apply it for longer, it is necessary to dilute it with something. You can, for example, use honey, which itself has antibacterial effects.
Then cover the applied mixture, depending on the size of the treated area of skin, with some kind of dressing or adhesive plaster.
