Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers for Nurturing and Maintaining Immunity

Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers for Nurturing and Maintaining Immunity

Thus was named a popular 1980 film homage to the wonders of the “stinking
rose.” But just what is so amazing about garlic? The bountiful bulb is rich in
antioxidants that include sulfur-based compounds, flavonoids, and dozens of other
health-promoting constituents. These constituents help quench free radicals, and
their sulfur content boosts the detoxification powers of the liver. Garlic is also rich
in selenium, an essential component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione
peroxidase.

In Garlic for Health, Dr. Benjamin Lau (1988) writes, “Garlic apparently
stimulates the body’s immune system, particularly enhancing the macrophages and
lymphocytes, which destroy cancer cells.” In 1996, Dr. Herbert Pierson of the U.S.
National Cancer Institute noted, “Garlic is a veritable pharmacopeia. That’s why
garlic has been found in every medical book of every culture ever. For thousands of
years, garlic has been used for the treatment and prevention of disease. So there has
to be something there” (quoted in Bergner 1996, 1). Need we say more?