In lieu of many of us being concerned with immunity and keeping ourselves healthy right now, I thought I would talk about an old, common kitchen friend: Garlic. Well maybe not so much of a friend to some of us! Many of us have strong reactions to garlic. It notoriously may cause some stinky breath, which doesn’t seem to go away for a while…. But this can be offset with some strategically placed parsley. 🙂 I actually love the lingering smell of garlic on my fingers hours after I chop some up for a recipe. (Is that weird???!?)
Garlic can be extremely helpful in cleaning out our bodily houses. Garlic is rich in mustard oils and in conjunction with the cleansing elements that make it up, is beneficial for our whole system. Garlic promotes peristalsis and diuretic action- both of which are important flushing mechanisms to support our ongoing cleansing efforts, as well as boost our immunity.Â
Its potency is also an important ingredient to eliminate intestinal parasites. We don’t want parasites and unfriendly bacteria to build up and unbalance our bodies, which can be a contributing cause to not so great skin. So some garlic can really help keep that in check!
Garlic is so potent that is can dissolve mucus in the sinus cavities, flushing this waste out of our systems for good. This is extremely important for my friends that are still transitioning away from dairy! And have you ever felt when you had a bunch of garlic that is was just pouring out of your skin?? Well it probably was to an extent, as garlic can help poisons exit the body through the pores of the skin itself. A little smell might be worth it for some cleansing/purging action!!
Now that being said, garlic has to be respected and utilized properly in our diet. Garlic’s medicinal and cleansing properties are strongest when it is raw and crushed or very finely chopped. Therefore, it is best used in nut pates and blended into salad dressings. When garlic is cooked- as it often is to start sautéing vegetables or roasted and added to certain dishes- it retains very little (if any) of these amazing cleansing properties.
We also don’t want to overdo garlic- especially if we have a very high vibration diet (mostly raw food), and we don’t have much mucus in our body. In these cases it can overly irritate the digestive tract and the lining of our mucus membranes. So use moderation and intuition to assess how much you personally need. It can and should be eaten with plenty of greens, which is when I think of my tabouli recipe salad, yummy!
Have a great day and see you soon!!
Love!
Kimberly
The French remove the “vein” from the garlic stating that this minimizes digestive problems that come from garlic. Does the “deveining” garlic remove any of its cleansing properties? It is strange that as common as “deveining” is in France, I have not found any information on this on US sites.
If liking the lingering scent of garlic after prepping food prep is weird, then I guess we are both weird 😉
What exactly is overdoing garlic? Is daily use okay when all raw?
Hi beautiful! thanks for this post! you had replied to me earlier about garlic. I’m mad at myself for halloween weekend i went off my diet indulged in chicken wings and lots of alcohol. It’s no surprise that monday i am now sick and have two zits on my cheek. Sigh! so sitting here sick has me curious. You mention MUCUS FORMING FOODS a lot on here. Could you please explain what exactly that means i.e. what is mucus? why is it bad? where can it develop? what encourages it and what gets rid of it?
thanks!!!
Hi Kat!
2 of the biggest mucus-formers are soy and dairy. In a simplistic explanation, mucus-forming foods mean that those foods don’t digest cleanly from the body, but leave a “film” in our digestive tract. This makes everything operate much more sluggishly and inefficiently, and of course we want our digestive system to be as efficient as possible and throw out toxicity and waste!
Cutting out these foods are important, and cayenne pepper can help clear up mucus, as well as colonics. 🙂
Hope that helps!
xx Kimberly
What helps to get rid of hardened mucus?
Alkalol
Hello Kim
I have problem with sinuses for long time
I try garlic but do not work for me.
any ideas…
thanks
I just found out about your blog and I absolutely love it, so much helpful info. I have a question about non-allergic rhinitis (my sinuses are chronically swollen so I can’t breath in and out of my nose well). I have a severe case and it’s exasperated by other people’s perfume, odor from cleaning products , lack of sleep, stress, alcohol, or if I let myself get hungry among other things. My sinuses are always inflamed and swollen, but those things make it unbearable. I’ve tried cutting out dairy with minor improvement and went 90% raw for 3 months with a little improvement, but not enough. I do use a neti pot daily and doctors have not been able to do anything for me. Per reading this I’ll add more garlic and remove soy from my diet, I didn’t know it was clogging like dairy. My question is, do you have any suggestions for things I should add or remove from my diet for some relief or other natural remedies that may help?
I enjoy the taste of garlic, but actually I’m the opposite, I hate how the smell remains on my skin – sometimes my fingers smell like garlic for days no matter how much I wash them!! I try and use gloves when chopping these days.
KimberlySnyder suggested cayenne pepper, I agree. I’ve used it before for nose sinus wash. It does ‘sting’ a little, but you get used to it. It is not as bad as when I used a heavy dose of iodized salt. C.p. is not really that bad in the nose and sinuses. I think our tongues are more sensitive; and people assume c.p. will burn nose sinuses same as tongue. Just be careful not to splash it (get in your eyes); or rub eyes.
BTW – getting sprayed with pepper spray does suck. That’s all I have to say about that. 😉
Keeping my digestive system clean:
Once or twice a day I make a shake with 2cups water, 2cups ricejuice, 3tbsp freshground flaxseed, 3tbsp hemp protein powder (Nutiva), sprinkle of stevia, and 1tbsp peanutbutter [and/or banana – just using something ‘sticky’ for powder & flax to ‘cling’ to , makes it easier to drink; p.b. is best].
About 18g protein and 16g fiber [per shake].
Its always good to use the herbs from our gardens