HISTORY OF GARLIC
Garlic (Allium sativum) has been valued for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. Five-thousand-year-old Sanskrit and Chinese medical manuscripts describe the benefits of garlic. Garlic was also a valued staple for the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. In fact, fifteen pounds of garlic was the going price for a healthy male slave in Egypt. When King Tut’s tomb was excavated, bulbs of garlic were found scattered throughout.
Hippocrates advocated garlic for infections, cancer and digestive disorders. The great Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder recommended it for a wide variety of ailments ranging from the common cold to
epilepsy, leprosy, cancer and tapeworm.
For as long as people have been using garlic, they have been feeding it to their animal companions. However, recently, the safety of garlic for dogs has come into question. Knowledge is a powerful thing - but astute pet owners should gather all the data before
shunning this celebrated bulb.
THE TRUTH ABOUT GARLIC SAFETY- YES- IT IS SAFE AND VERY HEALTHY
Garlic is approved as a flavoring, spice or seasoning for use in pet food, yet the FDA has garlic listed in its poisonous plant database.
WHAT?
Follow along and check out the absurdity of this study.
Let’s get to the bottom the garlic story. Where do you draw the line on how much garlic your dog can get in his meal? The data
presented in the FDA study referenced above was based on the average Golden Retriever [at 75-lbs] eating about 75 cloves of garlic in each meal before any adverse effects occurred. Similarly, a dog weighing mere 12-lbs would need to eat [30 grams of garlic] which is about 8 to 10 garlic cloves in a meal to experience any adverse effects.
Do you know anyone who would even consider feeding 75 cloves of garlic to their Golden Retriever in one meal?
Importantly, the reported adverse effects of garlic add up to a total non-event over the past 28 years. The National Animal Supplement
Council responsibly records both Adverse Events and Serious Adverse Events resulting from the use of natural products. In fact, the President of the NASP thanked me many years ago, for clarifying that all the BS about garlic that pet owners see on the web is a tall tale. Because garlic is quite simply… NOT A PROBLEM.
What is significant is all the positive research delineating the medicinal powers of garlic. Of all of garlic’s reputed benefits, one is its use as a natural antibiotic, with reports going back through history. Modern researchers have compared the effectiveness of garlic with that of antibiotics and have found that garlic has a broad-spectrum anti-bacterial effect. Additionally, bacteria don’t seem to build up a resistance to garlic as they do to many modern antibiotics.
Garlic also increases general immune activity along with the activity of Killer Cells (cells that seek out and kill invading bacteria and cancer cells).
THE SECRET TO USING GARLIC
There’s a secret to releasing the healing powers of garlic. Allicin is the most powerful medicinal compound derived from garlic, providing the most important health benefits. Garlic must first go through a chemical process to create allicin. When garlic is crushed, a specific amino acid contained within it reacts with a specific
enzyme, creating allicin.
USE RAW GARLIC
You must finely
chop or crush a garlic clove then wait for 5-10 minutes to allow the chemical reaction to occur.
CRUSH OR FINELY CHOP THE RAW GARLIC
Additionally, allicin is unstable when exposed to air and heat so don’t wait more than 20 minutes before you top your dog’s meal with some healthy raw garlic.
WAIT 5-10
MINUTES AND FEED
Buy a garlic press or simply chop some garlic very finely and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. You can then mix it in with a tablespoon of cooked, cooled chopped beef or chicken and place it on top of your dog’s meal.
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Garlic has also been fed to dogs to help prevent fleas. When using garlic as a flea preventive it’s important to use a castile soap or detergent free shampoo. Dogs don’t sweat as humans do and the garlic ‘aroma’ comes out in the oil on their coat.
It takes several weeks for the garlic compounds to build up in the oil and a detergent shampoo removes the oil and you’re back to square one again.
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A host of studies provide evidence that the allicin in garlic works to inhibit cancer formation. With cancer being the number one cause of death in dogs…let’s all get going with garlic! Voila- a meal fit for a Dog, a King - or a Pharaoh!
My book,
Dr. Khalsa’s Natural Dog goes over the benefits of garlic and doses of it for your dog.
