Eating Raw Garlic Adventure

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This is my adventure in how I stumbled upon Raw Garlic benefits and different ways to eat raw garlic. Coming from a culture where garlic is extensively used and consumed in every day food, I kind of knew that it is good for health; specifically good for controlling high blood cholesterol. I had seen my dad consume cloves of raw garlic with pita, but I never tried it before. This changed as you can read below.

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So I had this contractor from India work on some renovation of the house. He was around 60 years old and I was skeptical he would be able to do the work, but he did come highly recommended. Once he started working, I was amazed at his fitness and general health. He would work straight 8 to 9 hours with just one other guy (usually his teenage nephew) as a helper. He only took one or two 20 minute breaks. I could see that his teenage nephew showed tiredness and exhaustion as the day wore along, but he would remain fresh and energetic all day long. For a 60 year old guy, he sure had lots of energy and fitness.

Towards the end of the contract, one day I was chatting with him about food and health. He told me his routine and I was not only surprised but motivated to take action. He would start his day with one teaspoon of minced garlic that had been in Vinegar. For lunch he would eat about 3 to 4 apples. For dinner he would eat whole grain foods, lentils, beans etc. He gave me a long lecture about benefits of eating raw garlic.

In his own words: "it melts away body fat; cleanses the Liver; helps with blood pressure; lowers cholesterol; and helps with diabetes."

 Well this was enough to motivate me and I decided to try it out and make it part of my early morning routine as well. So I got some Organic Garlic (5 bulbs), and Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

I separated the cloves and peeled them using the Best Method for How to Peel Garlic.

Unfortunately due to lack of a second steel bowl, some of the cloves did not separate. I had to peel them a bit and that made my fingers quiet smelly. However I did accidentally discover a method to get rid of the smell. A very easy trick. I will share it in another post so keep a watch out for it. 🙂

I chopped the garlic and then added enough Organic Apple Cider Vinegar to cover it completely. Stirred and then left in the closet. Next day, I had the urge to try out my new "healthy super food stuff". After waking up and drinking a glass of water, I put a tea spoon full of the mixture (organic chopped raw garlic and organic apple cider) in my mouth and started chewing .....

Immediately, it felt like I put in acid in my mouth. My mouth was on fire with tears rolling out of my eyes. My wife thinks she saw some smoke out of my ears as well.

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I began to hiccup as I slowly chewed through all this. My wife was encourging me to spit it out, but I held on dearly to my coveted super food stuff. By the time I was done swallowing it down, I had a burning sensation in my mouth and stomach. Quickly chugged down couple of glasses of water. This relived the burning sensation in the stomach a bit.

This was not what I had anticipated with my super food stuff. I think it was foolish on my part to just go ahead and eat raw garlic like that with out any research. So I did some research. I found that eating Raw Garlic has tons of benefits, and my super food stuff, aka organic raw garlic and organic apple cider, is indeed really beneficial for health. At culturesforhealth.com the author explains how to preserve and ferment garlic. The only difference between his method and mine is that I chopped the garlic, and that they had whole cloves and let it ferment for 2 weeks before trying it. 🙂

See the full article below:

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/preservation-fermentation-garlic-apple-cider-vinegar

Another great article on benefits of garlic in Huffington Post.

I will quickly summarize the benefits mentioned in that article:

Read the full article below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/25/benefits-of-garlic_n_3990616.html#slide=2949521

Be sure to check out the following page on WebMD.com for Garlic usegae, side effects, interactions etc. This is specially important for people who have medical conditions and are taking medications.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-300-GARLIC.aspx?activeIngredientId=300&activeIngredientName=GARLIC

Toronto Garlic Festival

Apparently Garlic has a cult following here in Toronto, Canada:

http://www.torontogarlicfestival.ca 

By the way, I tried my Garlic super food stuff again after couple of weeks and it has mellowed down a bit. It still burns a bit, but I am getting used to it.

I would definitely be attending the Toronto Garlic Festival this year. I am officially a Garlic super fan, even after my so called ordeal.

I am also trying to eat raw garlic in the following ways, as detailed on the website thenourishinggourmet.com.

See the full article below:

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/01/4-ways-to-consume-raw-garlic.html

Happy Garlicing 🙂

*** Please note that I personally do not have any medical conditions, or food allergies, or take any medications. This enables me to eat all foods without any issues. Please use caution and if you are not sure, consult your family physician/doctor.