The benefits of Wild Garlic - Herbs for Healing Newsletter

Wild garlic – nature’s pharmacy is in bloom

If you drive or walk through any piece of British woodland in the Spring, the chances are that you will notice strong garlic scents in the wind. It seems strange to smell garlic miles away from a kitchen.

The wild garlic is related to the cultivated garlic (Allium sativum) we can buy in shops or grow in the garden.

Allium ursinum is its Latin name. Bear’s garlic. This wild plant has traditionally been used for the treatment of heart disease, high cholesterol, fatty deposits, arteriosclerosis and a variety of infections in the respiratory and digestive system.

Wild garlic can be used in salads, soups or mixed with vegetables. It contains large numbers of sulphur compounds which detoxify the blood and also the digestive tract, up to 4 times more than the cultivated garlic. It also contains vitamin A and C and iron, magnesium, manganese and adenosine. Adenosine is a key component in the regulation of high blood pressure and fast heart beat.

Wild garlic contains about 20 times more adenosine than cultivated garlic. And it is freely available. It is free food and medicine.

Wild garlic also proved superior to cultivated garlic in reducing LDL cholesterol levels, which is great news. Many people suffer more or less severe side effects from taking cholesterol-reducing medication (statins), so why not try using this medicine from the woods around you? Or, even better, use wild garlic to PREVENT high cholesterol levels. After all, to prevent is better than to cure.

Wild garlic with its many sulphur compounds clears the inside of the digestive tract. It detoxifies the gut from pathogens and at the same time supports the ‘good’ bacteria. It kills many parasites and assists in clearing candida albicans, a common yeast infection. Wild garlic is a truly versatile plant.

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