Let Food Be Thy Medicine

Although Hippocrates, the father of modern day medicine famously stated: 'Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food' many of us eat unhealthily. Our modern Western diet consists of many sugar, salt and preservative laden ingredients and quite often we rely on pharmaceutical drugs to undo the damage. Progressive doctors, such as my own, are now increasingly prescribing a healthy diet and lifestyle rather than medication as long term tools for helping patients become vibrantly well.

Many years ago when my father was prescribed a particular medication, I remember his surgeon saying, whilst it would help his immediate condition there would probably be side effects, he then went on to say (and it chilled me to the bone) 'Nothing in medicine comes free!' Many pharmaceutical drugs are counterproductive, treating one ailment whilst incurring another, and most of us are aware that we are now facing the significant threat of antibiotic resistance.

Of all the foods mother nature provides, garlic has been scientifically proven to be a natural antibiotic, used for its health potential for anything from clogged arteries to ear infections - it cleanses the body of heavy metals and has been used effectively in fighting more than 150 diseases.

I was recently introduced to black garlic which has been proven to be more effective than fresh white garlic. Studies have shown that black garlic can reduce the size of tumours and has twice the antioxidant levels. Mandarin oil painter Choo Keng Kwang experienced a complete reversal of his debilitating psoriasis after just 4 days of eating half a bulb of black garlic a day, this, after trying countless prescribed alternatives that were all complete failures.

Black garlic is fermented in humidity controlled environments, there are no additives, no preservatives.....just pure garlic. Unlike the pungency of fresh garlic, black garlic (which is best eaten raw) is soft and chewy in texture, with flavours reminiscent of soy sauce and sweet prune. It has grown in popularity amongst even the most avid garlic-haters who are amazed by both its taste and health potential.

When I recently returned from Spain, I immediately started to feel run down and felt the onset of a cold. I went and bought several bulbs of black garlic and have been eating a few cloves each day, thus far I seem to have staved off my cold, added to which, the few nasty insect bites I sustained whilst in Spain (which normally take a couple of weeks to heal) have vanished, leaving no scarring.

Like many people, I don't live on a diet of health foods per se, I try to avoid processed food but it's all around us, every dollop of mayonnaise, every slice of shop bought bread, every oven chip or bagged salad contains sugar, salt and chemicals. If a few cloves of garlic can counteract some of the nastiness of our everyday foods, it's surely worth it!

'You think I can't get it up anymore, maybe? Let me tell you, you eat enough garlic and it stands up every time!'
- Alberto Vitale

Love Donna xxxxx