Garlic: From the pages of history to our modern medicinal needs

Referred to in its raw form as a bulb, a clove, a bulbous herb, a spicy, culinary herb, and as "the stinking rose," among others, garlic (Allium sativum) is now finding its way more and more from the kitchen spice rack into the bathroom medicine chest. Garlic's medicinal properties have been known for as long as history has been recorded, but it is only in the last few decades that we have learned more, through well-documented research studies, about its health benefits for all of us.

In his book, The Healing Benefits of Garlic, John Heinerman, Ph.D., says it was around 2300 B.C. in Sumeria, in a city called Lagash, that garlic first came into prominence. "Many of the Old World …