Scientific understanding of the natural gift of garlic has come a long way in less than a century. Around 1900, garlic ointments, compresses and compounds were the common treatment of choice. Military surgeons in World War I, who didn't have modern antibiotics available to them, used garlic to cleanse wounds, combat infections and prevent and treat gangrene. It worked so well that British surgeons still relied on it extensively during World War II. Even today in the former Soviet Union, garlic is still used to kill bacteria and fight infections. Some tests even show it is more effective than antibiotics for specific types of bacterial infection termed "gram negative". Throughout Europe this has earned garlic the nickname Russian Penicillin.

Now hang on to your hats, since the 1940's scientific investigation has proven garlic possesses a stunning array of medicinal properties. Investigators say that it; Acts as an antiseptic, Fights infection, Contains chemicals that prevent cancer, Thins the blood, reducing clotting in high-risk heart patients, Lowers blood pressure, Reduces cholesterol, Controls triglycerides, Stimulates the immune system, Prevents and relieves chronic bronchitis, and Acts as a decongestant and expectorant. Now that's what I call a health food.

Garlic has an amazingly high sulfur content, and it is this, experts say makes all the difference. In most cases, they say you need merely eat a clove or two a day, cut up in salads or soups to enjoy its healing properties. However it must be eaten raw.

The National Library of Medicine, in Bethesda, MD, contains more than 125 scientific papers written about the medicinal value of garlic since 1983 alone. Heart disease is the leading killer of Americans. Studies show garlic can reduce those numbers and protect you and your family. Garlic prevents heart attacks and strokes by controlling the key variables of high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure and atherosclerosis- the deadly process of plaque formation and fat deposits inside the arteries. These factors create blockages in the circulatory system that ultimately can choke blood flow to the heart or brain. The simplest explanation for this is that garlic thins the blood. Dr. G. Blodgett spent six years doing reaserch back in the 1920s and saw microscopic evidence of garlic's workings. " It dissolves fat particles and out-of-place blood clots and keeps them in suspension until they can be eliminated through, the bowel. As long as it's circulating and your body's excreting it, it can't hurt you. The stuff works, and it beats me why we insist on fancier, more expensive prescription medicines when nature already provides what we need."

The prestigious British medical journal The Lancet published a study by two Indian cardiologists that showed that raw garlic will indeed protect you from heart disease. In controlled experiments they gave their subjects a meal that included a 1/4 pound serving of butter. Just as they expected, blood cholesterol levels soared. They repeated the experiment, but this time they added two cloves of garlic. The results were astonishing. The garlic lowered blood cholesterol by more than 25 percent from the pre-meal fasting level. So even after consuming that very large, highly imprudent, amount of butter, the addition of garlic had left these patients better off than before they had eaten. The garlic also counteracted a tendency for blood to clot in unwanted ways after a high fat meal. The authors wrote, " It is obvious that garlic has a very significant protective action against high cholesterol and blood coagulation changes, which are normal after fat ingestion." And all without the high cost and risk of prescription drugs that are so frequently used to lower cholesterol.

All of these researchers stress firmly that garlic has absolutely no side effects of any kind. The only risk you can possibly run as a confirmed consumer of garlic is that of offending your friends. But that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the healing powers of The Stinkin Rose.