Hello!

I read in rawfoodexplained.com that garlic and onion are bad...

Obviously, that sounds a bit strange to me.. And what does it say about spring onion and any other onion-like greens?

Cheers!

i couldnt imagine sitting down and eating a whole bowl of garlic or onions ..., as an additive to other dishes i think they are ok from time to time but to make a meal of them i cant see doing that .. can you?

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

eran,

Could you post a link to the article you read? I would like to see what they had to say about it.

eran,

I still continue to occasionally use raw garlic and onion in food prep exactly as in cooked food prep--as "condiment" vegetables. The sulfur in them is antibiotic; good enough for the Roman Legion, good enough for me.

Tamukha,

Interesting argument, "good enough for the Roman Legion". Of course, they ate cooked food in addition to garlic. So does that mean you are going to eat that food also?

> I read in rawfoodexplained.com that garlic and
> onion are bad...
>
> Obviously, that sounds a bit strange to me.. And
> what does it say about spring onion and any other
> onion-like greens?

That's the opinion of rawfoodexplained which advocates Natural Hygiene. Spring onion and other onion-like greens would similarly be frowned upon because they are in the garlic/onion family and one would not sit down to a 'mono meal' of them. I happen to like chives and am not a Natural Hygienist.

By the way, aloe vera is another herb I like to keep on hand for use as a drink and for minor cuts and scrapes. It would also not qualify as a 'food' but Alexander the Great used it with his army, food or medicine I don't know, but it is support to me.

I've never heard anything contrary to the fact that Onions and Garlic themselves have extremely powerful health benefits. Of course common sense educates us to use them both in moderation for the obvious reasons of gastro intestinal irritation, but I've only ever ready POSITIVE facts about these amazing products. We do know that cooking or steaming the garlic changes the structure to provide different benefits than just using it raw, however, the benefits of using it RAW are numerous enough for me to not need the cooked/steamed methods. I, too, would be curious to read this article.

And, the Romans did not just eat garlic COOKED. They ate it RAW as well.

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Natural Hygiene does not recommend the use of garlic/onion, or anything that has antibiotic qualities, as...antibiotics destroy life. Antibiotics don't make distinctions between the bacteria that we very much need and that which (perhaps)we can live without.

Pre-raw I loved garlic. Pretty much as soon as I went raw, the taste of garlic in the quantities I'd enjoyed previously, and in the quantities in raw food recipes, became unpleasant to me, just as wine did in the early months of raw. I felt that was my body trying to tell me something.

There are millions of words on the net and elsewhere extolling the benefits of garlic, but there are also some persuasive arguments against it - I've mentioned the 'antibiotic' thing, but hopefully some other posters with more time can contribute more here.

Onions...I think it no concidence that, in many instances, the smell of BO is identical to cut raw onions, and assume that that is the body trying to eliminate onions.

I do still have onions and garlic occasionally, but in very small quantities, and in the long term would like to phase them out completely. I sometimes substitute with chives - bit milder.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2009 06:57PM by debbietook.

Natural "antibiotics" only kill the BAD bacteria, not the good bacteria. If I'm sick, I'm definitely running for the raw garlic, lemon, onion, etc. All of which are natural "antibiotics" and also natural "antivirals." I have read nothing at all to the effect of either being bad for you in raw form, other than standard irriation from over-use, which is common sense. However, personal taste is another thing, which is certainly to be respected. I, personally, am of the Christian faith that supports Bible creation, and completely believe that God created food to be our "medicine," especially when there is a particular need. Scientific medicine has repeatedly proved that understanding for centuries.

I can't imagine ANY truly "natural" health resource would seriously discourage the use of ANY natural "antibiotics," especially in a crisis situation. That seems very imbalanced and completely UN-natural to my understanding. I'm open to learning, but that one would take ALOT of convincing with ALOT of medical and scientific evidence on their part.

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

plainlydressed,

How does a natural antibiotic know how to kill bad bacteria and leave the good ones behind?

In fact, the toxin in garlic kills every cell it comes in direct contact with. Fortunately, your body will create mucus to keep much of that toxin from coming into contact with your cells, and it works like crazy to move the toxin out of the body as soon as possible, sending it out of all of the pores of your skin.

God also created murderers, serial killers, and people who commit crimes against humanity. Being God created doesn't not mean we need to necessarily interact with that part of God's creation.

When I'm not feeling well Garlic is one of the first things I reach for. I have found sprouted garlic to be the best. Many cooks throw out the center of the garlic where the sprout grows but IMO thats the most healing part of the plant.

>>>God also created murderers, serial killers, and people who commit crimes against humanity. Being God created doesn't not mean we need to necessarily interact with that part of God's creation.<<<

Bryan, isn't that a bit glib? I am with plainlydressed; God created all things, human life, all that we see. But he did not create murderers, serial killers, criminals. That is where the whole free will debate comes in.

Just as with Adam & Eve, God created them as perfection, but with free will to make good or bad choices. For God to have created man in any other fashion would mean he would have created humans as controlled robots. I just wanted to address that - I do not mean to send the thread in another direction, but I feel I had to say that to make my next point.


I personally feel that God created all raw/plant based foods for our consumption, as it states in Genesis 1:29-30.


"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so."

'nuff said - end of discussion for me. That is why I follow what is called the "Garden of Eden" diet.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2009 09:01PM by juicerkatz.

Bryan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> plainlydressed,
> God also created murderers, serial killers, and
> people who commit crimes against humanity. Being
> God created doesn't not mean we need to
> necessarily interact with that part of God's
> creation.

Ok, at the risk of turning this completely off-topic (I think it's called "thread hi-jacking? *LOL*), I will respond to this once and only once -

God did NOT create murderers, killers, and criminals. God created HUMANS with free choice who made wrong choices of their own free will. God does not CREATE evil. Let's keep our facts straight. However, as noted above, God also made a way for humans to heal themselves with His GOOD creations because of our own choices to self-destruct.

And for those who don't believe in God, Creation, Bible, OR religion, just ignore these remote comments that are completely off-topic. And out of respect for the originator of this thread, I will comment no further. =)

*****************************
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
—Thomas Jefferson

Well, I guess if you have a God that can create a poison in garlic that only kills bad bacteria, and not the good bacteria, then you can also have a God that only creates the good people, and doesn't have anything to do with the bad people

Bryan,

The antibiotic properties of alliums were noted by apothecarists thousands of years ago, and their use as medicinal foods became common in many cultures precisely because their aggregate therapeutic benefits mitigated what vague harm they may do. I have never heard of someone being harmed by raw garlic and onions, though I have heard hundreds of accounts of people curing themselves of everything from catarrh to cancer using them. As I believe I've stated elsewhere, I have confidence in anthropological common sense: if alliums were dangerous, the cultures that commonly employed them would have a.) discarded them as ineffective curatives/foods, or b.) would have ceased to exist as a result of onion toxemia or something. Clearly, the Indians, Arabs, Chinese, etc. are with us bodily and not merely as dusty diorama exhibits : )

I am not a Natural Hygienist, because while I think a lot of its precepts are valid or plausible, it can encourage rigidity, which is anathema to my personality. I appreciate subtle distinctions, and haven't met an idea yet that was truly carved in stone.

Lastly, I am not 100% raw, although that is my eventual goal. But as it stands, I don't consider the eating of raw garlic or onion here and there to be on a par with child murder or a heroin habit. Because it isn't.

I'm not being facetious when I say this, but there are spiritual practices where the consumption of garlic and onions is forbidden because they repel the spirits (along with a lot of other spices, too).

I think they are RAJASIC... but so is cayenne pepper!

The spiritual idea behind avoiding these items is partly due to the fact they stimulate the mind (and energy bodies). Sometimes, I do get terribly BORED just eating fruits (or more sattvic, or "pure" foods) alone, so... I like to spice things up now and then!

Garlic does a great job of killing parasites, I am told.

And vampires... (okay, now I'm being facetious. )

I have definitely become more sensitive to garlic as I have been raw for longer, but I am not at a point where I desire to cut it out completely... for now...

Tamukha,

While I agree that garlic can have healthful benefits for people eating a cooked diet (and all those past cultures you mentioned were eating cooked foods), for people who eat strictly raw, and who have moved away from the transitional raw foods (the gourmet recipes, etc), who are eating a diet of simple whole fruits and vegetables, garlic definitely doesn't feel as good as it did when eating cooked foods.

On this forum, there have been many people here who when they first started raw raved about the healing qualities of garlic, only to let the garlic go as their raw diets became cleaner and they became healthier. This happened to me, and happened to many others who moved to the kind of diet I am currently eating.

All those other authorities you mentioned that used garlic as a healing agent, they weren't eating a simple raw diet so what I describe is outside of their experience. Were these authorities to live on a diet exclusively of fresh fruits and salads, I think they would probably change their opinion as their bodies became able to register and to feel the toxicity of garlic.

I have certainly had your experience of viewing garlic as a health food. Should you ever have a simple raw diet like mine, you will most likely have an experience of viewing garlic as I do.

The 'it's been used for thousands of years' argument and no one's fallen down dead from it...is never an argument for me! All sorts of things of which the net effect is harm to our health rather than benefit come into the 'it's been used for thousands of years' category! Tamukha, there are many races that are still 'here' despite ingesting all sorts of things harmful to health.

The NH view is not so much rigid, but based on a completely different understanding as to why certain things (appear to) 'cure'/abate symptoms/do a 'patch-up' job in unhealthy people rather than tackle the causes, bringing their own problems as they effect these 'cures'.

What I have noticed is that it's often easier to argue raw food to a cooked person, or vegetarianism to a meat-eater than it is to argue that garlic might not be a wonder food to those who are convinced that it is! I was once approached by someone who wanted to make a TV prog out of me and raw, but when the subject of garlic came up, he disagreed so strongly - I'd say he was pretty much stunned that I could say such things about...garlic! He was such a believer in the stuff that it seemed to shake him to the core! Things didn't progress...

Anyway, none of us can be sure we're right. Let's agree to differ, eh? It's all interesting stuff.

If the spirits visit me tonight, I will ask them. >8)

Is there anyone else who gave up garlic later into their raw journey who could speak about some of the effects they noticed, physical, mental, etc.? Bryan, was there a point where you specifically gave up garlic and didn't want to use it anymore?

plainlydressed wrote, "God does not CREATE evil. Let's keep our facts straight. "


Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."

Could we keep religious views/comments out of the discussion of garlic and onion?


My favorite raw vegan

Bryan and Debbie,

I'll concede that after eating 100% raw fruits and veggies for a time, I shall likely eschew onions and garlic : )

Who knows - Bryan and I could be swilling down garlic smoothies this time next year. Maybe.

Anyway, I've been 100% for a couple of years now, but still have them sometimes. My excuse is that my non-raw husband likes them in 'transition foods'.

But, when I'm making food just for myself, I rarely use them, and on the rare occasions I do feel a hankering for a little chopped red onion, do feel it's for the 'stimulus' qualities rather than my body genuinely desiring it, and of course NH has a view on that....but won't go into it now....(you'll be relieved to hear?)

One of the Natural Hygiene passages I found facinating is that the digestive tract is outside the body. It is separate from our flesh and bones sort of speak.

In that sense these veggies like garlic, onions and aloe vera, all having well established external uses, antibacterial, antifungal and wound care, are 'outside the body' even when eaten. It's just a more intimate level of application.

Except that NH would take issue with their external use as well...

eg herbalists say plantain will 'seal' a wound. NH says that the reason the wound 'seals' is that the body is trying to protect itself against the plantain!

Sorry, I'm digressing a bit.

Ah, plantain the green herb for wound care. Some say wheatgrass juice can be applied to a wound. Fresh aloe vera gel works for me, forming a temporary skin, keeping the wound moist and discouraging external bacteria while the skin has a chance to knit back together. I suppose NH care would call for keeping it clean, dry and bandaged and call for rest and correct diet...

Keeping religious arguments hopefully out of this thread (!),
onions and garlic reek. And people can smell them in your secretions. I prefer to NOT partake in things that make my body smell bad. Also, if you don't eat them for a while, you'll probably find you don't like them much anymore.

whenever i eat onions and garlic, i smell and taste them for the rest of the day. I used to love them and ate them tons and tons, and now i don't like them very much and even a tiny bit is extremely strong for me.

In Rawvolution, Matt Amsden uses garlic (a lot of it) in almost every recipe besides sweets. He's probably a garlic lover. When I tried his original hummus recipe, i put half the garlic as I'm not used to it and my mouth was burning.

As I want to stay away from harsh smelling food, i tried the same recipe again, replacing garlic by a few leaves of watercress. The result was amazing.

now garlic is a plant - we eat plants - but we can decide which ones we want to it based upon taste, preferences, effects on the body, mind and spirit.

blessings to you all

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/28/2009 02:01AM by Krefcenz.