Bye Bye Mosquitoes: Garlic Is Coming!
I grew up with an amazing and wise grandmother who exposed me to my first experiences in natural remedies. She grew up among native Amerindians so most of the things she learned with regards to natural remedies were from them. I know, she was that cool.
She didn’t believe much in conventional medications so she would always take a natural approach to treat common illnesses or afflictions. She would use fruits, vegetables, herbs and plants. The only thing I had to do was to call her and tell her what were my symptoms and she would know exactly what to do.
She was very knowledgeable about herbs, she could easily identify any plant you can think of and tell you how to utilize it to treat any condition or improve your health. She passed away in 2007 and I miss her dearly. However, her knowledge was passed on to me through experience and I am so grateful for the wonderful things she taught me. Thank you grandma, I miss you so much …
THE WONDERFUL PROPERTIES OF GARLIC
Who would have thought something as tiny as a garlic clove could contain so many healing properties? Most of us are familiar with garlic in cooking, because it gives such a great taste and aroma to almost any dish but have you ever attempt to use garlic for medical purposes?
Well if you don’ know much about garlic through that perspective let me tell you that it has been used in ancient medicine for thousands of years particularly in Ancient Egypt (don’t worry I am not going to give you a history class 😉 ). Also the first Olympians in Greece used garlic as a form of enhancement in sports.
This cutie little pie is commonly used to fight the common cold, reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels; it is a great anti-oxidant plus an extraordinary natural antibiotic (if you happen to have a toothache and you just don’t know what to do because of the pain, put a garlic clove in the affected tooth, leave it there inside your mouth for a while, chew it slightly if you can and see!).
If you ever feel like you are about to get sick with the cold/flu (or someone around you is sick) rush to the kitchen just chop a couple of garlic cloves along with a little bit of ginger (a must in your kitchen!) and sprinkle it into your food. I assure you that if you do this often, you will be preventing a lot of illnesses.
Garlic and ginger are like husband and wife, they should stay together forever. I am serious; they are pretty darn amazing when combined.
However, today I want to tell you about a benefit I learned since I was a little girl. I would love to share this with you so you can give it a try and let me know if it worked. I am talking about garlic as a natural mosquito repellent AND healer if you already got bitten and you don’t know what to do to stop that nasty itching! Two benefits in one and all inside a cute little clove.
Let tell you, when you have to fight Godzilla-size mosquitoes on a regular basis like I do here in the Caribbean (especially after 6:00pm) you have to be prepared to pull out swords, shields and helmets. No kidding, those little beasts come to your home ready to attack and they don’t forgive! It is not uncommon here to see people affected by a number of mosquito- related diseases such as zika, dengue and chikungunya.
Depending on the severity of these conditions and how they affect your body, you might end up in the hospital. Yikes! But thanks to mother nature we have an amazing way to prevent those little bad boys from being anywhere near us or our families. Let’s go garlic-crazy, shall we?!
USING GARLIC AS A MOSQUITO REPELLENT
It is very simple: Just take a couple of cloves, peel them off and cut them in half. You will see that the garlic isn’t dry but actually quite juicy in the inside. Well, you want all that juice spread in your skin. Just take one half and spread it in your arms and legs especially but you can use it in your back, neck, etc. Anywhere where you think the mosquitoes will try to bite you (and these little monsters love to attack ears!) and voila! They will stay away. Make sure to spread enough so perhaps you might have to use more than one clove, so don’t worry.
What about the smell you might ask? Well, if you happen to be in the company of someone who you don’t like all that much I suppose it also works for people. Just kidding, well the smell won’t last forever so if you are home you can give it a try. The most important thing is that it works! You don’t have to worry about putting artificial repellents that contain names of ingredients you cannot even pronounce and that your skin has to absorb (gulp!).
Now, if I reached too late for this advice and you happen to have a mosquito bite right now, the same procedure needs to be followed but just focus on the bite itself. Just take a little clove, peel it off, cut in half and use the little juice inside and spread it on the bite. The itch will stop almost immediately and will heal wonderfully.
So tell me, did you ever try to use garlic as a repellent? How did it work for you? If you didn’t try it yet, are you willing to give it a shot?
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