Conventionally Grown Garlic Contaminated With Chemicals

[Guest guest]

At 04:43 AM 3/11/2008, you wrote:

Just got this from NaturalNews. When I read the article just sent

to the group, " Tasty Herb Hits Double, " thought y'all would be

interested. I have always thought garlic is good for you - now, it seems,

we need to be aware of where it's coming from....Sigh..If

it's not one thing, it's another....

Lynn

 

Conventionally Grown Garlic Contaminated With Chemicals

Garlic is recognized as a valuable ingredient in maintaining a

healthy life and combating disease. However what looks to be perfectly

natural could in fact be treated with chemicals. So the question is where

is your garlic from and how has it been treated?

The bulk of the world's garlic is produced in China where the cost of

labour significantly reduces the cost of manual processing that garlic

requires. For this reason, in those countries that accept imported garlic

(including USA,

Australia but not

Europe), buying imported

garlic is

cheaper.

Despite this, Chinese garlic does not meet with food safety protocols (at

least those in Australia). According to Henry Bell of the Australian

Garlic Industry Association, garlic from China is doused in chemicals to

stop sprouting, to whiten garlic, and to kill insects and plant matter.

He also reports that garlic is grown in untreated sewage

((

http://www.theage.com.au/news/epicure/f...) .

Garlic can be whitened by using

chlorine or with a

mixture of sulphur and wood ash. Whitening garlic helps to make it look

healthier and more attractive to consumers. In fact this obsession with

white foods has lead to the bleaching of many

food products

(flour, salt, sugar) using chlorine dioxide or benzoyl peroxide.

Growth inhibitors are used to stop garlic from sprouting and can be made

from hormones or chemicals. When garlic begins to sprout, the garlic

clove loses much of its potency. Growth inhibitors together with gamma

irradiation extend the shelf life of garlic.

Gamma radiation is also used to sterilise many products, and in

Australia, this treatment is not accepted for foodstuffs. This does not

prevent food treated by gamma radiation to enter the country.

Australia also requires that all garlic regardless of origin is fumigated

with methyl bromide at entry to Australia. Methyl bromide is a colourless

gas and a potent chemical used as an insecticide, fungicide and

herbicide.

It has a variety of uses: in controlling pests, weeds and soil-borne

diseases associated with crops and timber products; in protecting stored

grains and dried fruit; in industrial feedstock; in refrigerant; as a

fire extinguishing agent; for degreasing wool; and for extracting oils

from nuts, seeds and flowers

((

http://www.apvma.gov.au/chemrev/methylB...) .

Methyl bromide is listed as an ozone depleting substance and, under the

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, its use is

prohibited. According to the UN it is 60 times more damaging than

chlorine and is the base of CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons). However

exemptions have been allowed and that includes the use of methyl bromide

for quarantine purposes and feedstock applications.

If inhaled or absorbed through the skin, methyl bromide is toxic to both

humans and animals causing chemical burns, kidney damage and damage to

the central nervous system.

Concern about its use as a timber fumigant was highlighted in

New Zealand

when 11 workers were affected by motor neurone disease. At the port in

Nelson, 11 workers by 2004 had contracted the disease and 5 had died

((

www.mua.org.au/news/stevedoring/Methylb...) .

The use of methyl bromide has increased in both Australia and New

Zealand. In New Zealand its use has increased by 300% since 2001

(

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00062.htm) .

Concern about Chinese garlic has promoted a US store called Trader Joe's

to stop stocking the product by the 1st of April

((

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmen...) .

However, it is not just China as other countries using chemicals banned

in the US and elsewhere are sending cheap food products back for sale

there. Despite the higher cost, organic garlic will provide you with the

taste and health benefits but not the additional toxic consequences of

chemicals.

See other NaturalNews articles on chlorine and bleaching

products.

 

About the authorLynn Berry loves good

food and cooking and is passionate about nutrition and natural health

care. She has a website promoting healthy eating at

 

www.low-calorie-vegetarian-recipe.com.

 

 

-

Al Sears, MD

 

 

Monday, March 10, 2008 3:54 PM

Tasty Herb Hits Double

 

 

 

 

 

 

Al Sears, MD

12794 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 16

Wellington, FL 33414

March 10, 2008

 

 

Dear All ,

Did you know that garlic naturally lowers blood pressure and LDL

cholesterol?

I thought of this as I just read research in the Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences showing how garlic relaxes blood vessel

tension by a whopping 72%.1

 

But, most doctors rely almost entirely on drugs to lower blood pressure.

I can’t count the number I see on beta-blockers, for instance. These very

commonly used drugs have the worst side effects like apathy, constant

fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, depression, and

impotence.

Some of garlic’s other health benefits are also well documented. Yet

these findings have been largely ignored. It’s been over a decade since

studies proved that garlic significantly lowers serum cholesterol and

triglycerides while raising HDL (good) cholesterol.2 Even the

conservative American Heart Association has concluded that garlic

stops artery clogging and lowers blood pressure.3

Garlic’s health benefits go even farther than just heart health—another

recent study found that garlic can kill off certain kinds of malignant

cancer cells.4 With findings like these, you’d think mainstream medicine

would recommend garlic. But, drug companies can’t profit from garlic, so

they push prescription drugs.

So how much garlic do you need to get all the benefits?

You should eat one to two cloves of garlic per day. When preparing garlic

in a meal, crush it and let it sit for at least fifteen minutes. This

activates enzymes in the garlic that produce the powerful heart

benefits.

You can take garlic as a supplement if you prefer not to eat it. Make

sure it’s one that has at least 3,600 micrograms of allicin (garlic’s

active ingredient) per dose.

Aside from garlic, I use CoQ10 with my patients to lower their blood

pressure naturally and get them off beta blockers. To get the heart

health benefits of CoQ10, you should take at least 100 milligrams per

day. For some patients, I use higher doses after checking their CoQ10

level in their blood.

Here are a few more tips you can use to naturally lower your

blood-pressure:

 

If you smoke, do everything you can to quit. Smoking constricts the

arteries, in effect raising your blood-pressure. Limit coffee to just one or two cups in the morning. Excess caffeine

can also raise blood-pressure. If you’re overweight, lose the excess pounds with proper nutrition

and exercise. Relax…too much stress elevates cortisol (the stress hormone) and in

turn, your blood-pressure

To Your Good Health,

 

 

Al Sears, MD

 

1 Benavides G, et al. “From the Cover: Hydrogen

sulfide mediates the vasoactivity of garlic“, PNAS 2007 104:

17977-17982.

2 Bordia A,“Effect of garlic on blood lipids in patients with coronary

heart disease”, Am J Clin Nutr. 1981 Oct;34(10):2100-3.

3 Howard B, Kritchevsky D, “Phytochemicals and Cardiovascular

Disease: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart

Association”, Circulation. 1997 Jun 3;95(11):2591-3.

4 Das A, er al. “Garlic compounds generate reactive oxygen species

leading to activation of stress kinases and cysteine proteases for

apoptosis in human glioblastoma T98G and U87MG cells”

Cancer.Volume 110, Issue 5, 1 September 2007, Pages:

1083-1095

 

Forward this to a friend,

 

 

 

 

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