Garlic Helps To Go Or Stay??

I have always been fascinated by natural remedies/ herbal medicine. I think with proper regulations herbal medicine has a lot to offer in terms of disease prevention and management.
The other day at work, a colleague of mine and I were discussing the benefits of natural remedies and she mentioned using garlic for the treatment of diarrhea…That was news to me!
She said her mum, who is a nurse, recommended it to her when she had travelers diarrhea while on a trip to India. What is the dosage, I asked, and she said she chewed one to two raw garlic cloves for  3 to 4 times a day for 3 days and it worked!
I only know about the proven benefits of garlic for cardiovascular disease prevention and heard recently about the benefits of garlic for the prevention of cancer and the common cold.
So, I did a little research, got conflicting findings about the use of raw garlic for the treatment of diarrhea, some studies like this one reported that raw garlic can actually cause diarrhea, while another study indicates garlic's benefits in the treatment of stomach ulcers.
 Diarrhea is often times caused by viral or bacterial infection and garlic is known to have antimicrobial properties. However, there are yet to be adequate studies to support the use of garlic (raw or processed) as an anti-diarrhea and the safe/effective dosage is still unknown.

Thoughts?

P.S  The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that typical safe intake falls around 2 to 4 grams of fresh garlic per day -- each clove is about 1 gram. 

Let's Go Cruisin' II

Hope your week has been going okay. This is the continuation of last week's post on the boat cruise I went on late last year. Below are some of the photos of the places we got the chance to visit.....Enjoy!

*The "Daydreamer". A sculpture behind the Key West Museum of  Art and History.

Sculpture in front of the Key West Museum of Arts and History

The famous Mallory Square, location of the Sunset Celebration.

The Conch tour train.

*The famous 0 mile road that marks the end of the  US Route 1 that runs from (North to South on the East coast)  Maine to Key West,FL

Information kiosk at the port in Cayman Islands.

Key West, FL, viewed from the ship.

A road sign in Corzumel. 

Painted ceramic skulls are popular home decor in Corzumel.

Entrance to the Turtle farm on Cayman Islands

Never seen so many turtles all in one place before!

Part of a unique rock formation in Cayman Islands. It is now a tourist attraction popularly known as "Hell".

*Description of the rock formation.

*Images copied from the internet.

Let's Go Cruisin' !

How are you folks "marching" forward this new month?.....
Just wanted to share some photos from a recent trip.
One of the events on my wish list is to go on a cruise ship, and guess what!.... I got to do it! .....woot! woot!...*breakdancing*
We went on a cruise the week of Christmas '14, with friends and family. We were 32 in number, including children. It was a 7-day, 6 night cruise on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship. Boarded the ship at the Port Evandales in Florida, stopped at the following destinations on days 2 , 3 and 6: Key-West, Cayman Islands and Corzumel-Mexico.
The ship, we were told has a capacity for over 2,000 guests, and it is just a normal size ship! Some of the guests we were on the ship with commented that the ship is just average in terms of amenities and services...Oh well, I have never been on a cruise , so there was nothing to compare my experience with. All I can say is, it was a fun experience. It has about 12 floors, an amphitheater, 3 swimming pools, about 3 restaurants, shopping galleria, a spa, a gym, a daycare for children, a casino and some rooms for different  events.

                                                     Side-view of the ship at the dock

The Visitors' area on the main (3rd) floor.

The "Amphi-theater". It has capacity for about 1,500 guests. There was a concert, show or presentation here every night. Accessible from the 3rd to 5th floors.

The swimming pool from the top deck.

The casino : Opened 24 hours.

A pub for a pint or 2 : Opened 24 hours.

The ship's housekeeping did a good job of towel-origami in every room at least twice a day. It was always something different. This is an elephant. :)

The children daycare center on the 11th floor for children ages 6 months to 12 years old. They  had activities for every age group.