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
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.
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