Allium sativum is the scientific name for garlic. It is a member of the Amaryllidacae family, that also includes such things as onion, chives and shallots. Garlic is also know as the stinking rose,(image why) heal-all, rustic's or poorman's treacle.

Garlic is one of the worlds oldest healing herbs. Because of its numerous applications, it can truly be called a wonder drug. Being one of the most researched of the herbs of the Amaryllidacae family, it is the most potent of the group.

Prescriptions for garlic have been found chiseled in cuneiform on a Samaritan clay tablet dated from 3000 B.C.. Historically the ancient world from Spain to India, and China loved garlic. The herb was found in King Tut's tomb. In addition, the Bible tells of the Hebrew slaves complaining of missing the finer things of life - "fish, cucumber, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic."

The two main medical ingredients that produce the garlic health benefits are allicin and diallyl sulfides. Garlic must be chewed, busied, chopped, or crushed to transform its medicinally inert allicin into antibiotic allicin.

Researchers have discovered that one medium-sized clove of garlic packs the antibacterial punch of about 100,000 units of penicillin. Oral penicillin doses are typically in the range 600,000 to 1.2 million units, depending on the infection. That means that the equivalent amount of garlic would be about 6 to 12 cloves.

Garlic came to be known as "the Russian penicillin" during World War II when more than 20 million casualties overwhelmed its antibiotic supply. And the Russian physicians had to rely heavily on garlic.

Here are a few of the health benefits of garlic:

Powerful Antibiotic

Dozens of animal and human studies have confirmed that garlic has broad-spectrum antibiotic properties. Several studies show the herb to be effective in treating fungi that cause athlete's foot and virginal yeast infection.

Cancer

In a study reported in the journal "Science', researchers separated mouse tumor cells into two groups. One group of tumor tissue was left alone. The other was treated with allicin. Then both batches of tumor cells were injected into mice. The mice who received the untreated cells quickly died, but there were no deaths among the mice that received the garlic-treated tumor cells.

Heart Disease and Stroke

Garlic has show in numerous studies that it has the ability to reduce blood pressure, decrease cholesterol, and reduce the likelihood of internal blood clots, that can trigger heart attacks and some strokes.

Diabetes

Blood sugar levels have been reduced by the use of garlic, in lab studies in both animal and human experiments.

Although garlic may smell, when you look at the health benefits, a little smell may help you.