Garlic Salve

If you’re anything like me, you are well aware of garlic and all its perfection! The smell in the air can turn a room into excitement as fresh bread from the oven is sliced up and served with butter. Garlic is what I like to think of as the bacon of the herb world. Have you ever heard bacon makes everything better? Well garlic makes everything better in my opinion. Want green beans? throw some garlic in there and mix it up before baking. That bread going in the oven, throw some garlic in there. Making a stir fry for dinner? Add some garlic…OK, you get my point.

I used to live in California and there was a garlic farm our family would pass by a couple of times a month. You could smell it before you saw it. Not that garlic doesn’t have its moments….. such as bad breath. But, clearly I just love the stuff! I am lucky to live near an Amish community where I can get the stuff fresh, organic, and by the pound dried. Must be heaven you ask?…..Well no, it’s Tennessee. But close 😉

OK, enough small talk. What really makes Garlic so great?

Garlic improves Iron metabolism

Garlic can help prevents colds 

Garlic lowers cholesterol

Garlic reduces arthritis pain

Garlic has been claimed to prevent cancer!

Garlic can prevent hair loss

Garlic can clear acne

Garlic soothes psoriasis

Garlic can treat toenail fungus

(I found this list at homeremediesforall.com in case you want to look into any of these)

So if Garlic is known for natural remedies, why aren’t we using it more? I know as a mother of seven children even I do not use it as much as I probably should. I mean, with us eating it and rubbing it on our bodies we still want people to come over. I guess we don’t want to scare them off. Vampires? No problem, we are covered.

I wanted to include in this blog one of my favorite NEW finds. I like to stick to the things I know.  But sometimes in the middle of the night, when your baby is coughing and your usual go to’s just aren’t cutting it, you expand your horizon to try and put your fears and your child’s discomfort to bed.  So as I was sitting with Amariah, my 5 year old, watching her cough so hard she was throwing up. I just could not sit by. I looked through my favorite resource books and found Garlic Salve. Which is best known in my family as Garlic Paste. 

Here is what you will need:

• Blender
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 8 cloves peeled garlic
• 5 or so drops of Lavender Oil

(I trust a few brands of oils, do your research but I will make a blog about the ones I trust and why in the future)

If you want to know more about Garlic Salve and the Antibiotic properties I will post that below the recipe. If you’re reading this because you need the Salve NOW! I don’t want to keep you waiting.

Step One:

Peel your garlic and place it in your blender (a food processor would work if you don’t have a blender) There is no need to chop the garlic before tossing it in. After the garlic is peeled and placed in the blender add your remaining ingredients and blend at a high speed to liquefy the ingredients.

Step Two: 

Strain through a fine sieve or strainer to get our any pieces. I like to add my salve to a Mason jar (small unless you’re doubling or tripling the batch, I mean this stuff is great to just have made and ready to go when you need it)  Then REFRIGERATE!

It is literally that simple! Two steps. To be completely honest, I found myself without a strainer and just left it all intact. I honestly do not see a difference in effectiveness.

Note: If the Salve causes a rash or skin irritation (Which my children have never had an issue with, but it is possible) Just add more oil to the mixture. This could be coconut or olive oil. I would say this is for very sensitive skin types.

After the mixture is made you simply apply it to the bottom of the feet, liberally. Then cover the feet with socks to help keep it from getting all over the place. You can also apply the mixture directly on the chest and over the back where the lungs would be.  Some babies can only handle the mixture on there feet, so watch for this if your putting it on very young children.

My daughter, who was coughing so hard that she could not keep anything down the previous day, was now sleeping within a few minutes and I could not have been more pleased. I was not expecting it to work that well if I am honest. But hey, I can admit when I am wrong. This time I was glad that I was.

The book that I found this recipe in was “Be Your Own ‘Doctor'” by Rachel Weaver M.H. 101 Stories An Informative guide to Herbal Home Health Care.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who feels like they do not want to go to the doctor for every bump or hiccup along the road. You will find stories in this book of people that the recipes have helped improve there over all health.

“Garlic Salve-The Antibiotic Salve!

Here is an all-purpose antibiotic salve that you can use for babies, children and adults

alike. I first read about it in Debbie Pearl’s articles. Garlic salve can be made in a few minutes and stored in the fridge to be readily available whenever you need it. When I read about this simple salve I really questioned whether it could do all they said. But I have no more questions about its ability. It is a valuable, inexpensive home remedy that no mother of little ones should be without. Once again I wish it didn’t smell like garlic, but the results are worth the smell. Apply directly to sores, inside the mouth, Rub it on athlete’s foot or use it for jock itch, or yest and other related infections. Apply it, try a small amount first to be sure that it does not burn too badly. However, if you follow the recipe you will have a salve that usually does not burn. Place it on a cotton swab for ear infections. Garlic salve kills Candida, parasites, absorption through the skin into the blood supply and it travels throughout the body. After two weeks, make a new batch of garlic salve. ” (pg 94 )

*Disclaimer I am not a doctor. Check with your doctor or herbalist who ever it is you trust and go to for your health care if you feel like your symptoms are serious or getting worse.  I am not saying that this mixture will cure you or your family. I am also not saying that garlic will cure you from any of the above listed statements found on the website. Home remedies for all of the above listed, I have not done any of my own studies in those areas. Be mindful of what you put into your bodies as well as your families bodies.