An Ode to Garlic

Ahh, garlic.  Useful for warding off vampires and colds.  And husbands that don't like the smell of it on your breath.  Speaking of colds, I have a really awful one.  My normal arsenal against colds includes raw garlic and apple cider vinegar. (Not together).  The apple cider vinegar I use for throat issues, mixed with hot water and honey to make tea.  I mix the raw garlic with something like salsa, or make garlic bread and put the garlic on after I've toasted the bread.  Usually when I do this, the garlic inhibits the cold virus and I don't get sick.  This cold, however, is not taking no for an answer.

I have always believed that everything happens for a reason.  Over the last year, I have expanded that theory to include "there is no such thing as a coincidence".  I think that when we're moving in a direction that's not in our best interest, something happens to gently nudge us back on course.  In this case, I am being nudged towards a book.

I have been buying a lot of books lately.  My interest in reiki has opened a whole new world of things that I know nothing about and am eager to learn.  One book that has been on my shelf since Christmas is "Healing With Whole Foods", by Paul Pitchford.  The title is pretty self explanatory.  The book combines Asian medicine and Western research to help with everything from the common cold to cancer.  I've been meaning to read it for a while, but it's huge and I can't take it to work.  When I'm home the only time I have to read is before bed, and by then I'm too tired to absorb much of it.  I finally opened the book today while I was laying in bed feeling sorry for my pitiful self.  I started flipping through it to the different pages associated with colds.  As I skimmed through the book, I realized how much I needed to start reading it because of all the useful information.  It even has recipes.

This all kind of ties together with the nutritionist I've been seeing, and the Candida diet I'm currently on.  Luckily, most of what I'm eating on the diet is great for colds too.  Lots of greens, sea vegetables, garlic, onions and ginger tea.  Sugar and dairy are two of the worst things you can eat when you have a cold.  Finally, a reward for this torturous food regime I've undertaken.  Actually, it will turn out to be really good for me in the long run.  I'm eating things I never would have touched before or known what to do with, like sea vegetables and Quinoa.  My 3 year old had Dulse today for the first time, and liked it so much he dumped half the bag on his soup.  Dulse is a  seaweed that's high in manganese and iodine, and a good substitute for salt.  Don't worry, I didn't know what it was either.  Now the trick will be converting my hubby to this way of eating, so I don't have to cook two meals every night.  It's ok honey, I won't attempt to take away your meat.  Not yet anyway.


Article about protein by Paul Pitchford