Modern antibiotics and medicines are one of the most effective ways of curing illnesses and infections, but that wasn’t always the case. For a long time, garlic was one of the main medicinal herbs used by doctors. Today, garlic tincture is still an effective means to get rid of some types of ailments.
Garlic tincture is a mixture of macerated garlic and distilled water, organic vinegar, or alcohol. This extract preserves the medicinal properties and makes it easier to administer. Garlic tincture has a wide range of positive health effects and has been used as an antimicrobial and antibacterial for thousands of years.
Any survival kit needs to have some garlic tincture, or at the very least, a recipe for it. Garlic tinctures can go a long, long way for survival, no matter if you are camping out in the middle of nowhere, or you find yourself lost in the woods. Historically, garlic tinctures have been believed to have antibiotic effects.
Of course, they aren’t going to be as effective or efficient as modern medicines that you can get at the doctor, but when it comes to survival, having a garlic tincture is one of the best things that you can do for yourself. You should make the garlic tincture at home first to get the hang of it. Once you’ve made it, it is incredibly easy to make again.
The Benefits of Using Garlic Tincture
Garlic tincture has many medicinal uses. Garlic tincture can be used to treat the following:
- Viral Skin Infection
- Wounds
- Ulcers
- Flu
- Colds
- Viruses
- Strep
- Worms
- High Blood Pressure
- Kidney Problems
- Bladder Problems
- Respiratory Issues
This list isn’t all-inclusive but it represents the uses that are most widely accepted as being effectively treated with garlic tincture.
According to WebMD, red blood cells turn certain compounds from digested garlic into hydrogen sulfide which causes blood vessels to relax and lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Garlic tincture is antibacterial, but garlic also has more than 40 other healthy compounds such as arginine, oligosaccharides, flavonoids, and selenium. All of these compounds combine to make it great for treating a wide range of ailments.
Creating a tincture with the garlic is one of the few ways to preserve all of the compounds that garlic contains. Once you start heating or cooking garlic, many of the health benefits of garlic are reduced or completely eliminated.
List of medicinal compounds found in garlic:
- Sulfur-Containing Amino Acids and Peptides
- cysteine
- methionine
- S-allylcysteine
- S-allylmercaptocysteine
- glutathione
- S-ethyl cysteine (SEC)
- N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)
- Thiosulfinates
- allicin
- allyl sulfinates
- methyl allyl sulfinates
- Sulfoxides
- alliin
- garlicins
- methiin
- isoalliin
- Sulfides, Diallyl Sulfides, and Polysulfides
- hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
- diallyl sulfide (DAS)
- diallyl disulfide (DADS)
- diallyl trisulfide (DATS)
- Vinyldithiins
- 1,2-vinyldithiin
- dehydrovinyldithiins
- Ajoenes
- E-ajoene
- Z-ajoene
How to Use Garlic Tincture
Back before modern medicine, garlic tinctures were used in a number of ways. The most common usage was as an antibiotic. In the days of the pioneers, they would use the garlic tincture for ailments such as the flu, colds, high blood pressure, strep throat, viruses, skin infections, and several other ailments.
Keep in mind that it might not be extremely effective for these ailments, but at the same time, the pioneers continued using this tincture, so there were some positive results.
Modern antibiotics are a much better alternative. You can store them by stocking up on fish antibiotics.
Recommended Dosage
The recommended dosage for garlic tincture is just 4 or 5 drops per day. Add the drops to an 8 oz glass of water and drink. Follow it up immediately with another 8 oz glass of water.
Possible Garlic Tincture Side Effects
When you plan on taking the garlic tincture, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, if you take too much, you can feel dizzy, nauseated, and you can sweat excessively. If you have an anti-coagulation disorder or are on blood-thinning medicines, you should consult your doctor before taking this tincture.
For women, it can also cause menstrual changes. Again, as with any other supplement, you should talk to your doctor before you start taking it.
What Do You Need To Make Garlic Tincture?
You’ll need enough garlic to get one cup of chopped garlic. Additionally, you will need two cups of one of the following:
- Distilled water
- Pure grain alcohol
- Vodka
- White rum
- White whiskey
- Unfiltered organic vinegar
All of these liquids have the same properties that you need for the garlic tincture, and it is up to you which one you want to choose. However, you will just need to make sure that you have two cups of your chosen liquid.
You will also need some equipment as well. You’re going to need a strainer, a funnel, a spoon, and a mason jar. A blender works great for chopping the garlic, although you can also use the mortar and pestle if you don’t access to one.
How to Make Garlic Tincture
First, you will either want to use the mortar and pestle or the blender to chop the garlic bulbs. Go through enough garlic bulbs until you have at least one cup of garlic. Once you have this cup of garlic, you will want to add the liquid that you chose earlier to the garlic.
This Garlic Tincture comes highly recommended!
Next, pour the mixture into a clean mason jar. Write the date on the lid of the mason jar with a marker so you know when you made the mixture.
Let the mixture rest for two to three weeks. Every day, gently shake the jar. Continue with making the tincture after two or three weeks have passed.
Using the strainer, you will want to strain the garlic from the liquid. With all the garlic on the strainer, use a spoon to press down on the garlic as much as you can so that you can get all of the liquid out of the garlic and into the mason jar. At this point, the tincture is ready to use.
Your garlic tincture can last up to a year if you store it in a cool dark place. Either transfer it into a container that will keep out light, or wrap the mason jar in cloth or paper that will keep light out.
Your tincture should be thrown out if the liquid starts to turn green or grey.
Conclusion
Garlic tincture is an antimicrobial and antibiotic extract that can treat things like the flu and even reduce the chance of heart disease!
If you keep the tincture in a cool dark place you should have a medicinal garlic supplement that you can use for up to a year to treat all kinds of illnesses, even in a survival situation when modern medicine may not be available.
