What is Yogic Cooking? Ingredient Information ![]() This is the second in a three-part series on The Herb Trinity, which comprises three potent roots: onions, garlic, and ginger. The trinity herbs serve as essentials to the modern yogi’s diet, and are actually “survival” foods for the stressful and polluted world we live in. This month, the topic is … Garlic,
The Stinking Healer! Sexual Performance Enhancer? Many believe that garlic is helpful to maintain male potency. In yogic terms, garlic promotes the production of semen (ojas) and increases sexual energy. Some traditions, which believe in celibacy or sex only for procreation, forbid the use of garlic because of this increase in sexual energy. However, in other yogic teachings, garlic is purposefully taken just for this reason. It is this same potent energy that can be focused for creativity and, through the practice of Kundalini Yoga, drawn up to the higher chakras (energy centers) for greater spiritual awareness. Ayurvedically speaking, garlic effectively fights many bacteria and viruses. Scientists today have found garlic to have natural antibiotic qualities. Unlike pharmaceuticals though, garlic does not destroy the good flora in your intestines and create conditions for yeast overgrowth. Instead garlic works to balance bacteria in the colon and small intestines. It is helpful in treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, septic poisoning, typhus, and even cholera. How to take garlic… It is best taken raw. It has quite a bite and, if you are not accustomed to it, there are ways to help get it down (see below). Although not as effective, it can be taken cooked. Odorless garlic capsules are available in natural food stores and many drug stores. These are also effective, and are odorless. Now, about bad breath… For “garlic breath,” try chewing on a few cardamom pods (or just the seeds), some parsley, or fennel seeds. You can make a little mixture of cardamom and fennel seeds and just take a pinch or two to chew on. Swallow it or spit out after chewing (it’s up to you). and body odor… When you eat a lot of garlic, it doesn’t just affect your breath. It comes out through your pores, in gas that is expelled, and in your perspiration. And the more toxic and polluted your body is, the worse you will smell. Don’t worry about that smell. Just remember that this is taking care of the smell INSIDE your body. I have experienced many an odoriferous morning in group meditation, when we all ate a lot of garlic all the time. This provided the best environment for meditating! All of the body odor filling the room really made us focus on the mantra and meditation, just so we could separate ourselves from that smell! A long time dear friend has been eating raw garlic nearly everyday for thirty years. She must go through a pound of garlic every week. She has baskets of garlic hanging in her kitchen. She practices Kundalini Yoga every day. She is a living radiance. And with all that garlic and all that exercise, she never smells like garlic. She keeps herself pure and healthy with her simple practice of yoga and yogic diet. Here are some easy ways to enjoy garlic and some yogic remedies that use garlic:
How to Peel and Chop Garlic
Chopped Garlic in Olive Oil
Avocado Spread
Cold Chaser
Garlic Cleanse with Hydrotherapy
To Come Out of Sickness
Garlic Lover Cheese Toast
Chop 1 bulb of garlic. Lightly toast two slices of bread (rye is very tasty). Put one piece of toast in the middle of a piece of aluminum foil. Put a slice of cheese (like Jack, muenster, cheddar) on that piece of toast. Add half of the garlic. Put another slice of cheese over that. Then add the other half of the garlic. Top with another slice of cheese. Now top it all with the other piece of toast. Wrap the whole thing in foil and bake at 375 until the cheese is quite melted (about 15 minutes). You don’t have to wrap it in foil, that just helps so the toast doesn’t get too toasted. The garlic should not be cooked all the way. The cheese helps take the bite out of the garlic. This is a lot of cheese, but somehow all that garlic balances it out!
SOURCES: The above remedies and recommendations are based on yogic/ayurvedic healing traditions and should not be taken as medical advice. If you have a health concern, seek the guidance of your health practitioner. |
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