Garlic (Allium sativum)
Allium sativum
Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbalism
Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbalism

Garlic

Allium sativum

Also known as cultivated garlic, poor man's treacle, Ajo, Allium, Onion, Lashuna, Rasona, Ugragandha.

HotMoisteningWarmingTaste: PungentTaste: SweetTaste: SaltyTaste: BitterTaste: Astringent

Allium sativum is the garlic of every kitchen, a bulbous perennial of the onion family domesticated in Central Asia and grown across India, with major production in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Ayurveda calls it Lashuna or Rasona, the herb of five tastes, and treats it as a powerful heating rasayana for vata: a remedy for joint and nerve disease, heart disease, worms, cold coughs, weak digestion and debility, with a dedicated rasayana course in the Uttara tantra of the Ashtanga Hridaya. Modern trials confirm its cardiovascular character.

Ask Herbert about Garlic. Herbert is the master herbalist inside Bountiful Herbs: he answers from this plate and eleven hundred others, with dosing, pairing and cautions. Your first ten questions are free.

Ask Herbert

Actions

AntimicrobialAntifungalAnthelminticHypolipidemicHypotensiveAntiplateletFibrinolyticHypoglycemic (mild)ImmunomodulatorAntioxidantCarminativeExpectorantDiaphoreticAntispasmodicAntisepticBacteriostaticAntiviralCardioprotectiveAntineoplasticAntithromboticHypotensive (mild)MucolyticAnti-protozoalAnti-plague

Indications what the tradition reached for it in

Specific indications

A cold, stiff, gassy vata patient with aching joints, sciatica and a sluggish gut, who is warmed and moved by garlic cooked in milk or ghee

The middle-aged patient with rising blood pressure, high cholesterol and a sedentary, kapha-heavy build, where daily garlic is part of the cardiovascular plan

Recurrent chest colds with thick cold phlegm and a weak digestive fire, especially in winter

Safety

The record lists 9 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.

In practice

Rasona is the great vata medicine of the Ayurvedic kitchen. For vatavyadhi, sandhivata and sciatica the classical preparation is Lashuna ksheerapaka: a few crushed cloves simmered in milk and water until the water is gone, taken warm at night, which softens the heat and sharpness so the unctuous nourishing side of the bulb comes forward.

In Ayurveda

Rasa: katu (pungent) predominant, with madhura (sweet), lavana (salty), tikta (bitter) and kashaya (astringent); it lacks only amla (sour), hence the name Rasona. Virya: ushna (heating). Vipaka: katu (pungent). Guna: snigdha (unctuous), guru (heavy), tikshna (sharp), picchila (slimy), sara (mobile). Dosha: pacifies vata strongly and kapha; aggravates pitta and rakta. Karma: rasayana (rejuvenative); vrishya (aphrodisiac); balya (strengthening); medhya (supports intellect); hridya (cardiac tonic); bhagnasandhanakara (unites fractures); deepana (kindles digestion); pachana (digestive); krimighna (anthelmintic); kaphahara (reduces kapha); vatahara (pacifies vata); chakshushya (benefits the eyes); svarya (benefits the voice); kanthya (benefits the throat). Classical indications: vatavyadhi (neuromuscular and joint disorders of vata); hridroga (heart disease); jvara (fever, chronic and intermittent); krimi (worm infestation); shvasa (dyspnea); kasa (cough); gulma (abdominal mass); arsha (hemorrhoids); kushtha (skin disease); agnimandya (weak digestion); sandhivata (osteoarthritis); bhagna (fracture); udara (abdominal disease); shotha (edema). The peeled clove is the drug, eaten raw or fried in ghee, cooked in milk as Lashuna ksheerapaka, pounded with salt and oil into a kalka, boiled with sesame oil for Lashuna taila used in ear drops and massage, and compounded into vati and rasayana preparations; the classical Rasona kalpa takes it in graded doses through a winter course. Classical formulations: Lashuna ksheerapaka, Lashunadi vati, Rasona rasayana, Rasonadi kwatha, Lashuna taila, Lashunadya ghrita, Rasona pinda. Described in: Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Dhanvantari Nighantu, Raja Nighantu, Sharngadhara Samhita, Kaiyadeva Nighantu, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.

Dosing as the sources wrote it

PreparationAs writtenMetric
Fresh clove2-4 g fresh peeled clove daily, crushed, with food or honey2000-4000 mg
Ksheerapaka50-100 mL garlic milk decoction once daily at night50-100 mL
Churna1-3 g dried garlic powder twice daily with warm water1000-3000 mg
Standardized extract600-1200 mg aged garlic extract daily in divided doses600-1200 mg
Taila, topical5-10 mL garlic-infused sesame oil for joint massage daily5-10 mL
Dried bulb 2-4 g three times daily2000-4000 mg

Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.

From the sources

Overview. Allium sativum is the garlic of every kitchen, a bulbous perennial of the onion family domesticated in Central Asia and grown across India, with major production in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Ayurveda calls it Lashuna or Rasona, the herb of five tastes, and treats it as a powerful heating rasayana for vata: a remedy for joint and nerve disease, heart disease, worms, cold coughs, weak digestion and debility, with a dedicated rasayana course in the Uttara tantra of the Ashtanga Hridaya. Modern trials confirm its cardiovascular character.

Clinical Notes. Bulb is technically underground leaf bud Hot, best treats cold conditions Good for preventing and treating infections TCM=acrid & warm, enters spleen, tomach, and lung meridians, used to reduce swelling & relieve toxicity in conditions such as sores, carbuncles, TB, whooping cough, dysentery, diarrhea & influenza, used topically mixed w/ salt and sesame oil to treat rashes, itiching & swelling of skin, used for prevention of viral infections, used to treat and prevent parasitic infections such as hookworm and pinworm, used to treat food poisoning, contraindicated w/ yin-deficient heat or in cases of excess heat 1 clove of garlic is about 4 g and contains about 1% alliin Vaginal candidiasis=insert clove of...

Clinical Notes. Rasona is the great vata medicine of the Ayurvedic kitchen. For vatavyadhi, sandhivata and sciatica the classical preparation is Lashuna ksheerapaka: a few crushed cloves simmered in milk and water until the water is gone, taken warm at night, which softens the heat and sharpness so the unctuous nourishing side of the bulb comes forward.

Action and Therapy. External. Stimulant and rubefacient. Garlic poultice, like that of the onion, may be applied with benefit in acute respiratory and abdominal inflammations. It sometimes excites a flow of urine in atony of the bladder, and in gastro-intestinal catarrh it is as efficient as the spice poultice.

Drawn from Cook's Physio-Medical Dispensatory; King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Ellingwood's American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy; Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.

In formulas

Garlic stands in 24 documented formulas in the library, among them Laśunādi Ghṛta, Kuṣṭharākṣasa Taila, Koṭṭamcukkādi Taila, Vacālaśunādi Taila, Viṣatinduka Taila, Vraṇarākṣasa Taila.

Often paired with

GingerZingiber officinaleLicorice rootGlycyrrhiza glabraFang FengSaposhnikovia divaricatacostusSaussurea costusIndian aconiteAconitum feroxSichuan Lovage RhizomeLigusticum chuanxiong

Nearby on the shelf

Garden AngelicaAngelica archangelicaGarden BurnetSanguisorba officinalisGarden cressLepidium sativumGarden silkweedAsclepias currasavicaGarlic MustardAlliaria petiolataGastrodiaGastrodia elataGenistaGenistaGentianGentiana lutea

The whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.

Open the library, free