THE BENEFICIAL ONION FAMILY

ALLIUMS (onions) grow all over the world, and over 100 varieties were used by Native American hunter gatherers for food or medicine to treat many kinds of illnesses. They even protected fields    of alliums growing in their territories. The alliums growing at the southern end of Lake Michigan could be smelled for miles, and was called Shikako or “Skunk Place,” from which came the name for Chicago.

            Wild alliums are more pungent than domestic varieties. (P. 48 Eating on the Wild Side.)

Alliums have not been cultivated to be less pungent and more sweet. This is why they still contain
most of the benefits their wild varieties possess.

Garlic Amidst the Raspberries.  Photograph                                                © by Ruth Zachary

*GARLIC was used for thousands of years as a performance enhancing substance. Athletes used them to enhance their endurance before competing in Olympics. During the Black Death French priests ate garlic and onions as part of their diet, and were more resistant to disease than English Priests who scorned the bad smelling “peasant food.”

            

            Some people react to raw garlic (Allicin) Also, do not give your dog any kinds of onion varieties in leftover food. They are not something their species has adapted to.

            Egyptians used 22 different garlic preparations to treat conditions ranging from fatigue to cancer. (1) see p 48 of Eating on the Wild Side.

             

            Garlic was used by Russian medics during WWII in a similar way as penicillin. In 2009 onions and garlic were being rationed as a part of the army diet, as a protection against the H1N1 flu. One milligram of allicin, from garlic is equivalent to 15 IU of penicillin, although the benefit of eating garlic is not the same. However garlic is more effective at killing bacteria. (1) see p 49 – 50 of Eating on the Wild Side. Garlic is more effective against cancer than cruciferous vegetables.

            NOTE: The benefits from garlic can be destroyed by poor preparation. Alliicin is produced by mixing two separate compounds in garlic, allicin and alliinase,  requiring that it be crushed and the two substances blended together. This can happen when chewing. It must be kept away from the heat for 10 minutes. Once it has been mixed and rested for 10 minutes, the Allicin can be heated and is effective in various recipes.

           However, heating after crushing or slicing garlic can destroy it. Microwaving destroys 90 percent of its cancer fighting ability. 

            The usual variety of garlic in the supermarket is the California Silverskin. Another is the Spanish Roja, a hardneck variety, with more of a rich garlicky flavor, not just hot. Farmer’s markets may carry both softnecck garlic and hardneck garlic. The latter is closer genetically to wild garlic and has more of its medicinal qualities. Hardneck has a hollow stub projecting from the top. The bulb has a single row of cloves circling the stem extending down to the roots. Softneck garlic has several concentric rows of cloves, smaller ones near the center. This is also heavier and plumper. Hardneck varieties have a smaller yield per acre and are more perishable, less desirable for mass production.

            Freeze dried garlic and other alliums retain most of their beneficial nutrients, but fresh garlic is the most economical choice.

            Store fresh garlic outside the refrigerator, but out of the light and with air circulation. Storing it increases its pungency and alicin content as much as tenfold. Store it in the frig but not in the crisper drawer. It needs to be dry or it will sprout.

           Most of the information for this topic was taken from  Eating on the Wild Side, by Jo Robinson.