Kitchen Remedy Puts Antibiotics To Shame

November 15, 2016

(GreenMedInfo.com) Fighting infection with conventional antibiotics is becoming a hopeless affair. The CDC recently warned these drugs are useless in combatting deadly “super germs.” So what can one do? Your kitchen holds the key.

Every day in this country, all day long, patients and doctors reach for conventional antibiotics when opportunistic infections present themselves. The fact that most infections are self-limiting (the body has an immune system, we often forget), and that antibacterial antibiotics are often administered for viral infections, against which they are useless and even infection-promoting, is rarely if ever acknowledged. There is also the problem that antibiotics themselves drive the growth of antibiotic resistant subpopulations of bacteria, effectively creating “super germs” in the process. This effect can adversely alter the microbial substrate for our health for months, years, and perhaps for our entire lifetime (and our progeny’s lifetimes).

The good news is that doctors and their patients are starting to wake up. The concept of taking a probiotic to promote health, for instance, is practically mainstream knowledge now. There is even compelling research that viruses in our body are essential to fight bacterial infections and cancer, and that viruses are so important that we should consider taking proviriotics (substances that feed their growth) to support our virally-base immunity. Watch Dr. Virgin’s amazing NIH lecture below to learn about the health-promoting role of viruses as members of the virome (the viral component of the microbiome) in the video below:

You can also read my article on how the discovery of the microbiome has demolished a key tenet of Germ Theory, namely, that viruses and bacteria are primarily pathogenic in nature: How The Microbiome Destroyed the Ego, Vaccine Policy, and Patriarchy.

The Rise of Natural Medicine for Treating Infections

And so, in the past few years, interest in evidence-based, natural alternatives, which provide safer and more effective relief, have increasingly expanded.   Together, we are re-learning and remembering the wisdom of the ancients: let food be your medicine.

At GreenMedInfo.com, we have indexed a broad range of natural substances that have potent anti-microbial activity, including commonly available and inexpensive ‘kitchen remedies’ like honey, garlic, lemon, to name but a few. In actuality, thousands of natural substances have antimicrobial activity, which unlike conventional drugs, are far more capable of restoring balance within the microbiome. We have indexed hundreds of studies on this topic, all of which can be found on our Research Dashboard dedicated to Antibiotic Resistant Infection.

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Garlic Versus First-Line Antibiotic for Vaginal Infection

A relatively recent study adds to the already impressive body of research in this field. Titled “Comparing the Therapeutic Effects of Garlic Tablet and Oral Metronidazole on Bacterial Vaginosis: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial,” medical researchers demonstrated the power of garlic in treating bacterial vaginosis, one of the most common gynecological infections afflicting women of reproductive age today.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects 29.2% of women aged 14-49, and 25% of pregnant women in the US, according to CDC statistics.  According to the study,

“This infection is asymptomatic in 50% to 75% of cases and symptomatic cases present with homogeneous gray-white vaginal discharge with fishy odor, especially after intercourse or during menstruation”

It is believed that BV results from reduced quantities of hydrogen peroxide producing lactobacillus and increased anaerobic organisms such as Gardnerella vaginalis, Mycoplasma hominis, and Prevotella species. Antibiotics are notorious for lacking specificity in inhibiting only those opportunistic strains that can cause harm, which is why it is no wonder that the standard of care treatment of BV with metronidazole has a notoriously poor success rate.[1]

Moreover, antibiotics like metronidazole come with a wide range of side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, dizziness weight loss, and abdominal pain.