Salient Information Gleaned from the Garlic Webpage - Essay Example

Healthcare is a vital component of an individual’s well-being. In contemporary times, the rising cost of living has been hurting the overall public healthcare components. The inflationary trend in the economy has made quality medical care inaccessible to the common man. 

The NCCAM is a government initiative that is sponsored by the National Institute of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services, USA. Garlic is one of the most important herbs which are extensively used as complementary and alternative medicine. The information about garlic can be easily accessed through the following web link. Website address: http://nccam.nih.gov/ Process to access information about garlic One can either use Google as a search engine for finding the website of NCCAM or just type the above-mentioned web address on the address bar at the top of the Google homepage.

Once the homepage of NCCAM is accessed, select the link to Herbs At a Glance, which is on the vertical bar at the left side of the homepage, under the title of Health. The new link has huge options for herbs with medicinal value. Choose garlic as your final link and access all types of information regarding it. Why garlic is an important herb? I was interested in garlic because, since the olden times, it has been part of our food culture. It has also been known for its highly effective medicinal value.

The webpage provides detailed information about it. Salient information gleaned from the garlic webpage Garlic is a plant in the form of a bulb that belongs to the lily family. The bulb consists of cloves which are used in various ways. The paste of garlic cloves gives an exotic taste to the food. It is also eaten in raw form. The garlic cloves are also used to extract oil for easy usage. Garlic has huge medicinal properties. Its regular usage acts as a strong preventive measure against some types of cancer like stomach and colon cancer.

It is also taken as a dietary supplement for heart diseases, cholesterol, and high blood pressure. While not all information about the efficacy of garlic as medicine is supported by science, it is nevertheless found that it does slow down the development of the hardening of arteries that may lead to serious heart diseases. It also helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of certain cancer. One very important point is that it thins the blood and reduces its ability of clotting. Hence, its use should be avoided in cases like surgery and other blood disorders till full recovery. Learning outcome It is a strong preventive agent for many diseases.