Garlic as penicillin in 10 minutes (recipe for medicine or cooking ~
Sprouted garlic releases its protective chemicals and so its nutrients are more bioavailable.
Updated January 2025.
This is one of those things that I’ve been writing about for a long time, partly because it permeates all my recipes that use garlic, early because I use it all the time in place of pharmaceutical antibiotics, and partly because it’s just plain good stuff to have in your wellness knowledge wheelhouse.
Garlic has magical chemicals that are “activated” when crushed or minced and then left to rest that create an antibiotic that rivals penicillin. This is not new knowledge, but as science studies advance, this process becomes easier to understand and even value.
According to one study at NIH, allicin is active against a broader spectrum of microorganisms than most of the commonly used antibiotics. For example, allicin is active
NIH Cite: Allicin: Chemistry and Biological Properties
When you are using garlic in any recipe or as medicine, make your dose as you go. 10 minutes before you are going to use it. That is roughly how long it takes the chemicals to create its antibacterial substance called allicin. Of course it is more potent raw, but even when lightly cooked it retains quite a bit of their antibacterial energy. Toss your activated garlic in at the very end of your cooking process to retain as much of the antibacterial properties as possible.
Garlic has many active antimicrobial components, but allicin is the most researched. Allicin originates from the sulfur-containing amino acid alliin in a conversion facilitated by the enzyme alliinase. Alliin and alliinase are contained in separate compartments of the garlic clove. When garlic is crushed, the 2 ingredients come together to generate allicin, a highly volatile compound that provides the lovely smell of fresh garlic.
an excerpt from the American Society for Microbiology
Steps to “Activate” garlic making a penicillin-like antibiotic
Take 2-3 normal cloves of garlic = one dose penicillin, more or less as this is part nature, part science.
Cut the hard ends off
Crush the with the flat size of a knife and your fist or other flat tool. Or mince or press the garlic.
Set aside for a minimum of 2 minutes, not longer than 20 minutes for the alliin and alliinase to alchemize into allicin
Use in recipe OR take as orally. There are some fun ways to take the garlic; Spread the garlic over avocado toast or crackers, mixing it in some hummus, mix it into salad dressing with olive oil and a little lemon and salt, etc.
Popular recipes that use raw, and activated, garlic include hummus and salad dressings. Please search my recipes for some examples. My new Garlic Lover Dressings contains some incredible tips for adding activated garlic to your diet.
Please note: Using garlic as an antibiotic depends on your own body’s sensitivity to it and what type of condition you are using it for. Expect it may take a bit longer than pharmaceutical varietties of antibiotics. Though the process may take longer, generally using garlic can be more beneficial as it does not tend to destroy the microbiome of your system and may even enhance it. Try using one activated clove 3x a day vs eating too much all at once. There is no exact science on the amount as there is no way to know the freshness, potency, size and other issues. Please use your inner guidance and consult a personal health professional for more advice.
From an instagram post comment, I thought this would be good to add to my post…
highway_druid
You can use garlic to treat minor wounds as well. For the record, during WW1, crushed garlic was used to treat flesh wounds.
Serving of minced garlic as anti-biotic
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