The chill is biting, Brits are piling on the winter woollies and it seems there's a nasty bug lurking around every corner. Cold season has crept up on us once again, leaving many hoping to steer clear of the sniffles. If you do find yourself in the grips of a cold, there's an offbeat remedy that might just do the trick, and it's causing quite a stir on TikTok .
Digital health gurus have been touting garlic as a potential quick fix for colds, particularly if you've got the guts to chomp down on a raw clove. Mindbodyspiritsecrets suggest that through a cheeky bite or two, the humble clove can be somewhat miraculous. Apparently, it's all thanks to a compound known as allicin, which packs a punch with its anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal superpowers.
Garlic is basically a germ-fighting superhero, charging in to "kill off the bad bacteria", and mend your poorly self faster. It might not be an instant cure, but it could very well up the pace of your recovery. Since the video was shared, it's been liked over 12,000 times, and people are keen to see if the trick works.
One person said: "Going to eat garlic from my fridge. Been sick three days." A second added: "I've had mine over a week, and it won't go away.
" A third replied: "Garlic with honey. Tastes good." Meanwhile, a fourth also commented: "This actually works.
I've been doing this for years, and it really shortens the length of your cold. "You need to chew it a bit before swallowing, as bad as it tastes, but it releases all the juices." Over at Healthline , they back up the healing hype surrounding garlic, stating it's packed with compounds that boost the immune system's bug-battling abilities.
Whole garlic comprises of something called alliin, and when squished or munched, it turns into allicin. This allicin is packed with sulfur, which gives garlic its bold taste and smell. The only thing is, allicin is unstable, so it quickly transforms into other sulfur-containing compounds, which are believed to provide garlic with its medicinal properties.
These compounds have been shown to enhance the disease-fighting response of certain types of white blood cells in the body when they encounter viruses, like the common cold or flu. Research demonstrated that garlic can lower the risk of falling ill, as well as influence the duration of a person's sickness. It can also aid in alleviating symptoms more rapidly.
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