Garlic and Ginger Inhibit Drug Resistant Bacteria

Recent research has confirmed and quantified that whole extracts of Garlic and Ginger have the ability to stop several species of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

The newest research comes from Italy's University of Pisa. The researchers tested garlic against the infective bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The research found that all three bacteria species were inhibited by the Garlic extract, which was taken from fresh Garlic bulbs.

This research confirmed another recent study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, and conducted by researchers from King Saud University and India's Rangasamy College.

This study focused on seven of the most dangerous superbugs – called MDRs or multidrug resistant bacteria. These included E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus cloacae and Bacillus subtilis.

The particular strains used in the study were some of the most multi-drug resistant strains known. Some of the bacteria strains tested against the Garlic and Ginger were resistant to more than 10 different antibiotics. These antibiotics included ampicillin, amoxicillin, amikacin, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, clindamycin, co-trimoxazole, erythromycin, gentamycin, kanamycin, methicillin, novobiocin, nalidixic acid, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, penicillin, rifampicin, streptomycin, tetracyclin and vancomycin.

The researchers utilized whole Garlic and Ginger for the tests - ground with mortar and pestle. They utilized dimethyl sulphoxide as an extract medium. The researchers conducted repeated multiple laboratory tests using four different concentrations of the two herbal extracts, both separately and together.

With the exception of Enterobacter sp. and Klebsiella sp., the researchers found that all of the bacteria tested were inhibited to some degree by the ginger and garlic. The bacteria inhibited the most by Ginger included P. aeruginosa, E. coli and Bacillus sp.

The Garlic extract inhibited P. aeruginosa the greatest, followed by E. coli and Bacillus sp. The Garlic cloves ethanol extract showed similar inhibition zones against Proteus sp., Enterobacter sp. and S. aureus.

The researchers added: "It is interesting to note that even crude extracts of these plants showed good activity against multidrug resistant strains where modern antibiotic therapy has limited effect."

The research also indicated that the antibiotic potential of these two herbs was due to their combination of biochemicals - including their tannin, saponin, phenol, flavonoid and essential oil content.

Learn more strategies to increase immunity and combat infection.

The antibiotic effects of these two herbs have been supported by other studies, including one from researchers at India's University of the Punjab. This study tested both Garlic and Ginger extracts against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcusepidermidis and Salmonella typhi. While the inhibitory effect with Ginger was less, the Garlic extracts showed significant inhibitory activity against these bacteria - some of the most lethal infective species to humans.

The two measurements used to quantify the ability of these herbs to inhibit the bacteria in these studies included Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Zone of Inhibition. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration measures the concentration of a substance in solution that will inhibit the bacteria, and the Zone of Inhibition is the range of inhibition - typically measured in millimeters. These measurements are also used to quantify the ability of antibiotic drugs to inhibit bacteria. Lower MIC levels and greater inhibition zones equate to higher levels of antibiotic potential.

Both Garlic and Ginger have been used for centuries to combat infections of different types. The use of these herbs has crossed over many traditional medicines around the world as well.

Source: GreenMedInfo

Peru bans GMOs: Will America take the hint and follow suit before it's too late?

The only other country in the Americas besides Ecuador to completely ban genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) from being cultivated within its borders, the South American nation of Peru has taken charge to help protect not only its own citizens but also the people of the countries to whom it exports food crops from the horrors of biotechnology. As reported by CSMonitor.com, Peru has successfully implemented a 10-year moratorium on GMOs while extensive, long-term safety tests are conducted.

Accomplishing what practically no other country in North, Central, or South America has yet had the willingness or boldness to even attempt, Peru has essentially told the biotechnology industry to take its untested "Frankencrops" and shove them where the sun does not shine. Not only are GMOs dangerous for the environment and humans, agree many local experts and farmers, but they also threaten to decimate the rich biodiversity that has sustained the many civilizations of Peru for millennia.

"They're a big monoculture, which is why people usually end up using GMOs," says Chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino about the detriments of factory farming, as quoted by CSMonitor.com. Schiaffino owns two restaurants in Lima that serve clean, native foods, including many unique varieties found only in the Amazon rainforest. "[W]hen you have monocultures, the crops end up getting diseases, and you have to look for these extreme ways to fix them."

So to prevent the complete loss of a farming tradition that has long incorporated the diverse cultivation of a plethora of native and indigenous crops, Peruvians have decided to simply disallow the raping and pillaging of their rich soils with toxic GMOs. And in the process, this embargo will help perpetuate the native biodiversity practices that have sustained Peruvians since the days when the Incan Empire reigned supreme.

GMOs and life-sustaining biodiversity simply cannot coexist

Recognizing what the vast majority of our own domestic politicians and grossly-overpaid corporate talking heads refuse to acknowledge, GMOs, by their very nature, contradict actual nature. The ways in which GMOs are planted, cultivated, and harvested are all highly unsustainable and lead to major problems both for the environment and for humans. Americans are now seeing the consequences of GMO adoption in the form of chronic illness epidemics; widespread soil depletion; the emergence of resistant "superbugs" and "superweeds;" and chemical pollution.

"In the end, it's not a law that's 'against' anything," says Antonietta Gutierrez, a biologist at National Agrarian University, about Peru's GMO ban. "This is a law in favor of biosecurity. The idea is that there should be a responsible way of using technology so that it helps us develop resources - and at the same time, doesn't destroy what we already have."

At the present time, foods containing GMOs that were cultivated in other countries are still allowed to be sold in Peru. A law passed back in 2011 was intended to require the labeling of GMO-containing food products, however the terms and conditions for such requirements have yet to be set. A recent study conducted by the Peruvian Association of Consumers and Users found that among 13 standard food products tested, roughly 77 percent tested positive for GMOs.

Source: Natural News