Be Well Blog

By popular demand, I decided to write this article to end everyone’s suspense about why I mentioned avoiding garlic and onion in my last 2 articles.  I’m sure you’re breathing a sigh of relief!  Following my usual pattern, I’ll look at this topic on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

You may get regular headaches, but would you ever consider that garlic may be the culprit?  Probably not because you’ve never not had it at least once a day, and the media available here gives little to no reason to consider it a problem.   We live in a culture that almost depends on garlic and onion, so the only way to notice that they have any effect on us is to consciously quit using them altogether for a week.  That’s a challenge!  Literally!  There is very little processed food or even home-cooked food that doesn’t contain at least a small amount of one or the other.  That includes everything from salad dressings (even honey mustard and raspberry vinegarette), broths and soups, and some types of bread too.   Unfortunately many food companies consider garlic and onion powder as spices and don’t list them specifically on their labels. 

Here are my own reasons for avoiding onion and garlic (and their sisters and brothers chives, spring onions, and leek.)

1.  I’m a big proponent of listening to my body and really paying attention to it on a basic level.  I know that my body excretes toxins through the skin, the breath, and the tear ducts among others.  It concerns me to eat foods that cause my body to detoxify itself as strongly as garlic and onion do.  I always tell people that I question the value in eating anything that makes me cry or smell so vile for days.  I wouldn’t choose to date someone who made me feel that way, so why in the world would I eat foods that do!?!?  It is in fact the toxins in these foods that cause us to cry or stink for days.  It is true what they say that garlic and onion stimulate detoxification (hence the garlic smoothies on Oprah recently) but that is because the body is trying to get rid of the garlic and onion!  Hmm, ironic?

2.  Although western research and media tells us that garlic is a powerful antibiotic, they often neglect to point out that it is so good at killing bacteria that it kills the good stuff along with the bad.  Garlic and onion can actually cause anemia within a week if you eat enough, and have been shown to destroy red blood cells which carry oxygen throughout our bodies.  Naturally I’m dramatizing here, but it is similar to saying that releasing poisonous gas into buildings is good because it gets rid of mean people.  Well, sure it does but what kind of logic is that?

3.  The Taoists have recognized the set of 5 vegetables in the alliaceous family (garlic, onions, chives, leek, and spring onions) cause harm to our organs.  Specifically, they believe that onions are harmful to the lungs, garlic to the heart, leeks to the spleen, chives to the liver, and spring onions to the kidneys.

4.  On an emotional level, I have read information in various eastern philosophies which indicate their belief that onion and garlic provoke anger and anxiety, and contribute to feelings of sadness.  Ayurveda says that they lead to lust and ignorance.  Serious Buddhist and Taoist meditators also avoid onion and garlic partly because they lead to feelings of passion and lustful urges.  That may sound great, especially to you men out there, but we’re talking about inducing feelings of passion with foul smelling food rather than through healthy natural means like say foreplay!  (I couldn’t help myself!) Seriously though, this focus on the lower and densest centers of our being – the physical and emotional – distracts us from the spiritual. 

5.  A private study at Stanford University proved that garlic is actually a poison which penetrates the blood-brain barrier.  It desynchronizes our brain waves leading to significantly reduced reaction times.  One former engineer recalls that pilots were asked not to eat garlic at least 72 hours before flying during test flights he worked on in the past.  It may even be a significant contributor to chronic headaches and ADD.  See http://www.karinya.com/garlic.htm for the full transcript of a speech he gave. 

6.  Devout Hindus often avoid onions and garlic because they are considered unfit as an offering to Krishna.  “Garlic and onions are both rajasic and tamasic, and are forbidden to yogis because they root the consciousness more firmly in the body”, says well-known authority on Ayurveda, Dr.Robert E.Svoboda.  They don’t dispute the possible physical benefits of using these vegetables as medicine on occasion; rather they base their choice on the negative mental and spiritual effects of eating them.  See http://www.abhidhyan.org/texts/Tantrik_vegetarianism.htm for more interesting information.

7.  Taking this a step further, Taoists believe that onion and garlic not only turn your breath foul, but also your Chi or life force energy itself.  That life force energy carries with it the truth of who we are, and all the possibilities for our life.  When we introduce garlic and onions (among other things), we compromise our clarity about our true path.  The less discord we introduce into our lives, the more clearly we can experience our true spirituality and live our true purposes. 

8.  I was encouraged to avoid garlic and onion in my diet by my mentor and teacher who has a gift of being able to tune into a frequency to see what is happening in our energy fields.  The reasoning was that I have a responsibility as a Reiki Teacher to keep my energy as pure as possible because it is the energy behind the permanent attunements that I share with other Reiki students.  (There is no exchange of energy with students, however I have to use my energy to create the attunement.)  I was reluctant to believe that garlic and onion in my diet had any effect, however after giving them up for one week, I was convinced.  For me, this change in diet has been as life changing as eliminating caffeine and cigarettes from my life.   Pretty quickly after giving them up I felt more alert and aware, and had a sense of increased clarity and intuition.  I also noticed that my senses of smell and taste became keener. 

So, my initial motivation to avoid onion and garlic was to keep my energy clear for Reiki, then when I experienced the difference and began uncovering more and more information I was sold on the idea of avoiding them for my health and well-being on all levels.  

This isn’t an easy change to make if you decide to make a go of it yourself.  In fact, it was far easier for me to avoid cigarettes than it is to avoid garlic and onion.  Here are some tips:

• Read the ingredients on all food labels when you are in the supermarket.  You’ll actually find that where there is an onion and garlic free option, it is probably healthier in more than just that way. 
• When in a restaurant, tell the waiter that you are allergic to onion and garlic so to ask the chef what are the easiest options for you to consider on the menu.  I usually find there are only a small handful of options, but again, they tend to be the healthiest options on the menu anyway.  Remember that sauces, dressings, curries, and marinades usually have onion or garlic in them so remind the waiter of that.  Understandably, they tend to think about slices of onions on a burger and forget about the garlic powder mixed into the seasonings in the meat. 
• Learn to cook with whole foods, and use other spices and herbs and you will discover a whole new world of tastes out there!  In fact, once your taste buds adjust in a few days, you will require a lot less spice in your foods anyway.  You may even lose weight due to the healthier lifestyle. 

If any of you are already eating an onion and garlic-free diet, submit a comment and tell us about why and how you do it!  

All the best!

Laura