Background: Part 1 of this article.

My experiment with garlic cloves went really well. Basically, garlic offers instant relief to cold symptoms, especially in the early stages, and is very effective in keeping you symptom free.

After two days of regular clove ingestion in the mornings and evenings, I got lazy and skipped the mornings. The symptoms came back a day later and I thought I was going to empty a box of tissues (just like the old days). That was not a good idea – I should’ve kept it up for an entire week to completely obliterate any trace of the virus from my respiratory system.

I’ve also found it much more effective when the garlic is chopped and not consumed with other foods to mask the strong flavour. I chew it slowly and gently until I just feel the burn. Even though it is very obvious, I’ll state that good sleep is paramount and helps keep your immune system in good shape. By good sleep, I don’t mean staying up until 5am and waking up at noon. Good sleep = follow a schedule.

The benefits are obvious – I never felt weak or disabled the entire time. I went to class, went to the gym, and even got away with no one noticing (or commenting) on my garlicky aura.

A few things I’ve learned with regards to masking your garlicky breath:

• Breath mints (Listerine and others) don’t work – the effect is very temporary
• Red wine does a great job
• I didn’t want to try chewing gum – it’d be like chewing garlic all over again