Garlic?

I know… what is she talking about?   Garlic?
Here's my back story.  All of you know that I'm a bit "let nature do it's thing" in regard to health.  When my family gets colds- congestion, coughs, runny noses, miserable- we typically don't treat it.  I do have some old Mucinex type med in the cabinet for when sleeping is nearly impossible and the congestion has to be reduced.  But other than that, we wait it out and about 5-8 days later and everything is back to normal.
As I entered week 39 of pregnancy with Juliet, I had a monster cold.  Mouth breathing and all!  Yuck.  I also developed a cough the day after her birth.  My cough continued for about a month (this has never happened to me).  Holden ran through it about a week after I started.  I prayed that Juliet would be spared from this illness.  Then at about 3 weeks old, Juliet started coughing.  My heart was anxious.  It sounded very "barky" as described by whooping cough diagnoses.  So I begin my Google searches.  I felt confirmed that she in fact had whooping cough.  Coughing fits followed by a happy baby any time the baby wasn't coughing.  It was exactly like my Juliet.  She would usually vomit as well when she had a coughing spell.  No fever- thank goodness.  Therefore, Holden and I had in fact had the whooping cough bacteria.
From the media, I had a healthy fear of whooping cough as I suppose most of you do as well.  My only assumption was all babies were hospitalized.  After my research from Pediatric Associations and even Mayo's website, whooping cough is just common cold for us; cold with a bad, lingering cough.  Some babies struggle with it because they can loose oxygen when they are having a fit or develop fever.  Obviously babies that are compromised are the ones to worry about.  My little one was tolerating the coughing fits well and I felt comfortable in tackling this.  Typical treatment is antibiotics- which they even say are only helpful in slightly reducing the duration of the cough, and also cough suppressants- which I wasn't interested in because the cough is there for a reason.  I called to confirm with the doc that I was doing everything possible in supporting her- sucking the nose, humidifier, upright sleeping.
I ran across a wonderful blogger that is like-minded in natural healing.
http://www.gwens-nest.com/natural-remedies/whooping-cough-natural-remedies-for-prevention-and-treatment/
She and her family ran the course of whooping cough and I was ready to try her strategy as well.  Since Juliet isn't eating food- enter me to do all the dirty work.  Garlic is antibiotic!  The Lord is amazing!  So this mommy looked up at what was going on in the body during the illness and she created a recipe to support each system that was needing healing.

The Problem is:“Pertussis progressively destroys the ciliated epithelial cells” (4)
Research says:… beta-carotene acts to strengthen the epithelial cells of the mucous membranes  (1)

Some herbs and foods that are high in beta carotene are alfalfa, and cooked carrots.  Cooking and pureeing carrots actually increases the availability of the beta carotene

…so pureed carrots went on the menu. 

I also read that a small amount of fat in the meal ensures that the body absorbs more of the beta carotene.(3)

…so I added a bit of good organic butter to the mix.

The Problem is: Pertussis “inhibits coupling of receptors to inter-cellular signaling pathways, leading to the secretion of fluids and electrolytes from the cells.” (4)  [My translation: it shuts down the electrical system of the cells and cause them to leak fluids or burst]
Research says:
-A substance called Beta-1,3-D-glucan (found in oats, barley and yeasts) are potent macrophage activators.  Macrophages ignite intercellular communication by releasing chemical messengers called cytokines (interferon and interleukin). These cytokines are powerful proteins responsible for catalyzing and regulating several immune responses within the body.

Great!  I just happened to have pearled barley and oats…tossing those in with buttered pureed carrots.

The Problem is:“Studies with animals have shown that both humoral [within the body fluids] and inter-cellular immunity is required to eliminate an infection with B. pertussis.” (4)
Research says:
-Garlic may stimulate both humoral and cellular immunity, cause T-cell proliferation, and restore suppressed antibody responses (5)

…adding in some garlic.

The Problem is:“Pertussis paralyzes the cilia, coating it with a sticky toxin.  This, in turn, makes the lungs even more susceptible to secondary infections. B. pertussis potentiates [increases or enhances] the effects of histamine, resulting in increased mucus production.  The respiratory tract becomes overly sensitive to environmental irritants”
Research says:
-Garlic eases bronchial secretions (6) and has rejuvenating effect on all cells.  Garlic is effective against toxic bacteria, viruses, and fungi.(7)

…and some more garlic.

I also added in some dried basil and oregano, which I had on a list in my herbal notes as natural anti-histamines.  Other natural anti-histamines include chamomile, fennel and tarragon.  The first two would be nice in a tea blend.

- See more at: http://www.gwens-nest.com/natural-remedies/whooping-cough-natural-remedies-for-prevention-and-treatment/#sthash.IQwwMAdG.dpuf


She called it Whooping Cough Stew.  Yay!  So everyday I ate a serving of this for lunch.  I don't particularly like garlic, but I love my baby, so down the hatch!  Bryan said it tasted good!  24 hours later- significant improvement in her cough and mine!  I kept it up and each day the cough was reduced by probably half.  After about 5 days I stopped and her cough started creeping back in about 2 days after stopping.   I humbled myself and made another batch and watched her cough disappear again.  
I also supplemented with raw garlic.  YUCK.  But I made it work by cutting up a garlic clove and putting the pieces into empty pill capsules.  Swallowing without any garlic taste.  
Side effects- I can taste garlic after taking it.  I also have a lovely garlic belch.  It's worth it though.  

Now, I will be tackling colds in our house with garlic.  It was amazing.  I felt like I should be leading an infomercial on it.  After about 12 hours of treating myself, I felt tremendously better!

I took these tonight because I noticed Juliet sounding a bit "snotty" today.  Goodbye snot! (insert evil laugh)