My guess is it has to do with Ayurvedic diet philosophy and eating foods to consciously balance your body's energy and to detoxify it.

ahigherspirit.com/wordpress/
altmedicine.about.com/cs/2/a/...veda.htm
www.pioneerthinking.com/ss_ayu...et.html
healing.about.com/od/ayurve...alance.htm

I'm very mich into yoga and don't subscribe to the diet. Garlic is an excellent detox food.

Source: Lecture from Dr. Robert C Beck, DSc, given at the Whole Life Expo, Seattle Washington 1996 (Nexus Magazine)

The reason garlic is so toxic, the sulphone hydroxyl ion penetrates the blood-brain barrier, just like DMSO, and is a specific poison for higher-life forms and brain cells. We discovered this, much to our horror when I (Bob Beck, DSc) was the world's largest manufacture of ethical EEG feedback equipment.

We'd have people come back from lunch that looked clinically dead on an encephalograph, which we used to calibrate their progress. "Well, what happened?" "We'll, I went to an Italian restaurant and their was some garlic in my salad dressing!" So we had'em sign things that they wouldn't touch garlic before classes or were wasting their time, their money and my time.

I guess some of you who are pilots or have been in flight tests.. I was in flight test engineering in Doc Hallan's group in the 1950's. The flight surgeon would come around every month and remind all of us: "Don't you dare touch any garlic 72 hours before you fly one of our airplanes, because it'll doubleot triple your reaction time. Your three times slower thatn you would be if you'd not had a few drops of garlic."

Well, we didn't know why for 20 years later, until I owned Alpha-Metrics Corporation. We were building biofeed-back equipment and found that garlic usually desynchronizes your brain waves.

So I funded a study at Stanford and , sure enough, they found that it's a poison. You can rub a clove of garlic on your foot - and you can smell it later on your wrists. So it penetrates the body. This is why DMSO smells a lot like garlic: that sulphone hydroxyl ion penetrates all the barriers including the corpus callosum in the brain.

Any of you who are organic gardeners know that id you don't want to use DDT, garlic will kill anything in the way of insects.

Now, most people have heard most of their lives that garlic is good fro you, and we put those people in the same class of ignorance as the mothers at the turn of the century could buy morphine sulphate in the drugstore and give it to their babies to put-em to sleep.

If you have any patients who have low-grade headaches or attention deficit disorder, they can't quire focus on the computer in the afternoon, just do an experient - you owe it to yourselves. take these people off garlic and see how much better they get, very very shortly. An then let them eat a little garlic after about three weeks. They'll say "My God, I had no idea that this was the cause of our problems." And this included the de-skunked garlics, Kyolic, and some of the other products.

This may be very unpopular, but I've got to tell you the truth.

I never knew that, but garlic and onions are really flavorful and I don't cook without them. The Meditteranean diet is said to be one of the best and the healthiest, and garlic and onions are used quite a bit. But everyone has there thing that they believe in. Its all good.

It's not a health issue. Garlic and onions are thought to incite the passions, which is not really what buddhism is all about.

it may be similar to the daoist precept of avoiding the onion family:

they 'inflame the passions'....meaning, they can cause liver heat which can lead to swings in emotions.

since daoist practice is in part about keeping the emotions on an even keel, the onion family would generally be avoided as food (unless for some reason they had a medicinal purpose, such as the common cold, when scallions might be combined with fresh onion in a soup).

About a week or two ago I came upon a link to a site that made the case that almost all vegetables (and fruits) were bad for you. Some contained toxic compounds. Some had (in the site author's opinion) ridiculously high sugar content. Some had indigestible proteins or sugars. I believe the only vegetable the site gave praise to was lettuce. Now I wish I had book marked the site. For all the edibles the site said was bad I could find a multitude of reasons they are good.

Every one is different. Man kind has spread to all regions of the world. We have adapted to all climates and consequently all diets. That is part of the reason there is no optimal diet for everyone. One man's poison and all that.

Ula

This is what the people at the Sivananda Yoga center told us (they also said that garlic and onions can be precribed medicinally by Ayurvedic practitioners to treat specific imbalances):

"In the unmanifested Universe, energy has three qualities, known as Gunas, that exist together in equilibrium: Sattva (purity); Rajas (activity, passion, the process of change); and Tamas (darkness, inertia).. The three Gunas encompass all existence, all actions. If a man commits a robbery, the action is basically rajasic but the decision to rob and the motive may be predominantly tamasic, rajasic or sattvic, according to the situation. In all people one of the three Gunas has superior strength and is reflected in all they do and think. Only in enlightenment are the Gunas completely transcended.

The Gunas can be found in all beings and objects surrounding us. The Yoga aspirant always exerts to increase Sattva in his/her lifestyle. O ne of the most dramatic changes that can be made is adjusting our diet. The Yogic system of nutrition recognizes three types of food:

The Yoga aspirant always exerts to increase Sattva in his/her lifestyle. O ne of the most dramatic changes that can be made is adjusting our diet. The Yogic system of nutrition recognizes three types of food:

Sattvic Food

This is the purest diet, the most suitable one for any serious student of yoga. It nourishes the body and maintains it in a peaceful state. And it calms and purifies the mind, enabling it to function at its maximum potential. A sattvic diet thus leads to true health: a peaceful mind in control of a fit body, with a balanced flow of energy between them. Sattvic foods include cereals, wholemeal bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, pure fruit juices, milk, butter and cheese, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, honey, and herb teas.

Rajasic Food

Foods that are very hot, bitter, sour, dry, or salty are rajasic. They destroy the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind. Too much rajasic food will overstimulate the body and excite the passions, making the mind restless and uncontrollable. Rajasic foods include hot substances, such as sharp spices or strong herbs, stimulants, like coffee and tea, fish, eggs, salt and chocolate. Eating in a hurry is also considered rajasic.

Tamasic Food

A tamasic diet benefits neither the mind nor the body. Prana, or energy, is withdrawn, powers of reasoning become clouded and a sense of inertia sets in. The body's resistance to disease is destroyed and the mind filled with dark emotions, such as anger and greed. Tamasic items include meat, alcohol, tobacco, onions, garlic, fermented foods, such as vinegar, and stale or overripe substances. Overeating is also regarded as tamasic."

www.sivananda.org/teachings...gunas.html

All I can say is that I use garlic instead of taking anti-biotics when I'm sick and I intend to keep doing so.

for Hare Krishnas, here is their reason not, based on Bagavad Gita.

www.indiadivine.org/audarya/...rlic.html

Garlic and Onions are considered in the mode of passion by the scriptures - BG 17:9.
Prabhupada has said that we shouldn't offer these things to the deities - Krishna. A devotee of Krishna should only take Krishna Prasadam, so hence - we don't take onions and garlic, because they are unofferable.

Allium Sativum "Garlic"

- Normalizes Blood Pressure (Reduces Diastolic)
- Reduces 'bad' Cholesterol (heart disease.. etc.)
- Has a natural & very potent anti-biotic - Allicin - The reason why Garlic helps when we're sick
- Quercetin (A compound found in both garlic and Onion Skins--cook w em, don't throw em away) retards the inflammatory response, so if you have allergies, these two foods help
- Garlic (in it's raw form) has significant ability to control Blood Sugar levels making it a good choice for Diabetics
- Paul Bergner, editor of Medicinal Herbalism suggests eating nine raw cloves of Garlic per day for those with Ulcers (Stomach & possibly other types including mouth) who are seeking alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Blending a fresh carrot in the blender with two raw cloves isn't actually terrible, quite palatable actually

This foods aromatic compounds are released from the lungs and respiratory tract making it most effective against cold's, flu's & viruses.

Amongst being reported to heal and treat a variety of other ailments, Garlic is one of our Powerhouse foods. Keeping in mind that it's a potent medicine, eating the Raw Cloves should be done when you need it rather then, IMO, a constant preventative. There's benefit to allowing your body to become sick with the common cold or flu, and letting nature take it's course, thus letting your body learn on it's own, how to defend itself without always needing an aid. No one like getting sick, but it's important that we do and don't *always* look to make it immediately better. From time to time, let your body work it out. And when something's really kicking your ass, break out the big dogs like Onion Skins, Garlic, Echinacea... etc.

Not on topic for why Yogis don't eat it since that's already been revealed by more than a couple of folks in this thread. I'll bet even a Yogi would eat some Raw Cloves should they find theirself extremely sick and not wanting antibiotics. But this would probably be a medicinal option rather than a dietary one : )

Peace Foodies!

It's common among Indian vegetarians not to use garlic and onions as they are associated with the cooking of meat. Instead they use Asafoetida, which they call Hing, and is a type of giant fennel native to Iran. It's very potent (the French call it merde du diable) and simulates the flavoring of garlic and onions.

Oh, I should have mentioned, the only contraindication of Garlic inparticular is stomach inflammation in some folks. If you have an inflammatory condition of the upper or lower GI, Garlic could exacerbate the situation, causing even more swelling. That's the only drawback of Garlic I know!

(I am one of those folks that Garlic tends to irritate b/c I have UC.. I'd imagine it would have a similar effect on someone with duodenal / gastric ulcers.. and although this is based on Speculative Research, I have noticed an increase in Gas and Bloating when I eat too much Garlic)

I think that being a yogi, and doing yoga all the time that they probably dont want to smell. As the smell of garlic and onions come out of your pours when you sweat? Hmmmm....

Garlic and onions (i like pickled red ones), garlic i've been using for 6 months now and my blood presssure is down, which i'm giving credit (just or not) to the garlic, but as mentioned before, the ordor/smell can be an issue.

I was taught by my Guru many years ago that garlic and onions shut/close the psychic centers ie: the moon chakra and interferes with expanded states of consciousness and deep meditative states. garlic can even be used as an antidote to a bad experience with mind altering drugs like acid. From a yogi perspective it is not about the physical but the mind/spiritual.

The only time I don't eat garlic or onions is if I have date that night/day, otherwise, I eat it constantly.

Well ! I am reading all this bullshit and I do not believe. I believe garlic and onions are one of the most healthy food supplements you can take.

Since I am little kid and I call recall I eat massive amounts of raw garlic and onions everyday , just because my body asks for it and I tell you I am now on my mid thirties and it must be 20 years ago that I do not have a headache and I never get sick. Not even I am able to catch a cold.
In fact my body is always warm , When people are covered with jackets and jackets I can still be OK with a Shirt and not catch a cold!

About my attention I can tell you it is exagerately good and I have always been a top performer at school and collegue. I look much younger that my real age and I still do not have a single wrinkle or whilte hair.

On the other hand not all yoga shools forbid the use of garlic. My yoga school supports it and when my yoga was giving a speech on the beneficial effects of garlic and onion on health she used me as an example as the use of garlic is said to improve the beauty of the hair and the nails.

So just eat as much garlic as your body asks you. Listen to your bodies people! We are all equal but unique!

very simple. in vedic medicine tradition, onions and garlic stimulate the lower chakra's - not considered balanced until the heart is opened. It is traditional to avoid those foods when practicing kundalini yoga. unforturnately, it seems you are unsubbed. maybe you had the onions....:)

wow was this thread started by IK? where did he go?