Are they the 5 most potent antibiotics that fight bacterial infections naturally, or are they just anecdotal?

When looking for a solution to a health problem for the first time, you may encounter testimonials about foods that fight a bacterial infection naturally. In addition, you may find many anecdotal ‘ proofs besides actual lab results (references).

Here is one that I encountered last week. It is about how you can fight a bacterial infection naturally.

“March of 2019, I came down with a bacterial infection (genital area). MD put me on a week of antibiotics (amoxicillin-clavulanate, marketed as augmentin in Europe), and after a week, it was gone. At 34yo, it was my first use of antibiotics since probably being a child and my first-ever infection of this kind, so I was glad to be quickly restored to health.

Six months later, the infection came back with a vengeance. This time there was a lot of swelling and inflammation in the area.

It required me to go on two different antibiotics for 15 days, plus meloxicam (an NSAID). It was scarier-looking this time.

It went away. However, I was gutted by the antibiotics, a very pharma sense in my body, for lack of a better word. By now, I was worried about the effects on the gut microbiome, bacterial resistance, etc. I knew it was not sustainable to be carpet-bombing my body in this way every so often.

Long story short, this July, 11 months later, the infection came back a third time, mild. I had some antibiotics leftover from last year, which took care of it after about six days. But, unfortunately, in mid-August, it came back again.

By now, I was fed up.

So at the first signs of swelling this time, I thought to go after foods known to have natural antibacterial properties. At worst, I would be back at the doctor after a few days.

So I blitzed in the blender: 1 clove of raw garlic (big, about 2-3 small ones in size), 1 small onion (another sulfur-containing allium – if the onion is big, then half), 1 tbsp fresh ginger, and doused with apple cider vinegar (maybe 1-2 tbsp), lime juice, oregano (dried) and chopped parsley for taste.

Each one of these is known to have antibacterial properties. As you can see, I used moderate amounts. But still, it’s what you would use to cook for four people, and I took that twice a day. So it’s not negligible either.

Happily, they all go together very well, resulting in a very spicy/acidic-tasting dressing that you can reasonably easily take with a meal or tossed with a salad. It’s nowhere near what I imagine trying to eat raw garlic alone must be.

I took this twice daily, always with a meal. You probably don’t want something this acidic sloshing around in your gastrointestinal tract alone.

I prepared it each time just before a meal—preparation time 5 minutes tops.

Results: The swelling remained the same on the second day, so I could tell the infection was checked. By day 3, I could see it was going away.

After six days, it was gone. It simply works.

Side effects: none. Just a sense of heat in the body from all the sulfury/acidic compounds for maybe 30 minutes to an hour that goes away. Garlic smell, yes. But none of that chemical feeling of antibiotics. Studies report that garlic kills off some types of good bacteria, but based on my reading, that’s nowhere near the scale of what antibiotics do to the gut. If feelings of subjective wellness are any indication, my experience confirms this.

And, I don’t feel like I just finished a course of antibiotics because, of course, I didn’t.

Added benefits: lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, liver detox, glowing skin, and the rest.

This is all experimental, of course, and I would advise you to visit a doctor in case of severe infection (particularly if there’s a fever involved).

Garlic supplements alone might be just as effective. Or this might be even more potent with all the ingredients actively working together.

Regardless, I am leaving this here for anyone it might be of use to.”

(Originally published on Reddit.com)

Is there any truth in anecdotal stories when fighting a bacterial infection naturally?

Someone could say that when you’re making claims, you need to be the one to provide the citations.

But people in ancient times didn’t have labs. So they survived with all the natural know-how they had.

Bioarchaeological research of ancient populations complements our knowledge of past communities’ ways and conditions of life, but above all about their health status and diet.

Although many diseases do not leave traces on skeletal remains or are not in the final phase of development when they leave traces, those pathologies enable an overview of the general state of quality of life of a community, writes All About Archeology.

The basic formula of the powerful tonic in the above anecdotal story dates back to medieval Europe. It is from the era when people suffered from all sorts of diseases and epidemics.

It can’t be very good, and it wouldn’t see modern times if it didn’t stop the diseases or epidemics.

What is the most effective natural antibiotic?

Some are more potent than others. Others may address different issues. Therefore, there isn’t one effective natural antibiotic.

There is plenty.

But here are the 5 most potent to my knowledge.

We’ll start with:

GARLIC

Garlic is the most famous natural antibiotic.

It is mainly used in the kitchen because of its unique taste, but it has been used in alternative medicine for centuries. For example, people from Asia often used this powerful plant for digestive disorders, wounds, stomach problems, minor cuts, and fly wounds (wound myiasis).

Garlic is a strong antibiotic with a wide range of health benefits. Unlike chemical antibiotics that kill millions of friendly bacteria your body needs, its only goal is bacteria and microorganisms. As a result, garlic also encourages and increases the level of healthy bacteria. In addition, it is a powerful antifungal agent and destroys any antigen, pathogen, and harmful disease-causing microorganisms.

It does contain an antibiotic compound known as allicin. The wiki article summarizes it: allicin comes from bruised garlic tissue (but not from consumed garlic in the body). However, allicin cannot be isolated from garlic to make a medicine from it but must be consumed in its natural form.

It has been proven to affect at least 72 types of infectious bacteria that cause pneumonia, tuberculosis, encephalitis, flu, and colds, among other diseases. Unlike modern medicines, bacteria do not develop resistance to garlic.

Abiy and coworkers evaluated the antibacterial effect of garlic (Allium sativum) against clinical and standard isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli from patients attending Hawassa University.

The results showed that standard S. aureus and E. coli were utterly inhibited by 10 mg/ml and 15 mg/ml solution.

And Ross and coworkers concluded that both garlic oil (GO) and garlic powder (GP) revealed wide-spectrum antimicrobial activities. However, molecule for molecule, these activities were more significant with GP thiosulfinates than GO sulfides against most bacteria tested. (0)

Enterococcus, Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia enterocolitica, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio, Campylobacter…).

For those disgusted by its smell, keep in mind that garlic has no practical effect when just swallowed whole. You shouldn’t use dried form either.

A specific enzyme “comes out of the garlic” only when digested, thus making it effective.

TURMERIC

When you were a kid, your mom would probably tell you to take turmeric alongside washing your hands if she knew!

The main active ingredient of the turmeric plant is curcumin, which has shown many beneficial effects in inflammatory conditions.

Did you know that turmeric can remove bacterial contaminants and heavy metals from any surroundings?

Turmeric increases mucus production, which naturally flushes the microbes out.

It’s a valuable anti-inflammatory supplement as it prevents bacterial reproduction. (1)

How does turmeric fight a bacterial infection naturally?

It inhibits various inflammatory enzymes. It reduces the activation of inflammatory genes by inhibiting one of the so-called transcriptional factors, nuclear factor cap B, and stops numerous cytokines, molecules that trigger inflammation. (2)

As one of the most potent natural antibiotics, turmeric encourages the development of beneficial bacteria. But also has a detoxifying effect on the intestines.

Recent research confirms that turmeric can help with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In addition, its antifungal action is also helpful in the treatment of candida.

However, to get the maximum from turmeric, you should use black pepper, which contains piperine. Piperine is a natural substance that enhances the absorption of curcumin by 2,000%. (3)

OREGANO (OIL)

Oregano (Origanum vulgare), sage (Salvia officinalis), and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) are aromatic plants with ornamental, culinary, and phytotherapeutic use all over the world. In Europe, they are traditionally used in the southern countries, particularly in the Mediterranean region.

Oregano essential oil contains about 50% thymol, which is why it has very pronounced antibacterial properties. In this way, the centuries-old use and great confidence in the healing power of this plant can be explained.

Oregano oil has antibacterial and antiviral effects. In addition, it is four times stronger than blueberries and twelve times more potent than oranges, while it has 42 times stronger antioxidant properties than apples.

Wild oregano oil is undoubtedly one of the most effective natural antibiotics known to science. It eliminates pathogens safely and naturally, regardless of whether they are cold and flu viruses, fungal or bacterial infections. What’s more, this oil increases the body’s resistance and immunity.

The antimicrobial activities of these essential oils have captured the attention of scientists as they could be used as alternatives to the increasing resistance of traditional antibiotics against pathogen infections.

A study conducted by Fournomiti and coworkers showed that the most sensitive organism was Klebsiella oxytoca, with a value of the minimal inhibitory concentration of 0.9 µg/mL for oregano EOs and 8.1 µg/mL for thyme.

The experiments showed that the tested oils were active against all of the clinical strains from both genera of bacteria. Still, strains of Escherichia coli were more sensitive to tested oil. (3a)

PROPOLIS

Propolis is a mixture of substances used by bees to defend the hive.

The antibacterial activity of propolis should be considered on two levels. First, it is connected with the direct action on the microorganism, and the other with stimulation of the immune system, resulting in the activation of the organism’s natural defenses.

Studies have shown that propolis has more significant activity against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria.

The antimicrobial effect of propolis has been proven against:

1. Gram-positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus viridans, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae.

2. Gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella flexneri, Enterobacter cloacae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Haemophilus influenzae, Campylobacter jejuni, Bacteroides fragilis, Burkholderia cepacia.

MANUKA HONEY

In 1981, Dr. Peter Molan came to know about the beneficial effects of Manuka honey on the human body and health.

(This is not another anecdotal story).

Dr. Molan, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Waikato, confirmed that specific amounts of manuka honey contain unique, naturally occurring compounds. These are stable even when exposed to high temperature or light and are not found anywhere else except at UMF Manuka honey.

Also, manuka honey does not require moisture or oxygen to work (read help).

The presence of active substances that make UMF Manuka honey so healthy can be determined only by particular types of scientific measurement; UMF Manuka honey must contain a minimum content of MGO, DHA, and Leptosperine.

MGO (Methylglyoxal) is a substance that can be found in other types of honey, but unlike manuka honey, in very, very small quantities. In manuka honey, MGO comes from modifying another substance – dihydroxyacetone – which is found in very high concentrations in the manuka flower.

The antimicrobial activity of Manuka honey is highly complex:

A high concentration of sugars (about 80% of the weight of honey) eliminates microorganisms. It does this mainly with bacteria sensitive to high osmotic pressure and inhibits the development of more osmotolerant microorganisms.

Low pH value due to high concentration of organic acids (gluconic acid). The pH of most honey types is 3.4 to 6.1, which, combined with high osmotic pressure, eliminates or enables the development of most microorganisms.

Bee defensin-1 is a peptide secreted by the honeybee hypopharyngeal glands. It inhibits activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus.

Glucose oxidase is an oxidoreductase that catalyzes glucose oxidation to gluconic acid. The side product of this reaction, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), is a robust antimicrobial agent.

Matzen and coworkers surveyed 11 kinds of honey from various Danish floral sources for their antibacterial activity. They compared them to a culinary processed commercial honey (Jakobsen) and a raw and a medical-grade Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) honey. They tested the effect on 3 Gram-positive bacteria (two strains of Staphylococcus aureus and one strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli).

All samples, except the commercial honey, exhibited antibacterial activity. and samples derived from Water Mint (Mentha aquatica), Organic 2 (mixed organic flora), and Linden (Tilia cordata) honey had consistent effects on all bacteria tested. Medical grade and raw Manuka (L. scoparium) honey showed a more significant impact.

The content of methylglyoxal was low in the Danish honey (< 2 µg/mL) and significantly (p<0.05) higher in both the raw and the medical-grade Manuka (L scoparium) honey, where the concentrations were, respectively, 6.29µg/mL and 54.33µg/mL.

How can I make a natural antibiotic at home?

You can make a natural antibiotic that protects, cleanses the body of toxins, and improves the immune system at home. You only need to know why that is good for you.

Then you will have the willpower to do it every day or once a week.

1 tablespoon turmeric

2 tablespoons of propolis

2 squeezed lemon juice

100gr of manuka honey

A pinch of black pepper

1/2 tablespoon garlic

1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

Put all the ingredients except honey, then add the honey in the end. Stir the mixture and store the jar in a refrigerator.

Can ‘your bugs’ become resistant to natural antibiotics?

No.

Let me explain.

An antimicrobial substance kills bacteria because it has chemical properties that make it inhospitable to life. For instance, hydrogen peroxide is a potent oxidizing agent that will react with biological compounds to render them inert. Copper is a metal with a high redox potential that will complex with organic compounds in such a way as to disrupt their chemical activity. These compounds damage ANY life form, not just bacteria.

There is no way for a bacteria to become “resistant” to these compounds in the same sense as it would to an antibiotic.

Antibiotics, by contrast, are far more specific in their microbe-killing ability. Penicillin, for instance, disrupts the bacterial cell wall. Other antibiotics work by disrupting other vital systems specific to bacteria, for example, their mechanism of building proteins.

Because antibiotics are so specific to disrupting just one essential part of a bacterium’s metabolism, they work at far lower concentrations than an antimicrobial compound in any natural antibiotic.

On the other hand, it also means that all a bacterium has to do to become resistant to antibiotics is mutate that crucial part of its metabolism that the antibiotic disrupts, maybe just enough so the antibiotic can no longer chemically bind to it.

In the end …

I wish our healthcare system focused more on natural remedies and prescribing supplements/food instead of just synthetic drugs.

But, you can rely on potent antibiotics that fight bacterial infections naturally. Never mind your good health. Start doing it now.

The only downside is that you need to eat them raw.

Raw food seems common in this whole microbiome thing because raw vegetables are recommended to introduce new good bacteria.

Just as people overlook prebiotics in favor of probiotics, these natural antibiotics don’t get as much love. It’s because of their smell.

But you can overcome that with little imagination.

I.e., manuka honey (and oats), onion and garlic (and rice and beans), oregano oil (with olive oil) at a 1:1 ratio.

So, what do you think… just a big, smelly, natural placebo or a half-open door that needs little tapping?

I would like to hear your anecdotal stories.

P.S. If you want to hear a real success story of how Manuka products honey and essential oil helped one beautiful young woman change her life and get married, read this story.

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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED on blog.manukanatural.com