Lots and LOTS of variables/possibilities...Re: Raw Garlic Killed my Good Bacteria?

There's absolutely no doubt... we NEED our gut flora!  The key to life is a healthy colon, the key to a healthy colon is our microbiota.

First, I always refer to empirical evidence & common sense/logic...

Christoper/Schulze (and many others) cured cancer and all variety of 'incurables' using raw garlic as a 'mainstay' of their diet/protocol.  If raw garlic decimates & destroys gut flora, it's not likely all these great healers would have had the success they had.  And of course, there's the gazillions of people/cultures throughout history that ingest/ed massive amounts of garlic their entire lives, and never have/had any digestive issues.

So (although 'science' debates it), I'm one of those that believe that garlic is somehow 'selective' in the various microbiota it kills or doesn't kill.

There's also this explanation (I copied this from a Yahoo forum, but I've seen the same explanation many times):

Garlic: Can garlic kill good probiotics in the gut...?
 
Actually no. Studies are showing that garlic does not kill natural (beneficial) human gut flora. The current theory on the subject is that garlic has been a part of human diets so far back into our evolution that our healthy gut flora has also evolved resistance to garlic, even at therapeutic doses (and even in the form of concentrated extracts.)

What's incredibly cool about this is that garlic (and in particular the component allicin) is effective against "bad" or pathogenic bacteria that have developed multiple resistance to pharmaceuticals - MRSA, Pseudomones aruginosa, etc.

Now... will garlic kill the bacteria in PROBIOTICS? If they're not natural human strains, yep it very likely will. Since many probiotics on the market are not predominantly composed of natural human strains, it's advisable to take your garlic about 1/2 hour away from your probiotic.

Garlic - is high in inulin (a prebiotic that feeds gut flora) I've lost the actual " human study", but I had one that showed doctors in India using raw garlic to *replenish* gut flora.  There is a lot of information regarding studies on pigs (supposedly similar digestive tracts with humans), that shows an increase in microbiota and assimilation with garlic.

Garlic - high in sulfur = causes gas and makes the gas stink (especially in a compromised digestive tract).

Garlic - (I'm almost sure) is both a chlologogue and a choleretic

Cholagogue
A substance used to increase flow of bile from the gall bladder into the duodenum.

Gas (and all varieties of "urpy-burpy") are very common when cleansing and flushing old stale bile & build-up from the liver.  Use any 'trigger' to increase flow of bile through a stagnant liver, and gas & bloating are almost sure to happen.

And yes, raw foods (being harder to digest) can also create gas & digestive disturbances.

Healthiest of blessings,

Uny