Onions garlic leeks etc friend or foe?

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Onions garlic leeks etc friend or foe?

Post by jewel »

We all tend to eat these in one form or another - and suppose they are good for us, but there us a school of thought that says we should avoid these- the main reason is that it is considered that the acids and chemicals in garlic will make sexual desire and anger stronger, and in certain religions is discouraged as these feelings will get in the way of spiritual practice, an interesting concept.
http://www.swaminarayangadi.com/help/fa ... garlic.php

The main culprits often cited are:
leek, onion, garlic, and a few other such herbs such as asafoetida, an ingredient common in curries etc.
Eaten raw they are believed to incite people to anger and disputes cause irratability and anger; eaten cooked they increase one's sexual desire and encourage masturbation.
Buddhist adepts are advised to avoid them, as their consumption tends to disturb the peacefulness of the mind. Also the breath of the eater, if reading the sutras, will drive away the good spirits.Vampires seem to avoid it as well. ;)
There is a well known spiritual community in Brazil that also refrains from consuming garlic and the reason offered is the same...
Iin India they view them as able to incite allergies in some people, raise the body temperature and other effects considered adverse.
Asafoetida or " hing ", is used in Aryuveda and Indian cuisine as a substitute for the onion family because it gives a flavour like garlic to food, but has none of the other properties of the Aliums. It is in fact a dried resin from a shrub. You will in fact not detect Hing on the breath or through the pores once cooked. It just gives a background note which is like garlic.
It is so valued in Aryuveda and Indian cuisine that it is considered pure by even the most strict Brahmins who are fairly obsessional about such things.

Onions and garlic can even be toxic in animals
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 9&aid=2414



So what do you think - despite the health giving properties do these other effects merit consideration?


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Post by LivinginLuxor »

Not in the slightest! I would suggest that heightening desire is a beneficial side effect!

On a more serious side, I would never be dictated to by a religious system as to what I eat and don't eat.
I might agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong!
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Post by Maggy »

Can't stand garlic anyway. :nn
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Post by Goddess »

Maggy wrote:Can't stand garlic anyway. :nn
For shame!!!

I love pots and pots of Onions, Garlic (and leeks when I can get them)
Food tends to taste a bit bland without it. Even just one clove of Garlic makes a difference, but I rarely use just one clove! :mrgreen:
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Post by Maggy »

I love onions, I always have a dish of onions and cucumber sliced up in vinegar. Maybe that's a "northern" thing, we always had it with the sunday roast.:P
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Post by Maggy »

Also boiled onions in whitesauce, lovely.:P
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Post by Goddess »

Maggy wrote:I love onions, I always have a dish of onions and cucumber sliced up in vinegar. Maybe that's a "northern" thing, we always had it with the sunday roast.:P
Ooooh!!!! It's been years and years since I had that!! My mum always used to make it on Saturday ready for the Sunday roast too. Might have to make some myself now.

And as for the onions in white sauce - yum yum!!! My mum used to get those frozen white tiny onions, are they called silverskin? and put them in white sauce. It's been even longer since I had that!!
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Post by KJB »

Goddess wrote:
Maggy wrote:I love onions, I always have a dish of onions and cucumber sliced up in vinegar. Maybe that's a "northern" thing, we always had it with the sunday roast.:P
Ooooh!!!! It's been years and years since I had that!! My mum always used to make it on Saturday ready for the Sunday roast too. Might have to make some myself now.
We used to have cucumber & onions in vinegar but with sandwiches at teatime. My Grandma used to let them soak until they were brown. Yummy!! :P I do cucumber and tomatoes in balsamic vinegar when we have sandwiches now - my stomach's rumbling!! :)
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Post by Maggy »

So glad I got your juices flowing, might make myself a cheese onion&cucumber sandwich now.:P
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Post by drwho »

Well, those Swarmis' arn't as as daft as they look eh? any newer up to date info?
I, always wondered who worked out all the plant ingredients for Ayuwasca, with-out poisoning themselves in the process, now that's' one clever little bugger, Culpeper wasn't daft either...8)
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Post by cbrbddd »

darn, now I feel the urge for some leek soup . . . need to make a stop at the grocery . . . hmmmmm, cucumbers, leeks, got balsamic vinegar and those small onions . . . oh, now that I am reminded by "The 10 Carrots" topic . . . I need some of those orange things.
:lol:
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Post by Countessa »

Mmmmmm....I absolutely love onions & garlic :P One of my favourite meals is waraget lahma - a meat parcel cooked slowly in the oven with loads of sweet, soft onions & garlic..... :D
I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure...
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