There's an invincible weapon against disease and infection, "a cure it all remedy" that kills any virus it comes in contact with. That includes the most feared biological agents like anthrax, Ebola, and H5N1 (the infamous bird flu virus). No known germ has ever managed to develop a resistance to it. It is proven to wipe out cancer cells without harming healthy cells, and it clears plaque clogged arteries like a charm.

Why haven't you heard about this wonder drug?

Because it's not a drug. It's a food, and its name is garlic.

Garlic cloves, to be exact, emphasizes health journalist Bill Sardi on lewrockwell.com. Garlic pills, while being a staple in health food stores, do not contain or produce allicin, the healing component found in fresh garlic cloves, despite saying so on the label. The garlic powder in the pills, explains Sardi, releases allicin in water, but stomach acid destroys the enzyme aliinase that is necessary to make allicin.

Most garlic pills have acid resistant shells that are supposed to keep them intact until they reach the upper intestine. But often the resilient shell doesn't dissolve in time, and the pill passes through the entire digestive system without benefit to the body. What it boils down to: Eat the garlic raw (not cooked) or find a supplement like AGE (aged garlic extract) whose components are uncompromised.

The ancient Romans knew about the beneficial effects of the miracle bulb, their soldiers munched fresh garlic prior to a battle (no doubt also as a deterrent for enemy troops), field doctors treated infections with garlic, and conquerors planted garlic first thing in newly usurped soil.

These are garlic's amazing health benefits:

• It kills every virus, bacterium, fungus, and amoeba known to man — without the risk of creating resistance.
• It can be used as prophylaxis to prevent stomach ulcers and stomach cancer.
• It can prevent and successfully treat anthrax, dysentery, salmonella, staphylococcus, klebsiella, SARS, herpes, etc.
• Studies have found that it penetrates and kills cancer cells, without harming the healthy ones.
• It inhibits the formation of plaque on artery walls.
• It controls insulin levels and helps prevent weight gain.

Interestingly, while garlic reliably kills influenza viruses, no exceptions, the much touted flu vaccines or the new "miracle drug" Tamiflu that tens of thousands panicked people have started hoarding, are not so lucky. In fact, it is not at all clear that they do anything. In other words, in the unlikely event of a true avian flu epidemic with human to human transmission, fresh garlic will be your best bet.