It is charming to observe how different cultures that have
never come into contact with one another came to the
same conclusion about the role of garlic in health and disease.
Some of the earliest references to this medicinal
and culinary plant are found on Sumerian clay tablets
dating from 2600-2100 BC. Garlic was an important
medicine to the ancient Egyptians listed in the medical
text Codex Ebers (ca. 1550 BC) especially for the working
class involved in heavy labor (Lawson et al., 1998;
Moyers 1996). There is evidence that during the earliest
Olympics in Greece, garlic was fed to the athletes for increasing
stamina (Lawson et al., 1998).