Garlic: pretty much the best thing ever

By Evan Andrew Mackay

A pungent prophylactic (Image: Clay Irving)

The Toronto Garlic Festival is happening this weekend, but come on, what’s so great about garlic? It’s a fad. It’s only been in use for a few... thousand years. But seriously, what is it good for? Turns out, garlic does just about everything. We’ve listed 10 uses below.

Prevent colds. Warning: it may cause garlic breath, but...

You could win a strongest garlic breath contest.

Look pretty. Garlic treats acne and combats hair loss.

Fight yeast infections.

Repel mosquitoes and fleas.

Fix broken glassware.

Make fish bait.

Keep pests out of your garden.

Protect against arthritis (garlic has anti-inflammatory properties).

And some imaginative people even go so far as to cook with garlic!

Evan Andrew Mackay is a Toronto playwright and humorist who writes about culture and social justice.