The Healing Powers of Raw Horseradish: A Natural Antibiotic

Breakthrough scientific research is finding that spices — even more than herbs, fruits and vegetables — are loaded with health-enhancing compounds. Healing Spices (Sterling Publishing, 2011), by Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD, with Debora Yost, explains how to use spices to support a healthy lifestyle. This A-Z guide profiles spices that are shown to have preventative or healing potential for common health conditions. The following excerpt covers the research and benefits of raw horseradish and the chemical make-up that allows it to act as a natural antibiotic.

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Raw Horseradish

Potent Infection Fighter
Horseradish is to spices what apples are to pies — very American. An estimated 85 percent of the world’s horseradish is grown here and a lot of it stays here: Americans consume six million gallons of horseradish a year!
But horseradish isn’t an American original. Native to the Mediterranean, by the 15th century it was growing in Britain, where it was described as hoarse, meaning “of coarse and strong quality.”
Raw horseradish has no odor, but cut into its flesh and you’ll sniff a waft of heat that can open the sinuses even on the worst day of allergy season. No wonder it was used as a medicine long before it was used as a food. Ye Olde physicians employed its mucous-moving abilities to help treat colds, coughs, kidney stones, urinary tract infections — and hoarseness, of course.
What gives horseradish its healing kick? The volatile oil sinigrin, which breaks down into allyl isothiocyanate, a powerful natural antibiotic. Allyl isothiocyanate most likely accounts for the proven effectiveness of horseradish in treating upper respiratory problems. But it’s not the only healing component in the spice. Ounce for ounce, horseradish contains more medicinally active compounds than most other spices. And they are very active — they can clear congestion, thin mucous, reduce inflammation, squelch cell-damaging oxidants, fight bacteria and viruses, relax muscles, stimulate the immune system — and even battle cancer. That makes the humble horseradish one special spice. As noted botanist and spice expert Dr. James A. Duke put it, “Horseradish is about as useful in the medicine chest as it is in the spice rack.”

A Natural Antibiotic

Even though horseradish is loaded with healing phytonutrients, only a few scientific studies have been conducted to test its curative powers. However, the spice has been declared medically safe and effective for upper respiratory tract infections by the German Commission E Monographs, which helps guide physicians and other health professionals in Germany in the medical use of herbs.