Allii Sativi Bulbus (Allium sativum L. — the bulb)
Nature and flavour. Acrid, warm. Spleen, Stomach and Lung systems.
The one item in this batch that everybody already owns. Garlic is a food first and a drug second, and the classical texts treat it that way: they describe it as counteracting toxin, killing parasites, reducing swelling and checking dysentery, and record it externally for boils, sores and ringworm, and internally for intestinal parasites and for diarrhoea. It is also among the most-studied plants in the world, and the honest summary of that research is narrower than the reputation. Allicin and the related sulfur compounds are well characterised and the laboratory activity is real and broad; the human evidence is mixed and generally modest — small effects, inconsistent between studies, and rarely of a size that would change what a person ought to do. The classical sources excluded it where there is yin deficiency with heat and in complaints of the eye, and they were already warning that it irritates. It is safe as a food and much less predictable as a medicine.
性味归经。辛，温。归脾、胃、肺经。
本批中唯一人人家中都有的一味。蒜首先是食物，其次才是药，古籍也是这样处理的：记载解毒杀虫、消肿、止痢，外用治痈肿疮疡与癣，内服用于肠道寄生虫与泄泻。它也是世界上被研究得最多的植物之一，而对这类研究的诚实小结比名声要窄得多：大蒜素等含硫化合物结构清楚，实验室活性确实且广谱；人体证据则参差不齐且普遍偏弱 —— 效应量小、各研究间不一致，很少大到足以改变一个人应当怎么做。古籍已列为阴虚火旺者及目疾患者忌用，并早已提示其刺激性。作为食物它是安全的，作为药物则远没有那么可预期。
作为食物，大蒜对多数人是安全的。作为皮肤敷贴则不然：生蒜长时间贴敷皮肤是已见记载的化学性灼伤原因，有时达全层；文献中的病例多为自行敷贴后久留不去者 —— 常常还加包扎覆盖（这会加重），且常常发生在儿童身上。不要把生蒜绑在皮肤上，更不要敷几个小时。作为内服药，有三条须注意：其一，它有抗凝与抗血小板作用，与抗凝药、抗血小板药存在相互作用，计划手术前须提前停用 —— 应告知外科医生，不宜自行判断。其二，它可降低血糖，与降糖药同用时有影响。其三，它会降低某些抗逆转录病毒药物的血药浓度，这是有记载的相互作用而非理论推测。药用份量还会刺激胃肠；古籍阴虚火旺者忌用、目疾忌用的提示也属此类。孕期与哺乳期中的烹调份量算食物，浓缩制剂则另当别论。正在扩散的疖肿、久不愈合的疮面、或伴有发热者，需要的是就医处理，而不是一味敷贴。