The medicinal use of sulfur goes back thousands of years to the Trojan Wars, when wounded solders healed in the sulfur Baths of Agamemnon. Sulfur baths are still popular for treating joint and other diseases around the world. Similarly, sulfur-rich garlic has been used for several millennia to prevent and treat diseases. It contains powerful antibacterial substances, which may explain the garlic's extensive use as a folk medicine. Now, researchers understand that sulfur forms part of the matrix of bone joints in the form of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate.
Sulfur has powerful antibacterial properties.
Many of sulfa drugs are still prescribed by physicians, and sulfur is a component of penicillin-class antibiotics and many other medicines. Many dietitians will say that people obtain adequate sulfur as long as they eat methionine-rich meat. But other foods also provide large amounts of sulfur, including egg yolks, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussel sprouts, watercress, radish, leek, onion, and of course garlic. Unfortunately, many people dislike these foods or, as in the case of eggs, avoid them. Indeed, Lawrence says research has demonstrated that supplemental sulfur is incorporated into amino acids.