Garlic Breath
What causes garlic breath and how to get rid of garlic breath
Many chefs and health-conscious people around the world love garlic. It can add a unique flavor and aroma to any meal and it is also good for the heart and is loaded with anti-oxidants. Unfortunately, the sulphuric compounds that give garlic their health benefits and taste also give people an unpleasant odor which is known as 'garlic breath'. In this article, we will cover why garlic makes your breath smell and also how to get rid of garlic breath.
Why does garlic make your breath smell
Garlic and other members of the allium plant family (onions, shallots, leeks) produce cysteine sulfoxide and this gives them their distinct odor and taste. These sulfuric compounds are very similar to the compounds that are produced by the anaerobic bacteria that cause bad breath.
There are two ways that garlic makes breath smell bad. The first way is that when you eat garlic the sulfuric compounds get in your mouth and they will immediately give you garlic breath. These odorous compounds will remain in the mouth until they are brushed, flossed, scraped, or flushed out.
The second way garlic affects your breath is through your lungs. There was an interesting study (link to the study) done in 1936 where two doctors fed garlic soup to a patient who suffered from cancer of the esophagus. Due to the cancer, the patient was fed through a tube that entered the stomach through the abdominal wall, completely bypassing the mouth. They noticed that although garlic did not enter the patients mouth, they still detected garlic in his breath 3 hours later. This old study supports other studies that have been carried out recently.
The compound that causes the breath that comes from the lungs to smell like garlic is allyl methyl sulfide (AMS). AMS is a gas which is absorbed into the blood during the metabolism of garlic. From the blood it is transferred to the lungs where it is then exhaled. Some of this AMS is even excreted from the pores of the skin. This is why garlic breath is so hard to get rid of at times. No matter how much you clean and brush your mouth, the garlic odor will still be in the air you exhale because it comes from the lungs.
How to get rid of garlic breath
The best way to get rid of garlic breath is to stop eating it, this is the only way to completely eliminate garlic breath. Also it is difficult for you to know if you have garlic breath or how bad it really is. If removing garlic from your diet is not an option here are some remedies for garlic breath. Please note that although you may neutralize the garlic breath compounds in the mouth, the sulfuric compounds will still be exhaled from your lungs, still making your breath smell like garlic. The effectiveness of these remedies are therefore debatable, but at least these will lower the smell of garlic that comes from your mouth and lowering overall the smell of garlic on your breath.
Remedies for garlic breath
The single most effective way to get rid of garlic is breath is the mechanical removal of the garlic particles and volatile sulfur compounds in your mouth. This is carried out by brushing and flossing your teeth, using a tongue scraper, and swishing and gargling mouthwash. Using a tongue scraper is very important step in removing the sulfuric compounds from your tongue. The following list of remedies are additional things you can do before or after brushing, flossing, and scraping but should not replace the mechanical removal of the garlic particles. The following are only meant to cover up or neutralize the garlic compounds before or after you brush, floss, and scrape. If you only try these remedies without removing the garlic particles, you will do little to get rid of your garlic breath and it will return shortly.
WaterPik - Using a WaterPik
is effective at removing the garlic compounds on and in between the teeth. You may also use the oral irrigator attachment to blow water in the back of your mouth to remove any particles that may be back there.
Parsley - A lot of the times recipes that use garlic also use parsley as well because parsley is effective in neutralizing the odors of garlic. Try chewing on parsley after eating garlic.
Cardamom, mint, fennel, cloves, anise seeds - these seeds and herbs are similar to parsley in the fact that they help neutralize or mask the garlic odor.
Lemon - Lemon is very effective in neutralizing the garlic odor and it is also has anti-bacterial properties that will kill bacteria. Try sucking on a lemon wedge after eating garlic. Also washing your hands with lemon juice helps to remove the odor from your hands.
Drink tea - Tea, especially green and peppermint, contain polyphenols that reduce the volatile sulfur compounds that the garlic produces. Drink tea while or after eating garlic.
Chew sugar-free gum - This will help to mask the odor of the garlic and will help dislodge garlic and food particles that might be stuck on or between your teeth.
Drink milk - In a study done in 2010 it was proved that drinking milk helped reduce the odor of garlic in one's breath. It is theorized that the fat content in milk helps neutralize the odors. Whole milk was more effective than skim milk and it is most effective when the garlic is mixed with the milk (gross!), instead of drinking it after.
Chew coffee beans - Various people have reported that chewing coffee beans or grounds for a bit and then spitting them out helps reduce garlic breath.
Switch to odorless garlic supplements - If you eat garlic because of its health benefits, consider switching to odorless garlic supplements.
Also do not neglect other necessary oral health care while trying to get rid of garlic breath. Read our article on How To Get Rid of Bad Breath for an overview of a basic oral care regimen that will help you have fresh breath.
Hopefully these will help you get rid of garlic breath or at least lower its effects. If you have any other tips please share them below. Thanks!
I’m in High school and the spaghetti is loaded with garlic I have been smelling it in my mouth for over a week!
A bunch of braindead idiots commenting in here. The garlic done killed off all their brain cells.
keep your mouth closed so no one smells your breath.
Both my wife and my girlfriend say my breath is horrible after I eat garlic, and it's been like this for years! What can I do?
I am letting whole cloves just sit in my mouth....I think it is helping.
Why cant anyone fucking learn to spell?!
garlic the health and nutritional benefits of garlic are ok. 2cloves a day, chopped and swallow 8pm n b4 mrning,u r gud 2go. my bald hair has also bn taken care of wt ds
JAJAJAJ OTHERS PEOPLES COMENTS ARE HILARIOUS
I have Shingles & reading what helps is to eat raw garlic. I don't mind the garlic but I worry about the smell. Seems green tea or mint tea helps. I'm going to to try the scraping of the tongue, brushing, flossing you tongue & teeth. Hope I don't offend anyone.
Solutions that don't work !?!
Thing is I've tried most of these remedies and they don't have much of an effect. I eat a lot of garlic (as in my culture it's in many recipes) and have no idea what to do to improve how it smells anymore. Pls help
simple way to cure galic smell
1. do not shew it
2. take it with a swallow food
3. u can also fry it with egg and bread
4. shew alot of shewing gum and tomtom
try this and thank me later
Garlic is efetive only due to its bad smell! So, it is good to enjoy the bad!
How to reduce gallic odour to d lowest minimal
Slice some gallics in a plate,leave it open for some time,then put it inside ur eba n swallow it with soup. Atfter shew mellon, drink green tea etc. I believe that doing exercise that will make u sweat n after u take ur bath b4 going out or meeting people will make d odour to leave u within short periods
Yikes! It appears garlic causes cognitive disfunction with spelling.......
Since garlic tastes so bad and makes one smell bad, I do not understand why cooks use it in so many recipes! It certainly does not enhance the taste of the food. I eliminate it from the recipe and have been curious as to why anyone would use it.
Garlic makes my champion hard as a rock and strong like a bull. I love the taste and the effects and it helps make me a sexual powerhouse.
I blend some cloves of garlic and ginger with some slices of cucumber. I hope this still does the work of garlic, with the additions. I took green tea and to my surprise, my colleague told me the smell isn't as bad as the previous day I didn't have green tea. So green tea really helps.
garlic is very good it has so many health benefit though people don't like the scent of it, I really like taking it
Bad breath
I have doing this for a while, cut garlic into small pieces and swallow with water. Much less bad breath than chewing it. Also, pan fry garlic and onions but not too much on the stove for less bad breath then eating them raw. If someone doesn't like my breath, the heck with them, garlic is medicine.
makes garlic more nutritious
After you cut or smash the garlic let it stand for 10 minutes. The allicin will be released and it will be better for you.
I love it no matter who it offends.I'm more interested in its health benefits knowing it goes right into your blood stream.I just bought a pound of California peeled garlic and i will spread it on toast after a slow roast in oven.YUM.
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i ate garlic 3days ago but it's up to present that my breath is not pleasant,what can i do else?
I love eating garlic. I love it raw cooked sautéed powdered and any other way. I could sue him mass quantities of garlic and I make my family and wife suffer for it. They will smell my wrath!
try baking soda...scrub tongue often, floss, rinse
help from Garlic breath
How to cover Garlic breath ?
I'm two months pregnant and my husband loves eating hummus with a lot of garlic. Yesterday he had some for breakfast and it made me queasy all day and night long. We tried most of the remedies but they didn't work. Today's morning my husband's breath helped to my morning sickness :(
I heard swishing mustard around in your mouth works just as well. You can add that to your list.
Garlic
I peeled and ate a large piece of raw garlic for the first time and WOW! I thought my dog had gas for 3 hours and no... It was my breath. My tip is brush, floss, mouthwash, and don't blame the dog. Also don't eat it raw ðŸ‘
Best way to get rid of it is an inch if water in a glass, 1 tsp of English mustard, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vinegar.
Hold your nose, put in mouth and swish round, then you must swallow it so it goes down your throat as well.
It's horrible but kills 70% in an instant.
eat garlic without bad breath
Sir/Madam,do not afraid to eat garlic.It is very good for health.If you get rid of smell eat it by little fry on fire.It cannot create smell.
mjyt
can not keep up withith you
Garlic
The benefits of garlic outways the old!
hy,the important features in garlic are more than the garlic breath we complain cos it cleanses the blood,just take it then get the bad breath of through lemon or tea,or you can cut the garlic into smaller pieces like drugs then drink it,this way there won't be garlic breath
To avoid garlic breath and garlic burps, remove the vein that runs down the center of the garlic clove. If you cut the close in half the vein is quite visible and easy to remove. The reason being that the clove itself digests rather fast, but the vein does not, if at all. As a result it remains in your stomach for much longer than the rest of the clove. This is why hours after eating something garlicy you are still burping garlic flavor even though your breath is relatively fine
Garlic breath
We are currently on an 8 hour trip (driving ) . I finished off a bag of garlic croutons & Omg !
Read articles above - is have peanut butter on had - I ate some but it's still strong - I'm Chewing trident spearmint & peppermint - gonna have to stop and scape my tongue .
(
Garlic breath
We are currently on an 8 hour trip (driving ) . I finished off a bag of garlic croutons & Omg !
Read articles above - is have peanut butter on had - I ate some but it's still strong - I'm Chewing trident spearmint & peppermint - gonna have to stop and scape my tongue .
(
garlic
The best way to stop d smell is letting evrryone to start eating it. When everyone eats it there won't be no smell
My husband also use blood Pressure medication .
He takes Breath Pearls every morning with his blood pressure meds ,
it really works for him
Only problem is , breath Pearls are not easy to find , he usually buy out all the stock on the shelves when he finds it .
garlic breath my husband
I hate when my husband eats garlic I cant stand to smell it what should I do
bad breath
My boyfriend takes a blood pressure and cholesteral pill daily . It unfortunatley leaves a very strong smell of garlic on his breath. How can i fix it