Why Garlic Causes Bad Breath and How to Get Rid of It 0 95

The trouble comes from a volatile substance — allicin. When chopped with a knife, blended, crushed with a press, or bitten into, the plant's cells break down, and allicin is formed from the amino acid cysteine and the enzyme alliinase. By the way, it has a powerful bactericidal effect.

If you decide to swallow a clove whole, there will be no sharp taste and subsequently no bad breath. However, the benefits are minimal, as gastric juice will destroy the garlic cells before the necessary substances react. Allicin is formed only when the garlic is crushed.

Once in the human body, allicin begins to be absorbed. It mixes with saliva in the oral cavity and enters the body through the mucous membranes. The speed of this process depends on many factors. If you eat a clove of garlic in its pure form, the smell appears immediately. If it was part of, for example, a salad, and afterward you had another dish, those around you will not notice the smell until at least ten minutes later, but certainly within an hour. Metabolism varies for everyone.

After traveling through the body, the processed volatile substances seek to exit. The fastest way is through the mucous membranes of the oral cavity. So the smell we perceive does not come entirely from the mouth, but from the mucous membrane, which is also released during breathing and with sweat.

The rate of release depends on the amount consumed and the physiological characteristics of the body. Approximately 20 g of garlic, or three to four cloves, in an average person weighing 60–70 kg will be eliminated in 12 hours. During this time, those around will notice the smell.

How to Reduce Bad Breath

There are no varieties that leave no aroma trail. But the smell can be reduced.

Firstly, blanching chopped garlic beforehand helps. The water needs to be changed three to four times. It acts as a solvent, and with each change, the concentration of volatile substances decreases. However, heat treatment will deprive garlic of its bactericidal properties, leaving only the taste.

Therefore, after boiling, stewing, and baking, there will be no smell either. But such garlic will not provide any benefits. This is the second point.

Thirdly, you can eat garlic in pickled, salted, or dried form. During drying, moisture evaporates with the volatile substances, and salt and acids draw it out of the cells. But with moisture, the dissolved substances also leave. Therefore, these methods also kill the beneficial properties of the plant.

Fourthly, some products act as absorbents: the smell becomes less pronounced, lasts shorter, while the benefits of the consumed garlic remain. Some fruits (pears, apples, grapes), nuts, coffee beans, black bread, greens, lettuce leaves, and lemon zest have this property. Among drinks — sour juices, milk, or green tea.

There are other methods: chewing gum, brushing teeth, rinsing — but they only help temporarily. While chewing gum, the smell is masked. Once you stop — long live the odor. There is another option — eat garlic collectively: it is beneficial, and the smell will not disturb anyone.