Find out 21 ways to get rid of garlic breath at home using food, drinks, hygiene routines and techniques to mask the garlic odor. Do you know that garlic smell lasts up to 70 hours? When they tell you that it will disappear in 12 hours, don’t believe it!
Garlic is healthy to eat. If you eat a clove of garlic a day, you will suffer less from respiratory diseases and this is an excellent prevention of neoplasms (cancer). But... the smell!
I promise - by the end of the article we will defeat it, but first we will look at an interesting nuance with garlic - I myself learned about it not so long ago!
What makes the garlic smell last?
Many have noticed that the pungent smell of garlic appears when the cloves are not just peeled, but cut into pieces or squeezed through a press.
This phenomenon is explained simply: when cells are destroyed, an enzyme, allicinase, is released, which, when it enters the cell sap, reacts with alliin.
As a result, allicin is first formed (the very substance to which garlic owes its bactericidal and antitumor effects), and then allicin undergoes changes and forms sulfur-containing substances. It is sulfides (the presence of sulfur) that gives the garlic aroma not only to breath, but also to urine and sweat.
What determines the persistence of garlic aroma?
Allicin is an unstable compound; it is destroyed as soon as it is formed. That is why, to preserve the aroma and beneficial properties, garlic is not heated or fried; it is added to dishes only at the end of cooking. Pickling garlic in whole cloves as part of preparations completely deprives it of its bactericidal properties.
During long-term storage, hydrogen sulfide compounds evaporate from the garlic heads. The most aromatic garlic is the one that was harvested not so long ago. After winter storage, no more than 5% of the biologically active substances from which allicin is formed remain in this product.
How to Avoid Garlic Breath in Advance
Since the smell is formed directly when cutting garlic cloves or when chewing them, it is not easy to get rid of it.
There are recommendations to consume garlic with hot milk. However, in our kitchen this seasoning coexists with vegetables and meat. Therefore, milk is not only inappropriate, but can also cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
Alternatively, you can avoid “injuring” others with the aroma of garlic. For example, do not leave the house until the smell disappears. And at home there is garlic with the household, in which case the smell will not bother anyone.
Chopped garlic, as it is stored in air, dries out and loses its killer aroma. However, along with it it loses both its taste and its benefits.
How persistent is the unpleasant odor, and how quickly does it disappear?
It is known that the cause of the phenomenon that bothers a person after eating garlic is ethereal compounds. They are perceived extremely negatively by the body. The smell stays in the stomach for a long time, is transferred to the blood, reaches the lungs and penetrates the subcutaneous tissue. There is no immediate possibility of getting it out. The process takes more than two days. This means that people around are forced to inhale an unpleasant odor. Eliminating it with the help of healthy foods and spices will not give the desired result; essential oils will already be absorbed by the body.
The unwanted odor will not have time to penetrate the body; it must be neutralized in the first two hours after eating garlic. If food was taken in the evening, and the fight against the consequences began in the morning, harmful compounds had time to end up in the body’s blood. Any action will not give the desired effect. It will not be possible to drown out the smell.
What diseases can it be present in?
Garlic odor from the mouth or skin can emanate even in cases where a person has not eaten garlic. Moreover, this occurs among young children, whose parents are unlikely to be suspected of having diversified the children's menu in this way.
In an adult
A smell similar to garlic may appear if this vegetable is not on the menu. In this case, it becomes one of the symptoms of dysfunction of the internal organs. Doctors have determined which diseases may cause an unpleasant odor and what causes it.
A weak, barely perceptible odor is most often not a sign of illness. Its appearance may be due to external factors, for example:
- Abuse of spicy foods with lots of seasonings (not necessarily garlic and onions). In this case, you need to review and adjust your diet.
- Hypervitaminosis of vitamin C causes the release of an odor similar to garlic. Ascorbic acid is found in many foods and tends to accumulate in the body.
- Excessive physical activity supplemented with protein foods.
If we are talking about pathologies, we can talk about the following situations:
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, peptic ulcer. A full examination, diet and symptomatic treatment are necessary.
- Endocrine disorders. The smell is accompanied by high fatigue, nervousness, irritability, and mood swings. Examination and treatment - from a specialist.
- Not only your breath may not be fresh, your skin and sweat may smell like garlic. In this case, we may be talking about a fungal infection of the skin or problems with the pancreas. Qualified treatment, diet and personal hygiene are required.
- If a woman's discharge or urine smells like garlic, then genitourinary diseases can be suspected.
- The garlicky aroma of sweat can indicate a wide range of problems, from nervous disorders to neoplasms. In any case, you need a full examination and proper treatment.
The child has
In young children, garlic breath may occur due to artificial feeding. This is absolutely normal. But if the smell intensifies, the skin and sweat smell, then you should contact your pediatrician.
Mouth fresheners are great for removing odor.
If you have eaten garlic and need to remove the aroma in a short time, refreshing preparations will come to the rescue. Found at the pharmacy kiosk. The price is affordable.
Use products based on natural products. They give freshness to your breath. The main thing is not to harm the stomach or oral mucosa. Preparations with the addition of mint, sage, chamomile, calendula, citrus fruits, and berries will have a beneficial effect. Please note that the duration of action is no more than 60 minutes. Then the cavity treatment will have to be repeated.
Products from the Swiss line ROCS, the German line LACALUT, the Italian line PRESIDENT, the American line AMWAY, and the Russian line Forest Balsam are often recommended. Dentists offer patients to use solutions for dental pain: Miramistin, Chlorhexidine. The main condition is the absence of alcohol in the composition.
Ways to eliminate odor
To get rid of the unpleasant smell of garlic (which can last up to a day and causes discomfort), you can use one of the proposed methods.
Oral hygiene
Hygiene procedures are considered one of the temporary but quite effective measures to get rid of garlic odor from the mouth. After eating, you can brush your teeth. Toothpaste with fluoride not only destroys pathogenic microflora in the mouth, but also helps get rid of odor.
Mouth rinses work similarly. In addition to ready-made purchased products, you can use simple but effective homemade products.
Recipes for effective rinses
- Baking soda has bactericidal and cleansing properties. To prepare the mouthwash, mix 1 tsp in a glass of warm water. baking soda and rinse your mouth thoroughly. If necessary, the procedure can be repeated after 15 minutes. Baking soda simultaneously whitens tooth enamel and removes plaque from the tongue.
- To weaken the pathogenic flora, you need to create an acidic environment in the mouth. For this purpose, stir 2 tbsp in a glass of warm boiled water. l. apple or grape vinegar. Rinse your mouth after eating.
- Mint and lemon balm have disinfectant and deodorizing properties. Fresh or dried herbs should be brewed in boiling water. Take 1-2 tbsp per glass of hot water. l. raw materials. Cover with a lid and leave to steep for 5-7 minutes. Mint contains menthol, which can cover up the garlic smell. Mint infusion is suitable not only for rinsing. You can drink it like tea, after straining it first. Mint calms the nervous system and lowers blood pressure. You can add a little honey for taste.
- If you cut off a slice of lemon and fill it with water at room temperature (1 tbsp.), leave it overnight, then in the morning you can rinse your mouth with lemon water after breakfast. To quickly prepare a similar remedy, just stir 1 tsp in a glass of water. freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Just like mint, you can brew nettle. It does not have such an aroma, but it exhibits bactericidal properties and cleanses the oral cavity well. It should be noted that nettle has quite a few contraindications.
- The rinse aid turns out to be pleasant and useful if in ½ tbsp. stir in warm water 3 drops of tea tree essential oil, 5 drops of lemon juice and 3 drops of mint extract.
Mouth fresheners
On sale you can find a large number of mouth sprays that are designed to get rid of unpleasant odors, including garlic.
They are comfortable, take up little space and allow you to forget about discomfort for several hours. At the pharmacy you can buy products in tablets that can get rid of bad breath.
Lemon
Lemon juice combats many unpleasant odors (Photo: pixabay.com)
Lemon juice is used to combat various unpleasant odors. It contains vitamin C, which destroys sources of amber. Lemon will remove the aroma of garlic from your mouth and hands. Just chew a slice or rinse your mouth with water and freshly squeezed juice. After a meal with garlic, you can brew tea with lemon and cinnamon, which also removes the amber.
Do not combine this method with brushing your teeth. Excess acid causes the enamel to become thinner and softer. Wait 30-60 minutes. During this time, saliva will wash away the remaining acid, and you can use the brush.
Foods and drinks that eliminate odor
You can “seize” the garlic smell:
- To freshen your breath, you need to wash a few sprigs of dill and chew them after eating.
- Instead of dill, you can chew parsley leaves.
- Essential oils, which are contained in the pulp and peel of citrus fruits, interrupt the smell of garlic. It is enough to eat a few slices of orange, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon or chew the peel.
- Walnuts get rid of the garlic smell: they need to be chewed thoroughly after eating.
- A cup of milk or kefir will neutralize the unpleasant odor.
In addition, there is another way to eat odorless garlic. You need to add neutralizing products to your food. For example, make a salad with parsley or dill, add nuts and oranges.
For some time, coffee and chewing gum will help you get rid of the pungent smell. However, you shouldn’t get too carried away with it, because the effect may be the opposite.
Eliminate odor with nuts
Nuts are an effective way to cope with difficulties that arise. Generations of experience have proven that eating nuts after dishes cooked with garlic immediately suppresses the flavor. Already in the stomach, the nuts will begin to kill the essential compound, which results in a special smell. If you are going to try garlic dishes, stock up on walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and peanuts. Muscat should be consumed with caution, adding it to a finished dish, or eating it raw.
In case of repeated consumption of the plant, you will have to use the help of nuts often: immediately after the end of a meal, or at another time. If you do not follow the recommendations, after the body processes the eaten fruits, the essential compounds of garlic will continue to release unpleasant fumes during respiration.
Folk remedies
Traditional recipes for getting rid of the smell of garlic after eating:
- Chew a piece of beeswax until it becomes sticky. Wax, like honey, has a strong bactericidal property and a soft, unobtrusive aroma. It freshens breath and cleanses gums.
- Chew a small piece of tree resin. Cherry and plum resin helps especially well.
- Hold a young spruce paw in your mouth. In this case, you need to take a fresh shoot, with soft spines, light green. It can be lightly chewed. Before you freshen your breath, you need to wash your paw well.
- Chamomile tea will help freshen your breath. To prepare it you need to brew 1 tbsp. l. dried flowers in 200 ml of boiling water. Leave to sit for 5 minutes. Strain the tea, you can add 1 tsp. honey, drink after meals.
Why does intact garlic have almost no smell?
You probably also noticed this nuance: as long as the head or clove of garlic is intact and undamaged by the cut, it has almost no smell. But as soon as you take a bite, the magical smell of garlic envelops your entire body - not just your mouth! Why is this happening?
It's all about chemistry, or rather, chemical reactions.
In garlic, while the head or clove is whole, there is no substance that gives a strong garlic smell. The substance is called allicin . If one wants to look for allicin in a head of garlic, it will not be detected until at least a small piece of the clove is damaged - by biting, cutting or crushing it.
Perhaps you will find useful an article on a related topic about how to remove bad breath using traditional methods and the reasons for its occurrence, or you want to know what to do if you have heatstroke, since it is incredibly hot right now. Good advice awaits you in the article on how to get rid of age spots on your face - in this case, follow the links.
Garlic aroma protects the plant from rodents and rotting
Nature is very wise! By creating a similar aroma, she created a powerful protection for garlic from being eaten or damaged by rodents.
Allicin also protects garlic from rotting and fungal growth.
Thanks to this substance, garlic is well preserved. As long as the head is intact, it doesn’t stink. But it also does not have pronounced bactericidal properties .
How is garlic odor formed? Education mechanism
The most powerful aroma of garlic occurs when the cloves are put through a garlic press. a lower concentration of aroma occurs when it is chewed or cut. Why? Because to form this garlic flavor, two compounds must meet:
- alliinase enzyme
- amino acid alliin
And it is very difficult for them to meet - the enzyme in the cell is stored in special formations - vacuoles and is protected from the cell cytoplasm by the membrane (membrane). Amino acids are found in the cytoplasm of the cell. In order for them to meet and come into contact, it is necessary to destroy the vacuole membrane - which is what happens if garlic is crushed, cut or bitten.
Look how they are stored in the cell - alliinase and alliin:
When alliinase and alliin meet, a chemical reaction occurs and about 70 different hydrogen sulfide compounds are created, collectively called allicin.
Allicin is very useful. In fact, garlic has all its healing properties only thanks to these hydrogen sulfide compounds, which are the biologically active sulfur-containing substances of garlic.
That is why there is no point in swallowing whole garlic - it does not have the beneficial properties that are formed when the garlic cell is destroyed, since it does not contain allicin.
What determines the persistence of garlic aroma?
Allicin, once formed, immediately begins to break down. Therefore, garlic, passed through a garlic press, is added to the dish at the very end and is not subject to heat treatment - when heated, it very quickly collapses and loses its beneficial functions. Also, you should not pickle whole cloves of garlic - no bactericidal properties were found in it.
When garlic is fried, allicin is also destroyed.
The amount of hydrogen sulfide compounds also decreases during storage of garlic. Fresh garlic is more fragrant than the one that was stored through the winter - only 5% of the active substances remain in it. necessary for the formation of allicin. Advertising MEDICINETEASER
How to get rid of garlic odor on hands
To get rid of a pungent odor on your hands (for example, after cooking), you need to:
- wash your hands thoroughly with soap;
- wipe the skin with lemon or orange peel;
- wipe your hands with an antiseptic or a cotton swab soaked in alcohol (vodka);
- Cut a raw potato and rub the skin of your hands with half.
It is best to wear thin gloves when cooking with garlic. They will protect the skin from unpleasant odor.
Mint and other aromatic herbs eliminate unwanted aroma
Pleasant herbs include essential oils. Within a short period of time, they are able to suppress the resulting odor. If you have freshly picked herbs, just rinse them in clean water and chew them for a few minutes. The dried product requires additional processing. It is supposed to be boiled and used as tea leaves. The resulting drug is recommended for use externally and internally.
Coltsfoot, St. John's wort, mint, yarrow, chamomile, and calendula will successfully help cope with the unpleasant sensation.
