Garlic adds interesting flavor to food and its health benefits are plenty. However, most people avoid eating the flavorful ingredient because of the bad breath they get after consuming it. It is now revealed that an apple or lettuce can solve the problem effortlessly.
Garlic breath sounds like a simple issue, but it is absolutely a big concern for many. To resolve this little but delicate matter, researchers from the Ohio State University carried out a small study where each participant was given 3 grams (0.11 ounce) of garlic cloves to chew for 25 seconds.
The participants were then immediately given water, which acts as control, while some were given raw apple, mint leaves or lettuce; juiced apple or mint leaves; heated apple or lettuce; or green tea.
The purpose of the experiment is to check if any of the above foods either in raw or heated form help control the garlic breath. Bad breath is actually caused by volatiles present in garlic that include allyl methyl disulfide, allyl mercaptan, allyl methyl sulfide, and diallyl disulfide. The amount of volatiles present in the participants' breath was analyzed with the help of selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS).
It was observed that the amount of volatiles in an individual's breath was reduced by at least 50 percent when raw apple or lettuce were consumed within the first 30 minutes compared to people in the control group that had water. Meanwhile, the deodorization effect of mint leaves was observed to be higher than that of an apple or lettuce.
It was also observed that though apple juice and mint juice decreased the quantity of volatiles, they weren't as effective as chewing mint leaves or apple.
Heated apple and heated lettuce were also found to have reduced volatiles significantly; however, green tea showed no such deodorizing effect.
The researchers noted that these food control garlic breath in two steps: First, the enzymes present in raw food destroy the odor, and then the phenolic compounds present in raw and cooked food destroy the volatiles. Since raw food has both enzymes and phenolic compounds, they are found to be much more effective in controlling the garlic breath.
"Garlic has a strong smell responsible for the undesirable garlic breath that may linger for about 24 hours," the study published in the Journal of Food Science read. "Therefore, it is helpful to come up with means of deodorizing the volatiles responsible for garlic breath as the associated health benefits are enjoyed. Chewing mint leaves, and eating apple and lettuce (raw and cooked) will help reduce the garlic breath volatiles."
Cleaning teeth and gums properly, flossing, scraping the tongue, fighting dry mouth and taking probiotics are other simple ways to fight bad breath.
Photo: Isabel Eyre | Flickr
