Processed or eaten raw garlic enters the digestive tract when the smell is released through the breath, it will no longer be as “fragrant” as it was originally. More importantly, no one likes the scent of someone else’s breath.
Garlic is a medicine, a spice that appeared in human meals from at least 5,000 years ago. The pungent flavor of garlic is found in many dishes such as curries, pasta, chips, stir-fries, even desserts.
According to Lives Science , many people eat raw garlic, roasted garlic and feel that the dish loses its appetite without garlic. The scent of cooking dishes with garlic also stimulates appetite.
Garlic-smelling breath makes many people uncomfortable – (Photo: SCIENCE ABC).
However, if you stand and talk to a person with garlic breath, everyone feels uncomfortable, even unbearable.
Explaining this, Professor Sheryl Barringer – chair of the department of food science and technology at Ohio State University (USA) – said garlic when chopped will release chemical compounds sulfide.
These volatile molecules have a “particularly pungent” odor that is easily recognizable. When we process garlic, sulfide molecules mix with the smell of other foods into the air with a pleasant aroma. When eating garlic, the delicious taste goes through both the sense of smell and taste, making us feel good.
Normally, food particles are left in between the teeth, causing bad breath. But garlic breath only appears when the food begins to be digested by gastric juices.
Here, enzymes break food down into small molecules, releasing sulfides, other vitamins and minerals. Most of these molecules will continue to be digested as they pass through the intestines, but the microscopic allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) molecule will pass through the stomach lining into the bloodstream.
AMS circulates through your lungs and exits your body through your breath, along with CO2 . At that time, the original garlic scent is no longer pleasant, but becomes a smell that makes you wince.
The “garlic breath” effect can last up to 24 hours after a meal. We can reduce this smell by drinking green tea, eating mint or chewing gum. These foods contain phenolic compounds, which bind with sulfides making them “heavier” and non-volatile.
Besides, Professor Barringer also commented that: “The breath that smells like garlic is not necessarily worse than the smell of raw garlic, but we are simply annoyed with all kinds of odors coming out of other people’s mouths”.
However, according to Professor Wilfredo Colón – head of the chemistry department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York, USA), the fact that many people like to eat garlic may be due to subconsciously recognizing the benefits of food.
Some studies show that compounds in garlic help lower blood pressure and provide a high antibacterial effect. We tend to like healthy things, so it’s easy to eat garlic and smell it.
“Garlic breath is inevitable. If you’re afraid, simply don’t eat it anymore,” advises Professor Wilfredo Colón.