How to remove the smell of garlic from the mouth?
The smell of garlic from the mouth after its use is felt by others for up to 3-4 days. In order not to give up an exceptionally useful product, you need to know the tricks of how to get rid of the smell of garlic from the mouth.
Content:
- Why does intact garlic hardly smell?
- How does a garlic smell develop? Formation mechanism
- What determines the persistence of garlic aroma?
- How to get rid of garlic smell from the mouth quickly and effectively
- 5 food categories that eliminate garlic odor
- 7 drinks that remove garlic smell
- We remove the smell of garlic with 5 hygiene procedures
- 4 additional remedies to hide the smell of garlic
- How to get rid of the smell of garlic on your hair?
Why does intact garlic hardly smell?
Probably, everyone is familiar with this phenomenon: a whole clove almost does not spread a specific smell around itself. However, once you cut or bite it, the scent spreads throughout the house. What is the reason for such a striking effect?
It's all about a special substance - allicin, contained in garlic. After damage to cells as a result of a cut or other damage, a chemical reaction begins, based on the combination of two substances, previously isolated from each other. The destroyed vacuoles open the way for their interaction, as a result of the reaction a specific smell is released.
Thanks to allicin, garlic received a natural remedy against rodents and fungi. The properties of garlic to destroy bacteria and fungi have become known to mankind for a long time. The protection of this vegetable from damage, provided by nature, allowed a person to turn the healing qualities for himself.
How does a garlic smell develop? Formation mechanism
If the clove smells strong even with minimal damage, then when chopping garlic in a meat grinder or in a garlic press, the aroma becomes even more powerful.
The destruction of the cell structure of garlic leads to the combination of the following chemicals:
- Alliin is an amino acid;
- Alliinase is an enzyme.
They are initially contained in one cell, but are isolated from each other by a special membrane. Alliin is contained in the cell cytoplasm, alliinase - in the vacuoles of this cell. When the membrane is destroyed, the enzyme combines with the amino acid. The result of this reaction is the release of allicin, which contains about 70 compounds containing hydrogen sulfide.
The health benefits of allicin are undeniable. Almost all of the healing properties are associated with the presence of this chemical compound in garlic. Those who do not know how to remove the smell of garlic from the mouth and try to swallow it whole are making a mistake. An intact clove that does not contain allicin is devoid of all the beneficial properties.
What determines the persistence of garlic aroma?
Allicin is an unstable compound; it collapses as soon as it is formed. That is why, in order to preserve the aroma and beneficial properties, garlic is not heated and fried; it is added to dishes only at the end of cooking. Marinating garlic with whole cloves as part of the blanks completely deprives it of its bactericidal properties.
With prolonged storage, hydrogen sulfide compounds escape from the garlic heads. The most fragrant garlic is the one that was harvested not so long ago. After winter storage, no more than 5% of biologically active substances remain in this product, from which allicin is formed.
How to get rid of garlic smell from the mouth quickly and effectively
There are many ways to remove garlic odor from your mouth. In fact, removing the smell requires neutralizing those 70 essential sulfur-containing compounds. The enzymes of the human digestive system are not able to break down allicin, forcing others to tolerate the persistent odor from the mouth of a garlic lover.
Attention: the smell comes not only from the mouth or from the digestive tract!
His sources:
- lungs,
- skin (with perspiration);
- kidneys (with urine).
How to neutralize or at least reduce obsessive unpleasant odor?
5 food categories that eliminate garlic odor
The easiest way to get rid of the smell of garlic from the mouth is to include your favorite food in salads, then seize it with fruits, nuts, or chewing coffee beans.
Best odor neutralization products:
- Fruits - apricots, grapes, peaches, pears, prunes, cherries, plums, apples;
- Vegetables - lettuce, eggplant, parsley, potatoes;
- Greens - bay leaves, rosemary, spinach, basil, dill, parsley;
- Bread;
- Hard fruits - cinnamon sticks, coffee beans, nutmeg and walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cardamom.
The main property of the above vegetables and fruits is their ability to quickly oxidize. The darkening of their flesh after cutting or peeling is a vivid illustration of the chemical reaction of oxidation. The essential compounds of allicin are oxidized in the same way, so the smell disappears.
Nuts are recognized neutralizers of many odors, up to the aroma of alcohol. The leaders are walnuts and nutmegs. If you don't know how to get rid of the smell of garlic from your mouth - chew bay leaves, nutmeg, coffee beans.
7 drinks that remove garlic smell
Some drinks can help you get rid of the bad smell quickly and effectively. Essential derivatives of allicin are fat-soluble chemical compounds. The simultaneous passage of garlic and milk through the digestive tract dissolves allicin in milk fat, binding it and preventing it from volatilizing.
Attention: milk will quickly eliminate the smell of garlic from the mouth! Before eating food containing garlic, you need to drink 200 ml of milk to bind essential compounds with a strong odor.
Drinks that reduce garlic odor:
- Milk;
- Green tea, phenols and antioxidants which freshen the breath;
- Sour fruit juices (ph less than 3.60) - lime, lemon, cranberry, grapefruit juice.
- Herbal infusions.
The acidity index is important, as acidic fruits stimulate bile formation, digestion of food and the elimination of undigested digestive waste. Fruit acids increase the production of saliva, which washes the oral cavity, thereby accelerating the elimination of bad breath.
For emergency breath freshening, prepare and quickly drink 200 ml of fenugreek infusion. The infusion is prepared for a quarter of an hour in a water bath of 500 ml of water and 1 tsp. the seeds of this plant.
We remove the smell of garlic with 5 hygiene procedures
There are several easy ways to get rid of garlic breath after eating foods heavily seasoned with this spicy product.
Hygiene procedures:
- Cleaning your teeth using toothpaste;
- Removing food between the teeth with dental floss;
- Rinsing the mouth with an antibacterial agent (containing chlorhexidine, cetylpyrinidium chloride);
- Cleansing the tongue with a special scraper;
- The use of an irrigator in conclusion to cleanse the oral cavity.
If for some reason it is impossible to carry out these activities, rinsing your mouth with a solution of salt and baking soda will help remove the smell. Rinsing the dishes and hands with this mixture will have the same effect.
4 additional remedies to hide the smell of garlic
There are several more effective and simple remedies for those who do not know how to remove the smell of garlic from the mouth:
- Lemon peel;
- Activated carbon;
- Antipolitzai remedy;
- Chewing gum.
Chewing on a lemon peel or a mint leaf can help get rid of the obsessive smell for a while. Chewing gum flavored with mint, cinnamon, and lemon is used for the same purposes. Means "Antipolitsay" helps not only to eliminate alcohol fumes, but also to reduce the smell of garlic. Rinsing the mouth with alcohol-based tinctures, on the contrary, will increase the unpleasant odor.
The use of activated carbon will help to radically approach the solution of the problem. It can reduce the excretion of allicin derivatives by the kidneys, lungs and skin. The optimal dose is 2-6 tablets, depending on body weight.
Learn more: Slimming Lemon Tea and Water, Recipes
How to get rid of the smell of garlic on your hair?
Some medicated hair masks contain garlic. The following methods will help to eliminate its smell left after washing off the mask:
- Rinsing hair with lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l. Juice per 1 liter of water;
- Rinsing hair with apple cider vinegar - 250 ml of vinegar per 1 liter of water;
- Rinsing hair with mustard - 1 tbsp. l. Mustard powder per liter of water;
- Application to wet hair with 5-8 drops of lavender, rose, mandarin essential oil.
The most effective remedies are those made with essential oils and with apple cider vinegar.
If, despite all efforts, the garlic smell is felt the next day, the procedures should be repeated. It is recommended to include foods in breakfast to neutralize odors, drink milk or green tea.
Find out more: The benefits and harms of apple cider vinegar and its treatment
The author of the article: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna | Phytotherapist
Education: Diploma in "General Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the Pirogov University (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Moscow (2008).
