Garlic has always found its way into delicious cuisines of different cultures and continents. Apart from adding flavor, garlic is rich in medicinal properties like lowering the risk of heart disease and putting a check on bad cholesterol levels.
Yet, you may need to rethink your options of having anything garlicky before going to an interview or while prepping up for a date owing to the garlic breath that can be very offensive to those around you.
How to get rid of garlic breath?
Garlic has a compound called as allicin within it that causes the bad breath. While chewing garlic, allicin gets crushed in our mouth leading to the unpleasant stench. A small amount of garlic stays in the mouth and teeth whereas the rest goes down into our belly for digestion. if you searching how to get rid of onion taste in mouth or next day …Once garlic is absorbed into the bloodstream, it makes its way to the lungs from where it comes out in the form of offensive-smelling breath.
Having said that, getting rid of a garlicky smell may not be all that tricky as you think. Just take a look around your kitchen and you will find out most of the ingredients of the below mentioned quick techniques of getting rid of garlic breath. The time at which you use these methods is more important as it should be soon after and within half an hour of your consumption.
- Grab an apple – Apples, especially the raw ones have an enzyme that can work against the compounds within garlic called sulphides that are responsible of producing bad breath.
- Green tea magic – Polyphenols, an important compound, in green tea makes it an effective antioxidant and also helps in deodorizing the mouth after consuming garlicky food..
- Sip lemon juice– Lemons are rich in citric acid which in turn neutralize the effects of bad smell causing enzyme in garlic.
- Mint leaves – Try to chew few mint leaves slowly in our mouth allowing enough time for the mint to act and neutralize the effect of garlic.
- Brushing and flossing– Fine residues of garlic hidden on the surface of your tongue and in between your teeth can be removed through brushing and flossing. Hence, scrubbing the surface of the tongue with a tongue cleaner or toothbrush is also important.
- Mouthwash with essential oils– Essential oils like peppermint oil, rosemary or eucalyptol are found in commercially available mouthwashes. You can use mouthwash as directed by the manufacturer to freshen your breath and also keep bacterial activity under control.
- Apple cider vinegar– It has a compound called pectin that helps to nullify the effect of garlic breath by flushing it out from the system. Take a glass of water and add one or two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and drink it before your meal containing garlic or onion. You can swish the diluted apple cider vinegar in your mouth and let it stay inside for 10 to 15 seconds to fight bad breath.
- Chewing gum – You can chew gums like those that have mint flavour to get an instant relief from bad breath and mask it temporarily
- Glass of milk– A glass of milk consumed with or soon after a garlic-rich meal can help dampen the effect of bad breath.
- Lettuce leaves- Chewing raw vegetables like lettuce leaves can act against the sulphides responsible for creating bad breath.
- Remove the bulb– If you are cooking for yourself, slit the garlic clove into two and remove the bulb lying safely at the centre of the garlic. Study reports have suggested that the garlic bulbs contain the maximum concentration of odour-producing compounds. This may not be feasible if you are dining out as you are left at the mercy of the chef.
Garlicky smell lingers for few hours and then wears off on its own. The duration when it is high in intensity can be annoying. Hence, it is advisable to avoid having garlicky meal just before going for anything important like a meeting or an interview. As we all know, prevention is always better than cure.