The clock is counting down. You’re looking around the room frantically. But it seems the oceans of people have parted faster than Moses commanding the Red Sea. What’s the go? A lot of that may depend on what you ate moments ago. That garlic bread may have “hit the spot” when it comes to those food cravings, but what about that dreaded garlic breath? The clock counts down further. You’re all out of sugar-free chewing gum, and your toothbrush is at home. Is there anything that can save you?!
The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Garlic has a volatile compound called allicin, which not only makes your breath smell, but is also secreted through sweat glands, making the lasting effects of garlic even more pungent (gross huh?). Fortunately, numerous foods contain phenolic compounds which react with these volatile compounds to neutralise the pungent garlic after-effects.
You look around the room. The sight of those tequila shots make your stomach churn, but that lemon wedge sitting next to the tequila bottle is a life-saver when it comes to neutralising garlic breath. While terribly acidic for your teeth, sucking on a lemon wedge is definitely effective in the fight against garlic breath. If the thought of this makes your eyes water (and your dentist cringe), then fortunately there are other foods that work too.
On a plate in the corner is a vegetable and fruit platter which looks more lonely than Tom Hanks on a desert island. Fortunately for you, it’s hardly been touched! That’s good news, because both lettuce and raw apple have also been found to neutralise garlic breath! Perhaps unsurprisingly that mint garnish has also proven effective.
You frantically shove the lemon, lettuce and apple into your mouth, but alas the garlic breath doesn’t disappear in an instant. So what’s the go? Research found that consuming these neutralising foods whilst eating garlic, is much more effective in preventing garlic breath, than consuming the foods afterwards.
The clock ticks down to zero. You console yourself with the fireworks outside (rather than the ones you were hoping would go off inside), but soon the garlic breath will be gone, and fortunately the night (and year) is still young!