Some Raw Foods Can Actually Cure Garlic Breath, So Throw Out Your Gum

There are several things in life that I try to avoid at all costs.

These things include ex-boyfriends, adulthood, responsibilities and any type of food that makes your breath smell like shit.

Yes, I'm looking at you, garlic.

I mean, let's be real: I think we can all agree having bad breath is not cute, especially when the garlic-induced odor seeping from your mouth is strong enough to repel a small army of vampires.

To make matters even worse, garlic is like the stage-five clinger of foods.

Once you cross paths with these cursed cloves, there's basically no amount of gum or toothpaste on the face of the planet that can rid your mouth of that lingering stench.

But before you say goodbye to your favorite garlic-filled foods, you'll be glad to know there might be a way you can stuff your face with garlic bread and not torture the people around you with your offensive breath.

That's right, researchers at Ohio State University finally found a cure for your unbearable garlic breath.

In the study, the researchers made participants chew three grams of softneck garlic cloves for 25 seconds. Then the subjects were given either water, an apple, lettuce, mint or green tea.

The scientists then looked at the level of volatiles responsible for the foul odor on the subjects' breath.

Apparently, those who chewed raw mint leaves had the lowest level of volatiles. Therefore, they had the least offensive breath.

Chewing on raw apple or raw lettuce also seemed to lessen the garlic-induced volatiles by more than half, compared to drinking water.

Consuming an apple or mint in juiced form and an apple or lettuce in heated form also seemed to result in a lower level of volatiles, but not as much as the same foods in raw form.

Green tea, on the other hand, proved to be a pretty useless cure when it came to freshening the subjects' stinky breath.

But what makes some foods better at masking this offensive odor than others?

Apparently, it all has to do with how foods interact with your gross garlic breath.

Researchers determined that raw foods contain enzymes that eradicate the odor, while the phenolic compounds found in raw and cooked foods wipe out the smelly volatiles.

So, there you have it. Thanks to science, you can now go forth and shamelessly shovel garlicky pasta into your mouth without suffering the smelly consequences.

Just make sure you keep a stash of raw mint leaves on you at all times to chew on afterward.

Citations: Put down your mints, there's a new cure for garlic breath (Metro UK)