11 Tips on How to Get Rid of Garlic Breath

Garlic is a delicious and integral ingredient of many dishes, but it has one very unpleasant side effect - bad breath. Unfortunately its sulfuric odor may persist for up to 72 hours and it can be extremely difficult to eliminate. However there are few effective methods to mask and neutralize its smell, while refreshing your mouth in a pleasant way. Here are 11 tips on getting rid of garlic breath effectively and instantly.

1. Try Mustard

Mustard Sauce In White Bowl

Mustard contains turmeric, which helps prevent and eliminate bad breath.

Take 1 teaspoon of mustard and swish it and roll it around your mouth for 1 minute. Then spit it out. Now take another ½ teaspoon and swallow it this time. It will go deep into your lungs, where all the garlic sulfur compounds have been transported by the blood stream.

You can also combine ½ teaspoon of salt with 2 teaspoons of mustard oil and repeat the same action as described above. Just keep the mixture in your mouth and don’t swallow. Rinse with fresh water after approximately 1 hour.

2. Take Breath Mints and Peppermint Chewing Gum

Beautiful teen girl inflating bubble of chewing gum

This will mask garlic breath only temporarily, but it can be of great help. Choose strong mints made with an essence of real peppermint oil.

3. Chew Parsley

Parsley is an excellent herb to get rid of garlic breath.

It contains high levels of chlorophyll, which acts as a natural breath freshener. It has also great antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and toxin-eliminating properties useful in eliminating oral and body odor exactly at their source.

Always chew fresh parsley, as dried herbs do not contain active chlorophyll.

4. Use Mint, Cardamom, Fennel, Anise Seeds and Cloves

These herbs and seeds can help neutralize or mask garlic breath.

Chew cloves and cardamom, fennel and anise seeds, and eat fresh mint leaves.

Some restaurants often serve some of these seeds after meal, especially fennel.

5. Drink Milk

Pretty Woman Drinking Milk

The fat content of milk helps reduce garlic breath. It seems that the combination of water and fat has the ability to neutralize or at least decrease oral malodors.

Just sip a glass of full-fat milk after eating garlic and you’ll feel great results. It will significantly suppress the garlic’s sulfurous properties.

6. Eat Yogurt

Several studies have proved that eating 6 ounces of yogurt can help reduce bad bacteria and hydrogen sulfide in the mouth, which are main causes of bad breath. And this goes for garlic breath as well!

7. Chew Coffee Beans

Coffee beans contain compounds that have antibacterial effects, useful in fighting microorganisms responsible for halitosis. Chewing roasted coffee beans can therefore be very helpful when trying to get rid of garlic breath.

8. Consume Cold Foods

The smell of garlic intensifies when something hot is consumed. So after ingesting garlic, you should switch to eating cold foods, such as ice creams or other frozen desserts and snacks.

9. Go for Fresh Lemon

Woman With Sunglasses Eating Lemon

Lemon is also a very effective odor neutralizer. It has the ability to kill bacteria causing bad breath.

Try drinking a freshly squeezed lemon juice after eating garlic, or directly suck a fresh lemon wedge. Chewing peels can also be helpful.

10. Have a Nice Cup of Green or Mint Tea

Green tea and mint tea contain polyphenols that help reduce the concentration of hydrogen sulfide, the unpleasant chemical compound that garlic produces.

Drinking a nice cup of mint or green tea during or after meal will, therefore, greatly neutralize the unbearable garlic breath. Mint will also pleasantly refresh you mouth.

11. Oral Hygiene Remedy – Brush, Floss, Scrape and Gargle

  • Use oxygenating toothpaste with fluoride and brush your teeth immediately after eating garlic, in order to instantly get rid of the annoying garlic breath.
  • Floss them to remove eventual food particles or garlic rests trapped between your teeth.
  • The rough surface of your tongue provides an ideal ground for the odor-producing bacteria. Always use a tongue scraper to remove leftover food particles and eliminate bacteria that cause bad garlic breath.
  • The last step consists in gargling your mouth and throat with a good mouth wash that neutralizes volatile sulfur compounds and eliminates bad breath.

Did these tips on how to get rid of garlic breath prove to be useful? If know of any other effective methods, please share them with us in the comments below!

About the author

Jessica

Jessica is a translator who has lived for many years in Asia and South America. She now lives and works in Europe, while preparing her new journeys. She enjoys traveling, meeting new people, exploring different cultures and foods, and being in love.

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  • Ate almost a whole garlic corm one Friday drank 25 tea bags of green tea (3 tea bags a cup 4 bags in first cup) (decaf) no garlic smell on Monday!

  • simple way to cure galic smell

    1. do not shew it
    2. take it with a swallow food
    3. u can also fry it with egg and bread
    4. shew alot of shewing gum and tomtom

    try this and thank me later