Yogurt fights garlic breath: A new study on how to get rid of garlic smell when breathing

22.09.2023 10:10
Updated: 13.05.2024 21:23

Garlic is delicious, but its odor is too strong for some people - especially if they smell it in someone's breath.

There are plenty of different hacks on how to get rid of that smell quickly, and scientists claim that they've found one more effective method - yogurt!

Let's find out more about how it works.

An unexpected solution

In a recent study, researchers found that whole milk plain yogurt can stop the strong smell of garlic from spreading. 

They tested yogurt's ability to neutralize garlic odor and found that both the fat and protein in yogurt were good at trapping the smell. 

garlic
Photo:Pixabay

This suggests that foods high in protein could be designed to fight garlic breath in the future.

How it was conducted

The study was conducted by scientists at The Ohio State University and published in the journal Molecules. 

They've previously identified other foods like apples, mint, lettuce, and milk that can help combat garlic breath. 

The researchers decided to investigate yogurt's deodorizing effect due to speculation.

In their experiments, they placed garlic in glass containers and confirmed that the compounds causing the garlic smell were released. 

Yogurt alone reduced 99% of these odor compounds. 

The fat, water, and protein in yogurt also helped, with fat and protein being more effective than water.

Why it might be useful

These findings lay the groundwork for future research on creating products to reduce garlic breath, possibly using various proteins. 

In the meantime, Greek yogurt, which has more protein, and even flavored yogurts might help with garlic breath if consumed right after eating garlic.
 

Kate Yakimchuk Author: Kate Yakimchuk Editor internet resource


Content
  1. An unexpected solution
  2. How it was conducted
  3. Why it might be useful