Dive Brief:
- Eating raw apples, raw lettuce or mint leaves helps get rid of garlic breath, according to research conducted at Ohio State University and published in the Journal of Food Science.
- Test subjects chewed raw garlic for 25 seconds and had their breath tested. Then they tried one of several treatments which included raw apple, heated apple, apple juice, mint leaves, mint juice, raw lettuce, heated lettuce, and green tea.
- Scientists found that the raw foods had the biggest impact on getting rid of garlic breath compounds. The mint juice and heated apple had some effect, and the green tea made no difference. The researchers said that the raw foods contain odor-vanquishing enzymes and compounds that destroy the volatiles that remained on subjects' breath.
Dive Insight:
With all kinds of savory cuisine being flavored by garlic — and many consumers plagued with the smell of it on their breath for hours — this research is extremely practical. And since many Americans aren't getting their recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, the upshot of this research can get people to eat healthier and have less stinky garlic breath.
Apples are one of the most popular fresh fruits in the United States, with the average American eating 10.7 pounds of them a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. They are good sources of vitamin C and dietary fiber, and are easy to travel with and eat on the go.
As the apple harvest draws near, farmers throughout the U.S. are expecting a good crop this year. Michigan is expecting its largest crop ever, breaking records at 31 million bushels.
Lettuce is another nutrient-dense and extremely popular food. It provides thiamin, vitamin B6, iron, potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, folate and manganese. Lettuce consumption in the U.S. is about 14 pounds per person annually, and about a quarter of the crop goes into prepackaged salads.