Sprouted garlic, and how to deal with garlic breath
By Rossland Telegraph
‘Tis the season to be jolly, fal-la-la-la-lah and so on — but it’s hard to feel jolly while afflicted with a stuffed or runny nose, headache, coughs and sneezes. Colds are not usually a reason to lurch off to your doctor; the doctor will just tell you to rest, take lots of hot fluids, and avoid spreading your germs around. Well, viruses.
Many of us swear by hot home-made chicken broth with onions and garlic to help us vanquish a cold. But what if the garlic is starting to sprout, with little green shoots poking out?
Don’t throw it away just because it’s sprouting. A report published in 2014 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry stated that sprouting garlic has higher levels of anti-oxidants and also has “different metabolites” which appear to have protective qualities. The report pointed out that it was raw, sprouted garlic that was tested, so for best results, perhaps spread some raw garlic (sprouted or not) on buttered toast instead of cooking it.
But now you’ll have serious garlic breath. That’s probably a good thing while you’re sick — it will tend to protect others from your infectious illness by keeping them at a safer distance. But what if you’re not sick and are devouring raw garlic as a preventive measure?
Chewing fresh parsley has long been touted as a way to combat garlic breath, but this is the season to be jolly, not to find fresh parsley in the garden. Not in the southern interior, unless you keep an indoor supply of parsley growing in a pot. Besides, does it really work? Has it been tested?
Researchers have tested the garlic-breath-deodorizing effects of chewing a few different foods. The bottom line: fresh mint leaves seemed to be the most effective substance that was tested to neutralize the stink. Chewing apple and iceberg lettuce also helped noticeably. (Other types of lettuce may be just as effective, or — who knows? — even better, but iceberg is what they were testing.)
For the science-minded, click this link to read about it in much greater detail. Meanwhile, if you don’t have fresh mint or parsley handy, just get a nice organic apple and munch away to help with that garlic breath.
