Like most of the things that we take such as medications, the use of garlic also comes with side effects or reactions that occur aside from the benefits we intend to have. Although I must say that these garlic side effects are still considered minor and do not pose a real danger to the one taking it.
Garlic Breath
One of the most noticeable garlic side effects of its intake is having garlic breath, especially if you eat it raw even in moderate amounts. The truth is, you yourself can smell your garlic breath inside your mouth. The sulfur compounds found in garlic support bacterial growth inside the mouth, thus causing the person to have bad breath or halitosis.
One option to manage this garlic side effect is to consume it n a weekend or when you plan to stay home. Don’t much on it on a day when you’re meeting people — unless you want to turn them off. Also, drinking a lot of water and mouthwash gargles will help.
Garlic Body Odor
Another would be garlic body odor or that particular smell emanating from your body specifically noted in your sweat. Actually, you will notice that literally all body secretions smell like garlic after consumption of it in large quantities, may it be raw or cooked. But sometimes, this would also depend on the person since all of us have different body chemistry.
There are people who get easily affected by the foods they eat, while others do not have any problems at all even if they eat a lot of it because their body does not react that much to the compounds found in it. If you are the type of person wherein you know that your body is really reactive to foods such as garlic, then you may want to add parsley to your foods if you want to eat a lot of this crop. You may also do exercises hours after eating so that you can excrete its smell from your body at a faster rate, and then drink a lot of water.
Diarrhea and Nausea
Some people who took it in amounts larger than usual and those who become kind of obsessed to be cured are said to suffer from diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Well, as they say everything taken in amounts more than what is intended is bad, right?
So if this is the case, then the person is really expected to have these symptoms. Raw garlic is believed to be very potent and can have effects on the digestive tract. Garlic juice can cause “burning sensation” in your stomach and digestive tract. To help maintain the health benefits of garlic, one should start consuming it in small amounts day by day gradually increasing until desired amount and effects are achieved.
Garlic Allergy
There also what we call garlic allergy which is rare but also occurs which is manifested as nausea, vomiting, headache, low-grade fever, and skin rashes. Although these symptoms may also indicate that the medicinal effects of garlic are taking place and it is the body’s reaction to it. Like what I have mentioned above, these effects are not that great as to bring harm to the person. If the person taking raw garlic is experiencing these things, then he should probably begin with small doses so as to help the body get used to it and minimize the “allergic reactions” to it.
Possible Interaction with Medicines
Its anticoagulant effect that could possibly interfere with blood-thinning medications is the most significant of all the side effects noted with its intake. If the person is going to undergo any surgery, it is best to let the attending physician know that the person is taking garlic so precautions will be made.
Because of the known health benefits of garlic, it is also advised to take extra care when taking medications such as anti-hypertensive and anticoagulant as it can potentiate the effects of these drugs.
As you can see, these known side effects are easy to manage and are not really that harmful except for the last part relating to medication interaction. But if symptoms persist after you follow these tips, seek help from a medical professional to address the problems in depth.