It's a key ingredient in our favourite dishes, but there's no denying garlic breath is enough to turn most of us off our lunch.
Now however, scientists have finally worked out the best way to combat the garlicky pong that lingers long after your spaghetti dinner has been scoffed.
Researchers at Ohio State University discovered that some remedies work considerably better than others when it comes to eliminating the compounds that can linger on our breath for up to 24 hours.
As part of the study, a number of brave volunteers were asked to chew three grams of raw garlic for 25 seconds.
After eating the garlic, the participants were asked to drink either water (a control), raw, juiced or heated apple, raw or heated lettuce, raw or juiced mint leaves, or green tea immediately.
The findings?
The most effective remedies for reducing garlic breath were raw apple, raw lettuce, and mint leaves.
Apple juice and mint juice also had a deodorising effect were generally not as effective as the raw food, "probably because the juice had enzymatic activity but the phenolic compounds had already polymerized."
Both heated apple and heated lettuce produced a significant effect, while green tea had no deodorising effect on the garlic volatile compounds at all.
So there you have it. If you want to enjoy the health and flavour-boosting effects of garlic, keep a mint plant on your desk or windowsill.
