Just a nod to the world’s favourite fermented milk product: Yogurt. We all know how popular it is, with folks around the globe, in all its forms, for so many reasons. Now, it’s being hailed as the ultimate garlic breath cure. Scientists get paid to research this stuff?
A Classic Caesar Salad: Test the garlic breath fighting capabilities
of yogurt by chasing your next Caesar with a few spoonfuls…
It’s in the lab-testing stage, still, but indications are that plain, whole milk yogurt can defuse ‘almost all of the volatile compounds responsible for garlic’s pungent scent’.
What they did
Researchers from Ohio State University wanted to test milk protein-based products for their potential ability to fight garlic breath. Team leader and senior study author Sheryl Barringer, is a professor of food science and technology. She’s tested a wide range of foods for their ability to dissolve or at least disable the compounds that create garlic breath.
The preamble to an abstract of the study report says: “Researchers tested the garlic deodorizing capacity of yogurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the stink.”
Sounds like a simple process, but they made meticulous preparations. And they employed mass spectroscopy to accurately measure the levels of volatiles.
What they found
They discovered that: “Both yogurt fat and protein were effective at trapping garlic odors.” In fact yogurt was effective in reducing 99 percent of the odour-causing volatiles in raw garlic.
After years of trial and error, testing all kinds of foods from apples to mint, Barringer may have found the ‘Holy Grail’.
The takeaway
Test results suggest high-protein foods may one day be formulated specifically to fight garlic breath.
And you might not have to eat a whole lot of yogurt to get the results you want. Although the notion of compressing yogurt’s garlic-breath-killing powers into a pill or a stick of chewing gum seems far fetched.
Unintended side benefits
“High protein is a very hot thing right now – generally, people want to eat more protein,” Barringer noted. “An unintended side benefit may be a high-protein formulation that could be advertised as a breath deodorizer in addition to its nutritional claims,” she said.
My take
Wow! If it’s true, that’s a giant leap for savoury food lovers! Never again would folks who love garlic have to weigh the pros and cons of ordering a garlic-heavy dish before committing.
Barringer cautions that ‘human testing’ is still in the planning stages. But science be damned! All you have to do to try it out yourself is chase your next Caesar Salad with a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt. Dessert, breath freshener and a dose of healthy protein, all in one!
~ Maggie J.