--- title: VIDEO: What Causes Garlic Breath? description: And, no, the answer isn't as simple as just "garlic". canonical: https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-09T20:10:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:18:21.652Z article:section: Health og:title: VIDEO: What Causes Garlic Breath? og:description: And, no, the answer isn't as simple as just "garlic". og:url: https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38784613657e56fb/698696d3810bbb4be5c92186/garlic720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: Garlic Breath og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: VIDEO: What Causes Garlic Breath? twitter:description: And, no, the answer isn't as simple as just "garlic". twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38784613657e56fb/698696d3810bbb4be5c92186/garlic720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's Why You Get Garlic Breath > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 9, 2014 8:10 PM UTC  A complex group of volatile organic compounds give you that distinct garlic breath. A complex group of volatile organic compounds give you that distinct garlic breath. American Chemical Society by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Jun 9, 2014 8:10 PM UTC Garlic tastes good to eat, and it’s good for you — so how does it turn in to such a date-night killer after you’ve consumed it? The folks at the American Chemical Society and chemistry blog [Compound Interest](http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/05/05/what-compounds-cause-garlic-breath-the-chemistry-of-garlic/) have done the research and narrowed it down to four volatile organic compounds. Strangely enough, none of these compounds are present in garlic until it is broken down or chopped, but when garlic’s structure is damaged, enzymes convert the compound Allin to Allicin, which is responsible for the smell. Allin then breaks down in to the four compounds and one of those – Allyl Methyl Sulfide – breaks down much more slowly and as the compound gets in to your bloodstream, the only ways it can excrete are through urine, sweat, or breath. There is a fix however – if you want to mask your garlic breath, your best options are milk, or parsley. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/"},"headline":"Here's Why You Get Garlic Breath","datePublished":"2014-06-09T20:10:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:18:21.652Z","description":"Scientists have narrowed down the exact chemical reason why your breath reeks after eating the stuff","url":"https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38784613657e56fb/698696d3810bbb4be5c92186/garlic720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38784613657e56fb/698696d3810bbb4be5c92186/garlic720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Garlic Breath","caption":"A complex group of volatile organic compounds give you that distinct garlic breath.","creditText":"American Chemical Society","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2849572/heres-why-you-get-garlic-breath/","name":"Here's Why You Get Garlic Breath"}}]}] ```