Garlic: Uses, Side Effects, and Precautions

Garlic, a ubiquitous ingredient in our daily cuisine, is renowned for its seasoning abilities and potent antibacterial properties. It can be enjoyed both cooked and raw, albeit raw garlic possesses a pungent flavor that, if consumed excessively, may cause stomach discomfort. Should you find yourself experiencing such discomfort after indulging in raw garlic, here are some remedies to soothe your stomach.

1. What to Do If You Experience Stomach Discomfort After Eating Raw Garlic?

Raw garlic, being a spicy food, can irritate the gastric mucosa, triggering stomach pain. To alleviate this discomfort, consider taking medications that inhibit gastric acid secretion, such as Omeprazole, or opt for drugs like colloidal bismuth pectin to protect your gastric mucosa. Eating a handful of peanuts can also help neutralize stomach acid and ease the pain. Furthermore, sipping on warm water can provide some relief.

2. Precautions for Eating Raw Garlic

a. Avoid consuming garlic on an empty stomach as it can harm the gastric mucosa, potentially leading to acute gastritis or gastric ulcer. When garlic enters an empty stomach, it stimulates a surge in hydrochloric acid production in the gastric juice, resulting in heightened gastric motility and discomfort.

b. Moderation is key when it comes to garlic consumption, as it can be a mildly irritating food. Eating too much garlic can harden the colon, affecting intestinal motility and predisposing you to constipation. Additionally, garlic has the ability to eliminate both harmful and beneficial intestinal bacteria, which may lead to skin conditions like cheilitis, glossitis, and stomatitis.

c. Individuals suffering from liver disease should refrain from garlic consumption, as the allicin in garlic can decrease red blood cells and hemoglobin levels in the blood, ultimately causing anemia. Similarly, patients undergoing treatment for kidney, bladder, or heart diseases should avoid garlic.

d. To enhance the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory benefits of garlic, it is advisable to crush raw garlic before consumption. Garlic contains two separate compounds, alliin and allinase, which only interact when crushed. This combination results in the decomposition of alliin by allinase, producing allicin, the primary component responsible for garlic's therapeutic properties.