Does Eating Garlic Make Your Skin Smell?

Can Eating Garlic Make Your Skin Smell?

Can Eating Garlic Make Your Skin Smell?
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Updated on September 26, 2025
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Adding a clove or two of chopped garlic can have a transformative effect on the overall flavor of the dish you're cooking. However, this extra flavor can come with a particular disadvantage: Garlic is one of the foods that can make you smell bad, especially when you eat it raw. The chemical compound allicin, which is released when fresh garlic is cut or chopped, is broken down into smaller, smellier compounds that can emanate from your pores as you sweat and are responsible for the odor.

Garlic Nutrition Facts

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a single clove of garlic provides approximately 4 calories of energy, 1 gram (g) of carbs, 1 milligram (mg) of sodium, and almost no fat or protein.

A clove of garlic also offers 1 mg of vitamin C, which is about 1 percent of the daily value. This is an important vitamin that people get solely from food sources because it isn’t produced by the body. It helps the body heal wounds and make collagen, aiding in the elasticity of the skin.

Black garlic, which is made by fermenting fresh garlic pods in a temperature-controlled environment, is milder and lower in allicin, the chemical compound responsible for garlic's pungency and smell. Fermentation also decreases the carbohydrate content of black garlic in comparison to fresh garlic.

Garlic Health Benefits

According to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center at Oregon State University, the benefits of garlic come partly from allicin, the same compound responsible for the odorous smell of garlic sweat. Allicin contributes to garlic's antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular protection properties.

However, the benefits are only seen in raw garlic. Cooking or heating garlic can lead to the destruction of the enzyme alliinase. This enzyme is responsible for the production of allicin.

The Science Behind Garlic’s Smell

When raw garlic is peeled and chopped, it releases the chemical compound allicin. This compound is then broken down into several smelly compounds, with allyl methyl sulfide being the main one responsible for the notorious odor.

Michigan State University Extension explains that the oils present in garlic end up in the tissues of the lungs. In addition to affecting your breath, these oils also cause a garlicky smell to emanate from your pores. Eating parsley or yogurt may help reduce garlic breath, according to Michigan State University Extension, but these still probably won’t completely get rid of the smell.

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Kayli Anderson, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Christabel Lobo

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Christabel Lobo is a freelance health and wellness writer currently based in Mysore, south India’s yoga capital. She graduated summa cum laude from Fresno State with a Bachelors of Science in Animal Sciences and Pre-Veterinary Medicine, concentrating on animal agriculture and dairy production. Her writing has appeared in Byrdie, The Hindu Business Line, Trivago, Open Skies, Fodor’s, London’s Evening Standard, Silkwinds, HuffPost, Barclays Travel, and on her personal yoga & travel blog, Where’s Bel. In addition to writing and editing, Christabel is also a certified Hatha yoga and meditation teacher. Feel free to check out her portfolio: christabel.co

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