If you are using garlic for its medicinal benefits, you should know that having too much dosage of garlic supplements, garlic juice or its raw bulb may pose garlic side effects to your health.
In cooking:
I was told when I was young that I can never put too much garlic in my dish. (One fresh clove per person, per day, is just about the right dosage of garlic, anyhow.) Knowing the tremendous health benefits of garlic for me and my family, I put generous amount of garlic whenever I cook.
However, caution should be made to homemade garlic-flavored oils. This may be done
by keeping raw garlic subdued in oil for several days. This practice is prone to "botulism", a paralytic disease caused by toxins cultured from the oil and garlic. In this case, such oil should be consumed within a week after putting garlic cloves in them.
In eating raw garlic as supplements:
- Eating too much raw garlic may cause halitosis or pure bad breath. Allicin is potent indeed, that it is powerful enough to stain a person's likeability. There is also the chance of the sweat and the skin of having a foul smell. In this case, there are garlic supplements without the risk of the pungent odor is widely available in the market. Their allicin content however, may not be as generous as the real thing.
- Garlic's active agent allicin gives its anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory property. On
the one hand, this property of garlic helps lower a person's risk of heart diseases such as stroke or coronary thrombosis. On the other hand, when taken with medicines or prescriptive drugs which has the same effect (e.g. antiplatelets, anticoagulants), garlic may worsen a person's bleeding. This is the reason why taking garlic or garlic supplements is not advised to a person scheduled for surgery, or those who are already under these types medications.Garlic allergies:
Like many other foods, there are people who are allergic to garlic or chemical active agent, the allicin. Signs of allergies may vary from itching, burning of the skin or digestive problems like nausea, vomiting, gaseousness or stomach upset. When such is the case, it is wise to consult a physician to relieve the pains.
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