While garlic can be a delicious ingredient that benefits health, mere mortals are in the same boat as vampires, generally speaking, as everyone has an upper limit for tolerance. Too much garlic can cause digestive upset, body odor, or interact with medications you may take. Truly excessive amounts can even lead to bleeding issues.
Health Properties of Garlic
Garlic is often hailed for its health benefits. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the garlic plant has been used for good health since ancient times by Egyptians, Greeks, and Indians.
Some of its touted benefits include lowering blood cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, enhancing immune function, and even staving off cancer. Because of garlic’s health-boosting attributes, it’s even sold as a dietary supplement — you can take it in pill or capsule form instead of eating it.
But as with many other foods and supplements, there can be too much of a good thing. Most people are familiar with garlic side effects of bad breath and body odor. Too much garlic can also cause gas, abdominal pain, or nausea.
According to Cleveland Clinic, garlic’s primary beneficial component, allicin, is destroyed by heat. Garlic should be eaten raw or cooked at a temperature under 140 degrees Fahrenheit to get the full benefits.
Garlic taken orally has been used safely in research studies that lasted as long as seven years, according to the NIH. One research review cites a study that had subjects consume 20 grams of raw garlic per day for eight weeks — nearly seven cloves of garlic daily, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For people on blood thinners, too much garlic can increase the risk of bleeding. Garlic supplements alone may increase your risk of bleeding as well.
Too Much Garlic?
But how much do you actually have to eat to see these negative garlic side effects like risk of bleeding?
According to the American Heart Association, there are no specific guidelines on how many cloves constitute too much garlic, but people who are on blood thinners are advised to avoid garlic for a week before having surgery or dental work. Normal amounts in your diet are likely beneficial, however.
One example of too much garlic is described in a case study, which documented a 74-year-old woman whose anemia was believed to be caused by raw garlic consumption. She was consuming two bulbs of raw garlic daily; that’s about 16 to 20 cloves, according to West Virginia University Extension. Doctors believed the garlic caused her blood to lose its ability to clot.
Another case study documented a man in his 60s who experienced excessive blood in his urine after a minimally invasive prostate surgery. The heavy bleeding was believed to be caused by his garlic consumption. He had been taking between 1 to 6 capsules of garlic daily, in strengths ranging from 300 to 900 milligrams per capsule, along with large amounts of raw and cooked garlic as part of his diet, for three to four years before the surgery.
Talk to your doctor if you’re having side effects due to garlic consumption, or better yet — before you try supplementing with garlic.
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