This may not be the best thing to do if you happen to be a vampire or are about to go on a date. But if you are human, will eating raw garlic help get rid of your acne? That’s what a number of people of TikTok such as @definitelynotasian have been claiming these days. So, the question is whether you should just take this advice at its face value, or instead first see what, you know, the science says?
Yeah, checking the science first is typically the better way to go. And searching PubMed for “garlic” and “acne” returns very little. There is a case report entitled “A case of facial burn due to the misuse of garlic face mask for acne” in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology. But there isn’t much evidence that munching on cloves of raw garlic will in any way help decrease your acne.
Of course, a person on TikTok simply trying something and reporting on the supposed results is not the same as a real scientific study. First of all, you have no idea how legitimate the claims may be unless you happen to know the person or the person shows clear formal documentation of something really happening. Moreover, it’s not clear what else the person was doing at the same time. For example, if munching on raw garlic prompted the person to drink a lot more water then maybe being more hydrated is what helped his or her skin rather than the garlic itself.
The person could also be doing other things simultaneously that may improve an acne situation. Perhaps that person is exercising more or eating less greasy foods. Maybe consuming garlic is helping that person relax more because garlic breath is keeping toxic people at a distance, and stress can be linked to acne. If that person thinks he or she is a vampire, then perhaps staying out of the sun is reducing the inflammation in his or her skin. Other ways of preventing and reducing pimples include keeping one’s face clean and moisturized, using less makeup and using medications like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, or retinoid gel. (Differin 0.1% gel). So again, if you don’t live with that person or have that person under constant surveillance—which could be creepy—you do not know what else may be influencing the person’s pimple situation.
This doesn’t mean that eating garlic isn’t a good thing. It can put the “alla is good” in spaghetti alla puttanesca. Each year Gilroy, California, has a garlic festival where you can find all sorts of food with garlic in it, including ice cream.
But aside from making all sorts of food yummier, eating garlic could bring various health benefits. Crushing, chopping or munching on a garlic glove can lead to the formation of sulfur compounds like allicin, diallyl disulfide and s-allyl cysteine that could be protective against certain diseases. Garlic also contains a variety of your standard necessary nutrients such as manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium as well as fiber and antioxidants. At the same, garlic isn’t that high in calories. You don’t hear too many people say, “Whoa, I gotta cut down on my garlic clove eating in order to lose weight.”
Scientific studies have suggested that the consumption of garlic may be linked with good things such as stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, lower total and LDL cholesterol, lower blood levels and better bone health. Now, in many cases, more and better constructed studies are needed to make more definitive statements about what garlic can do. But at the same time, there aren’t many reasons not to eat garlic. You want to be careful if you happen to be allergic to garlic or have a bleeding disorder or are on blood-thinners since garlic could inhibit the ability of your blood to clot somewhat. And, yes, garlic can give you bad breath. So chomping on a clove of the stuff right before an encounter with a love interest may not help you get lucky.
