When my husband sweats, he smells like garlic

Overview
When people eat garlic, their sweat can smell like garlic. This is not an unhealthy condition. If your husband's garlic-scented sweat is troubling to you, take comfort in the fact that garlic is a healthy part of a well-balanced diet. The University of Maryland Medical Center says it might even help prevent heart disease and cancer. Drinking lots of water and getting plenty of exercise might help your husband sweat out the garlicky scent.

Benefits
National Institutes of Health online medical encyclopedia Medline Plus notes that garlic is effective in slowing the development of atherosclerosis and lowering blood pressure. Some evidence supports using garlic topically to treat fungal infections. Garlic contains antioxidants, substances that fight cell-damaging free radicals. Allicin in smashed fresh garlic might kill bacteria that causes food poisoning, including E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enteritidis.

People also use garlic to treat medical conditions that are not scientifically supported. These include treating colon, rectal and stomach cancers and preventing tick bites. Garlic is also used as a folk remedy to treat enlarged prostate, diabetes, allergies, osteoarthritis, cold, flu, pre-eclampsia and diarrhea. Some people use it to support immune system function and prevent and treat bacterial infections. Maintaining liver function, fighting fatigue and managing symptoms of congestion, gout, asthma, rheumatism and bronchitis are additional unfounded experimental applications for garlic.

Allicin
The source of garlic's strong scent is allicin. It is also the ingredient responsible for garlic's medicinal effectiveness. Allicin is not a stable chemical. This makes it possible for some producers of garlic supplements to alter the substance and market the product as being "odor-free garlic." However, allicin is not as effective when it changes form. For your husband to get the benefits of garlic, he should eat it in its fresh form, regardless of how it makes him smell.

Odor
Garlic's distinctive odor repels some people when it is on the breath or emitted through sweat. Garlic's pungency can also cause a burning feeling in the stomach, heartburn, flatulence, vomiting and diarrhea or nausea in some people. Garlic may also increase bleeding. Raw garlic tends to produce more of these ill effects. Drinking lots of water and eating a well-balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins helps your body process toxins with maximal efficiency, which could mitigate some of the odor caused by heavy garlic consumption.

Suggestions
Given garlic's beneficial effects on health, the best way to handle a garlic-scented spouse might be to join him. Prepare romantic dinners with his favored allium, including ingredients you also enjoy. Additionally, encourage him to include a wider range of flavorful ingredients in his cooking, such as cayenne and chipotle peppers, Indian curry blends, tamarind pulp, anchovies, the Middle Eastern spice mix za'atar, Thai galanga root and other unusual bold flavors, to decrease his reliance on garlic for flavoring.