I think I have a garlic intolerance, anyone else?

Question

I'm 27, and my while life I've heard people talk about how beans give you gas. (Think the campfire scene in blazing saddles.) They have never bothered me, and I've assumed it was cause I always had gas. Sometimes I would finish a meal and my stomach would feel bloated and gassy and uncomfortable, almost instantly. This week I did a no dairy, no alcohol, no gluten no meat diet to see how I felt. I was pretty much eating brown rice, quinoa, homemade hummus, sweet potatoes and veggies like carrots broccoli and celery. I felt fine most of the week, and then on Friday I went to hummus and pita co in Manhattan and had a bowl with rice, hummus, fried eggplant, chicken, tzatziki, olives and lettuce and tomato. Almost immediately felt bloated and gassy and I could feel the garlic on my breath. Does anyone else have a problem with garlic like this, or think they have another idea about what it is? The fried eggplant was pretty greasy, I'm wondering if that played a role. Also, does anyone have any vitamin shop type supplements that help? (Digestive enzymes.) Thanks all.

Answer

I don't, but garlic is a relatively common food intolerance. My son recently had to work through the FODMAP diet to rule outs sensitivities. Basically, it deals with the type of sugars in foods. Garlic is there.

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Veggies can make one gassy, or so I've heard. Ha ha ha. I think it also has a lot to do with how fast you eat, etc. So many things to consider.

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Sounds like it was just a heavier meal than you had for the entire week previous, so who knows if it was the garlic or the dairy or the eggplant or the volume of food or indigestion or the garlic was just not cooked through or......
Garlic often causes heartburn and indigestion for people, but this one case scenario isn't exactly conclusive...

Answer

More likely the chickpeas, eggplant, and rice gave you the problem. I can't think you really did anything to narrow down the cause by eating that meal.

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My late husband had the same problem, and never found anything that helped; he just had to avoid garlic. Difficult.

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you might want to check out this list and see if using elimination and trial of foods you find an issue. I have, in spades, never suspected: http://www.histaminintoleranz.ch/download/SIGHI-FoodCompatibilityList_HIT(EN).pdf

Eggplant is uber high histamine. :-/

Answer

I feel really gross if I eat a lot of garlic, so I don't eat a lot of garlic :) but yes, I do believe a garlic sensitivity is possible, alliums causing issues is far from unheard of. 

Good luck.

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Actually I'd pin the problems on tzatziki. lactose intolerance has those symptoms.

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I was at a cooking school and someone there said they had a garlic sensitivity, but only to the core part that sprouts... As long as the core was removed, they were ok.

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I developed a garlic intolerance suddenly when I turned 50. Before that I loved it and raw onions. Now, just a bit of garlic (or raw onions) and I get severe stomach cramps, gas, diarrhea and a bad garlic/metallic taste in my mouth that lasts for days. It's really sad, but I have to avoid garlic-- no more caesar salad! (except home made). I hope it changes some day. It's a drag for me and for my friends.

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Wait - you were off dairy as part of the diet? And you felt great? Then you ate tzatziki and felt bloated and gassy?

Are you sure you aren't lactose intolerant? Why blame the garlic when it could have been the yogurt?

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I was interested in this discussion as I have had a garlic allergy most of my life. I can't really smell or taste it. Once I have had some, there is a delay of about 2-3 hours and then whatever contained the garlic comes back up, regardless of what I have eaten following it. 
Being sick is very strange as my whole body: arms, legs and back burn at the same time. After being sick a few times, I tend to sweat profusely and the whole room (if not the whole house) will smell of garlic. 
I have found it is in maybe 90%+ of foods in a supermarket and so shopping takes longer and longer every time as I have to read labels. What is more annoying is that many manufacturers now just use the word "spices", which is ambiguous at best. 
Unfortunately I have found nothing will stop me being sick or the burning sensation. 
I guess a big issue is that there is no cure, but there are always people who are worse off such as lactose, or dairy intolerant.

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It is not unusual to have a garlic intolerance. My two daughters and I are allergic to all sulphur meds and all the vegetables in the onion family. Some of my sons don't like garlic and I wonder if they too are intolerant. My mother was also

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I can't do raw or only lightly cooked garlic at all, and it is quite common in a lot of Middle Eastern foods like hummus which is why I tend to avoid them unless I prepare them myself. I'm totally fine if the garlic is sauteed well but even oven-roasted is a bit hit or miss for me. When I get a garlic reaction it is much like you described: bloating, being gassy, I also get severe stomach cramps, sweats and literally can smell garlic oil coming out of my skin. It's gross and sometimes can last for over 24 hours for me. It's also genetic as my father has the same problem.

It seems, from my research, to be a reaction to the compound allicin which is produced when raw garlic is crushed (http://healthybodynow.net/benefits-of-raw-garlic/). Cooking destroys the allicin which is why if you have an intolerance to allicin, cooked garlic is ok but raw isn't. If you have a sulfur intolerance or allergy then no type of garlic is good. 

Like I said, my only solution has been to avoid foods in restaurants or where I didn't prepare them myself because of the potential for raw garlic. I use a lot of garlic at home find but I always make sure to cook it well, and if possible just flavor oil with a crushed clove and then remove it before serving.

Answer

I have had garlic intolerance for years. I'm a physician. We're taught to think such an intolerance doesn't exist, but I'm certain. I've heard this from other physician friends. 
note that very fresh garlic in small quantities is not as bad as that frozen crushed garlic sold in supermarkets. The older the garlic clove, the more it seems to develop its offensive substance. 
Hope this helps. Almost impossible to avoid it completely if one wishes to eat out once in a while.

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I thought I was the only one in the entire planet suffering from a garlic allergy/intolerance. I have over the last few years painstakingly gone through a food elimination/reintroduction process and i'm undoubtedly sure that it is garlic. The problem with garlic is that manufacturers aren't compelled to list garlic in their products, so it gets lumped up in an amorphous group called "spices". I have resorted to only eating home-cooked meals, getting invited for dinner at a restaurant or someone's home is anxiety inducing. I am also lactose intolerant, but dairy is much easier to avoid and people understand that better than garlic intolerance. The magnitude of my reaction ranges from mild, gas, bloating with brain fog and dizziness to severe stomach cramps, nausea and diarrhea depending on how much I consumed.

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I had ulcerative colitis for 20 years and finally cured it through diet and supplements. It has been gone now for seven years, so I'm called it cured.

When people have digestive issues, they often try to determine which foods are causing it. Sometimes they try to treat the symptoms. I believe it is better to restore health to your digestive system so it can handle all good food again.

Every morning, put a cup or more of high-quality water, one cored pear (do not peel) and one cored apple (do not peel) in the blender and drink it.

Take a good probiotic. Don't believe TV commercials about brands. Garden of Life Primal Defense is very good.

Eat real food - no restaurant chains or frozen stuff. Keep it simple and eat small portions.

Answer

I had garlic intolerance, (and onion, leek, shallot, chive intolerance) for 8 years. Not an allergy, but even tiny amounts (like 'natural seasonings' listed as an ingredient in a sauce of something I ate) would, within 20-30 minutes, provoke pain, nausea, extreme gas and diarrhea, lasting up to 24 hours. Saw GI several times over the years, was told "don't eat garlic" (ever actually tried to do that?), I got the impression they thought I was anxious (I was anxious, I had to be obsessive about what I ate so I would not get sick). I suspected an allium related compound may have been affecting gut flora to induce this effect - an enzyme deficiency did not fit with even tiny amounts inducing the effect, and an immune related process did not explain the gas. GI docs now thought I was really nuts ;-) ! I finally took it upon myself to try a 2 week course of amoxycillin and metronidazole (broadly covering the organisms that might be involved), added a probiotic intended to restore normal gut flora (Florastor in my case, though other brands may work), and also used a PPI. This combo is essentially an older H.Pylori treatment regimen. The first few days, I had some GI upset and diarrhea, then everything settled down. By 2 weeks, I realized that I was feeling normal, that is, even when not eating onion and garlic, I had been ignoring low grade GI upset for nearly a decade and I did not know it until it was gone. 6 weeks later later, off antibiotics, no more gut pain, I can eat garlic, onion, anything I like, go out to restaurants, I had Pizza, and Italian food again! This is a single individual experience, but the result was excellent, a complete cure. Others with this condition may want to discuss this with their doctor.

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Most hummus contains garlic.

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Hey, I know I'm late here, but I was so annoyed by the responses, I had to speak. It can take years for people to realize they have a garlic sensitivity, since it's in nearly everything and people will assume discomfort is due to something less common (which is why everyone in this thread has tried to tell you is was caused by something else). I discovered it after it started giving me migraines. Only after that was I able to notice that the digestive discomfort I would sometimes experience was also caused by it. In my case, there's no way around it: garlic is the culprit. 

I would even go so far as to say I think the claim that it's good for you is overrated and not necessarily true. Just because a food has properties that can benefit you doesn't mean it doesn't also have properties that will harm you.

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I think I have a garlic intolerance, anyone else?

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