Garlic is a ubiquitous ingredient in most of our dinnertime meals, roasted with vegetables, stirred into marinara sauce, or sautéed with a herbed piece of chicken – the ways to utilize garlic are endless, but does garlic’s use go beyond the kitchen? We all know the folklore behind garlic keeping vampires at bay, and there’s also a lot of information floating around that says garlic does more and can repel pesky bugs, but is this information true? Just how did garlic become this famous repellent, and can we use garlic as a natural bug deterrent?
Unlike its wild brethren, chives, leeks, and onion, garlic is a mutation that first came into existence in Central Asia, and its main application was in the world of medicine. From Europe to North Africa and throughout Asia, garlic’s renowned use as a repellent was universal, but none of the areas is more famous than Eastern Europe where – even to this day – Romania has a patron saint of garlic.
During the Middle Ages, many dangerous transmittable diseases were a real threat and any solution was seen as a cure. Victims of rabies and porphyria (a disease characterized by light sensitivity and exposed teeth) shared a strong aversion to the sulfurous smells of garlic. These diseases strengthened the legend of the vampire, but also increased the legendary myths of garlic.
Superstition aside, there is some science to back these garlicky legends. Once the garlic cloves are crushed or chopped, the amino acid compounds turn into allicin which gives garlic its staving off characteristic. There are a lot of sites and people touting that eating any amount of garlic or taking garlic pills is enough to keep bugs at bay, but is garlic powerful enough to use instead of other chemical sprays?
If you’re not a fan of the stench of garlic, then you’re out of luck using this natural remedy, because garlic’s power comes from its smell, pills that purport no odor or taste won’t fit the bill.
The strong sulfur compounds are what deter the insects, and to successfully do that, you have to really like garlic (and have friends and family who can tolerate you smelling like garlic). As much as we want a natural fix to pesky bugs and insects we have to either enjoy garlic as a perfume or use a DEET compound repellant.