1. Press the Issue
The most common way to prepare garlic for cooking is to put it through a garlic press. If you take raw garlic for acidity, you can put it through the press as well. Some experts say to let it sit for up to 10 minutes to "cure." This may take some of the heat out of the garlic and give your tender mouth tissues a break. Make sure you don't let it sit too long though, and only use fresh garlic. Allicin, the active ingredient in garlic that helps reduce the acid, breaks down quickly once exposed to air. Though eating garlic raw is the most beneficial, you can also add pressed garlic to your meals as well. However, cooked garlic does lose much of the active ingredient found in freshly pressed cloves, buy any increase in the intake is better than none. Take into consideration that your family benefits from the garlic in the evening meal as well.
2. Put Down the Pills
Although garlic supplements are available, taking processed garlic for health issues may not be worth it. The allicin breaks down quickly and is not present in large enough amounts in processed garlic tablets. Therefore, you must take it raw for acidity, yeast and other conditions to fully reap the benefits of garlic's healthy ingredients. If you just can't bring yourself to eat raw garlic, try mixing it with applesauce to mask the taste, or even wash it down with a bit of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz. of water, which some naturalists say is also good for acid reflux. Also, be sure to talk to your doctor about your reflux. Many times, heartburn is a symptom of a more serious condition and self-treatment may mask the true problem if not properly diagnosed.
3. Chew the Facts Over
When you take raw garlic for acidity, you want to get the raw garlic burn taste out of your mouth as soon as possible, unless you enjoy that sort of thing. It may seem unthinkable, but peel a clove, toss it into your mouth, chew it and swallow. This gets the whole painful process over in a snap. The burn only lasts for a little while and the health benefits last a lifetime. Some experts say to take up to six cloves of garlic a day, but if you just can't stand the pain, one or two is better than none at all.
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