# Why do humans like garlic so much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537 "2012-09-12T20:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/1 "2012-09-12T20:18:46Z")
One of my mothers-in-law, a fantastic cook, likes to say “you can never use too much garlic.” And while I think that overstates the case, it’s true that people and cultures all around the world enjoy putting a lot of garlic in a lot of dishes. And yesterday it occurred to me to ask: Why? What is it about garlic that makes it such a satisfying flavor for people, in general? It seems unlikely that we evolved to crave garlic in particular, but is there something in its chemistry that matches something we did evolve to crave? Or is the popularity primarily a cultural issue? Obviously some people don’t care for garlic. I’m not meaning to imply that everyone loves it all the time. But what accounts for its broad popularity, beyond “it tastes good”? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/2 "2012-09-12T20:31:20Z")
Evolutionary response to the health benefits of garlic. Since people detest the smell of the stuff on other people’s breath, they keep their distance and so don’t infect you with their nasty germs. Consequently, the gene for finding the _taste_ pleasant is strongly selected for as a survival advantage. Maybe. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/3 "2012-09-12T21:55:38Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Evolutionary response to the health benefits of garlic. Since people detest the smell of the stuff on other people’s breath, they keep their distance and so don’t infect you with their nasty germs. Consequently, the gene for finding the _taste_ pleasant is strongly selected for as a survival advantage. > Maybe. 😃 That’s probably not too far off from the truth. Oh, and those who weren’t offended by garlic wore it to protect themselves from vampires. Those that couldn’t stand the stuff now walk amongst the dead. Evolution wins! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/4 "2012-09-12T22:04:07Z")
> [@Interrobang](#): > > But what accounts for its broad popularity, beyond “it tastes good”? Because sometimes there is no bacon… ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/5 "2012-09-12T22:28:12Z")
I think the elegant simplicity of Japanese cuisine may be an exception to norm. I have read that during the period when Korea was a subject state the Japanese contemptuously referred to the Koreans as “the garlic eaters”. I love garlic, but I have had dishes where it was, to my taste, overdone. And I like garlic on the heavy side on some items such as French Bread. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/6 "2012-09-12T22:34:45Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Evolutionary response to the health benefits of garlic. Since people detest the smell of the stuff on other people’s breath, they keep their distance and so don’t infect you with their nasty germs. Consequently, the gene for finding the _taste_ pleasant is strongly selected for as a survival advantage. > Maybe. 😃 Evolution yes. But the reason is without garlic we would have all become vampires. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/7 "2012-09-12T22:59:54Z")
my Mom had no idea that garlic is the Food Of The Gods. I only learned it when I had a roommate that used to saute garlic on a cold winter’s morn and put it on top of pasta, with butter and salt. OMSMOG ( oh my sweet mother of god) that was most excellent and the whole house smelled like heaven. HEAVEN!! since then, I have also felt “you can’t use too much garlic” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/8 "2012-09-12T23:25:35Z")
It has a very strong flavor, so you can add a lot of flavor to a large dish by adding a relatively small amount of an ingredient. Simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/9 "2012-09-13T00:32:26Z")
Garlic is also very easily grown in kitchen gardens and even as a houseplant. Even the most impoverished people could add a lot of flavor without having to shell out money for what were, at times, very expensive spices. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/10 "2012-09-13T08:44:34Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > …I had a roommate that used to saute garlic on a cold winter’s morn… For some reason, I read that as “salute”. Is there anything that smells better than roasting garlic? ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/11 "2012-09-13T09:14:27Z")
Just a theory - garlic has a compound that thins the blood. Maybe our genes have some tastes that express themselves to ingest some things in moderation that are actually good for us (other examples would be wine & chocolate). Before the processed & packaging craze, there was actually wholesome food available. So, sometimes our bodies tell us what to eat. of course, no going overboard with sugar, fat, carbs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/12 "2012-09-13T11:09:18Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Is there anything that smells better than roasting garlic? Baking bread. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/13 "2012-09-13T11:39:58Z")
Pet peeve time. All this talk of us evolving to like garlic because it’s good for us in some way is what is often referred to as an evolutionary “Just-So” story. There’s a real urge these days for some reason to link any old observed fact to some putative evolutionary selective pressure even in the absence of any actual evidence supporting the explanation. Not everything in life needs to be the result of millions of years of natural selection. Garlic tastes good. Given a wide selection of plants in the world, some of them are obviously going to taste better than others. Garlic is on the thin end of the taste bell curve. Lacking any studies demonstrating genetic evidence of positive selection in the region of the garlic taste receptor gene, or at least showing that over evolutionary time, garlic-eaters have outreproduced non garlic eaters, there’s no reason to search for an evolutionary explanation. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/14 "2012-09-13T11:50:36Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Baking bread. I put garlic in my bread. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/15 "2012-09-13T12:08:46Z")
I suspect **Smeghead** ’s answer may be the best one. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/16 "2012-09-13T13:42:59Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Pet peeve time. All this talk of us evolving to like garlic because it’s good for us in some way is what is often referred to as an evolutionary “Just-So” story. There’s a real urge these days for some reason to link any old observed fact to some putative evolutionary selective pressure even in the absence of any actual evidence supporting the explanation. Not everything in life needs to be the result of millions of years of natural selection. Garlic tastes good. Given a wide selection of plants in the world, some of them are obviously going to taste better than others. Garlic is on the thin end of the taste bell curve. Lacking any studies demonstrating genetic evidence of positive selection in the region of the garlic taste receptor gene, or at least showing that over evolutionary time, garlic-eaters have outreproduced non garlic eaters, there’s no reason to search for an evolutionary explanation. Thank-you. Fact is, we are omnivores and probably tried to eat just about everything over the millennia our species has been around (and prior). Unless something is poisonous, some group of people somewhere is going to eat it. And even then, they’ll try and find a way to detoxify it and eat it! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/17 "2012-09-13T14:34:57Z")
Garlic stimulates the gastrohippocampal centers and deep nuclei in the brain, providing gratifying feedback loops that lead to ever more garlic consumption. This has led to our evolving from primitive Hominidae, otherwise we would look like [this](http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/files/2012/09/ayeaye.jpg). And garlic is like, really really good to eat. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/18 "2012-09-13T15:26:56Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Lacking any studies demonstrating genetic evidence of positive selection in the region of the garlic taste receptor gene, or at least showing that over evolutionary time, garlic-eaters have outreproduced non garlic eaters, there’s no reason to search for an evolutionary explanation. I think it is a reasonable hypothesis that all our taste preferences are influenced by evolution. Since you haven’t disproved this hypothesis, I don’t see any problem with considering some questions that we would have if the hypothesis is true. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/19 "2012-09-13T15:32:47Z")
Also, I’m a little disappointed that in GQ, no one has yet pointed out that it has a well-known immuno-modulatory role: [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2625738/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2625738/) > **[Effect of a garlic derivative (alliin) on peripheral blood cell immune responses](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0192056199000387)** > > The in vitro effect of the garlic derivative alliin, on the mitogen induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation and cytokine produc… ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537/20 "2012-09-13T15:50:36Z")
Maybe my ignorance is showing. I’d have guessed that humans began eating garlic very recently, at least on an evolutionary time scale. I can’t imagine a hunter-gatherer society munching on garlic roots. _Maybe_ smashing it up and using it to season meat. Have hominids been eating garlic for millions of years? Do other primates eat garlic? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-humans-like-garlic-so-much/634537.md?page=2)