Product Overview
NOW Foods Odorless Garlic is a concentrated extract of whole clove garlic (Allium sativum) in 100 softgels. The maker states the extract is aged for 18 months, highly purified and deodorised, so it is far less likely to leave garlic on your breath than raw garlic or garlic powder.
Garlic naturally contains sulfur compounds, amino acids and trace minerals. NOW Foods is a family-owned US maker, operating since 1968, and this bottle is made and quality tested in the USA.
Key Benefits
- Garlic without the smell — for people who want garlic as a supplement but not on their breath.
- Heart and circulation — reviews of garlic supplements do find small reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol in some people. Most of those trials used larger doses or specific standardised extracts, and the label here does not say how this 50mg compares — so expect modest effects at most.
- Traditional use — garlic has been valued as a food and folk remedy for thousands of years.
It is not a blood pressure or cholesterol medicine. If you have been prescribed one, keep taking it.
Key Features
- Concentrated garlic extract from whole clove garlic, aged 18 months (as stated by the maker)
- Deodorised — odorless
- Halal and Kosher; made without gluten, dairy free, egg free
- Contains bovine gelatin and soy lecithin
- GMP quality assured, with A-rated third-party certification of manufacturing, as stated by the maker
Ingredients / Specifications
Per serving of 2 softgels (50 servings per bottle):
- Odorless garlic (Allium sativum, bulb), concentrated extract from whole clove garlic — 50mg
Other ingredients: rice bran oil, softgel capsule (bovine gelatin (BSE-free), glycerin, water), beeswax, soy lecithin and silicon dioxide.
Not manufactured with yeast, wheat, gluten, milk, egg, fish, shellfish or sesame ingredients; produced in a GMP facility that processes other ingredients containing these allergens. Naturally occurring particles may be visible in the softgel, and natural colour variation may occur.
Important — Garlic and Bleeding
Garlic has a mild antiplatelet (blood-thinning) effect. Do not take it alongside warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel or any other blood thinner without asking your doctor, and stop it about two weeks before any surgery or dental procedure. Garlic supplements can also lower the blood levels of some HIV medicines, such as saquinavir — ask your doctor if you take them.
How to Use
- Take 2 softgels, 1 to 2 times a day, preferably with meals.
- At one serving a day the bottle lasts 50 days; at two servings a day, 25 days.
- Taking it with food reduces the chance of heartburn or stomach upset.
Who Is It Suitable For?
Adults only. Adults who want a garlic supplement without the odour. The maker advises consulting a doctor if you are pregnant or nursing, take medication, or have a medical condition.
- Not vegetarian — the softgel is bovine (beef) gelatin. It is stated Halal.
- Soy allergy — it contains soy lecithin.
- Heartburn, wind or a faint garlic taste can still occur in some people.
Why Choose NOW Foods Odorless Garlic?
A long-aged, deodorised extract from an established maker, with a full supplement facts panel and Halal certification stated — useful if the smell has kept you away from garlic supplements.
What the Evidence Actually Says
Herbal supplements sit in an awkward place: some have real, measured effects, many have small ones, and a few have none beyond what people expect from taking them. The marketing rarely distinguishes between the three.
“Natural” does not mean “safe” or “gentle”. Plants make powerful compounds — that is why so many medicines came from them in the first place — and a herb strong enough to have an effect is strong enough to interact with a medicine. Herbal products are also less tightly regulated than medicines, so what is in the bottle varies more between brands than it does for a pharmaceutical.
This Is a Supplement, Not a Medicine
A dietary supplement is a food product. It is not a medicine, it has not been through the testing a medicine goes through, and it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Supplement labels use health language — “supports”, “helps maintain”, “promotes” — precisely because they are not permitted to claim treatment. Read them that way. If a listing anywhere promises that a capsule will fix a medical condition, that promise is not one the product can keep.
What a supplement can honestly do is fill a gap in your diet. That is worth something, and it is a smaller thing than most packaging implies.
Talk to a Doctor First
Speak to a doctor or pharmacist before you start, particularly if you:
- take any prescribed medicine — supplements interfere with medicines more often than people expect
- are being treated for a heart, liver, kidney, thyroid or blood condition
- have diabetes
- are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding
- have surgery or a dental procedure coming up
Never stop or reduce a prescribed medicine in order to take a supplement instead. That is the single most dangerous thing anyone does with a product like this, and it is what the marketing language quietly invites.
Storage
- Keep the container tightly closed, somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sunlight.
- Do not store it in a bathroom. Heat and humidity break supplements down faster than anything else, and a Dhaka bathroom is the worst place in the house for them.
- Leave the desiccant sachet in the bottle. It is there to keep moisture out, not by mistake.
- Softgels and fish oils are best kept in a fridge in hot weather — they go rancid otherwise.
- Keep it out of reach of children.
- Do not use it after the expiry date, and throw it away if the capsules smell strongly off, have stuck together or changed colour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I smell of garlic?
Much less than with raw garlic or ordinary garlic capsules — that is the point of the deodorised extract. A few people still notice a faint taste.
Can it stand in for my blood pressure tablets?
No. Any effect of garlic on blood pressure is small. Keep taking what your doctor prescribed, and tell them you are adding garlic.
Is it Halal?
The maker states Halal certification. The capsule shell is bovine gelatin.
Should I take it with food?
Follow the pack. As a general rule, fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and oils absorb better with a meal that contains some fat, and they are gentler on the stomach that way.
Is this the genuine imported product?
Yes. It is sourced as an import, so the bottle is printed for its origin market rather than for Bangladesh. The seal should be intact when it reaches you — tell us straight away if it is not.
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