There are two types of people in the world—people who think there’s no such thing as too much garlic, and people who are wrong. No matter group you fall into, if you like fascinating science experiments, you’ll want to try tasting garlic through your feet. In the latest installment of its Weird Food Tricks series, the American Chemical Society shows you both how and why this works.
To try it out for yourself, cut a piece of fresh garlic in half. Then, in a separate room that doesn’t smell like garlic, take off your shoes and socks and place your feet into a plastic bag with the piece of garlic. After an hour, you’ll be able to both taste and smell the garlic.
Here’s how: Your skin has oily and watery layers (if you remember your middle school chemistry, oil and water don’t mix), which makes it good at protecting you from outside molecules. However, garlic contains a molecule called Allicin, which has properties of both water and oil. Because of this, it can permeate the skin in your feet and travel through your blood all the way to your mouth and nose. You’ll swear you can taste garlic and that the room has a strong garlicky odor.
Intrigued? Check out the full video, above.
