Of all the things to put inside your vagina, garlic seems like it'd be pretty low down on the list of, uuuh, desirable objects.

Well, apparently that sentence is a complete lie. Because people are shoving cloves of the stuff inside their vaginas. And, according to Dr Jennifer Gunter, a gynaecologist and New York Times columnist, this is a thing you should never, ever, ever do.

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In a particularly arresting thread, Gunter explained the myriad reasons why garlic is not your vagina's friend.

Why you should not put garlic in your vagina.

A thread.

Garlic contains allicin, in THE LAB it MAY have antifungal (i.e. anti yeast) properties. This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells. Your vagina is not a dish of cells. #vaginaisanogarliczone 1/8 — Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019

Gunter explained that garlic contains something called allicin, a compound that laboratories have found has anti-fungal properties.

But, "vaginal garlic aficionados," as Gunter calls them, advocate putting cloves of garlic inside one's vagina. In order for allicin to be released, though, Gunter says "garlic has to be cut or crushed."

Lots of vaginal garlic aficionados (I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TWEET THAT IN 2019, BUT HERE WE ARE) recommend inserting a clove. This means they don't understand for allicin to be released the garlic has to be cut or crushed. Sigh. #vaginaisanogarliczone 2/8 — Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019

But there's also another cause for concern: bacteria from the soil the garlic is grown in. That bacteria could, as Gunter points out, be harmful to the body. So, if you already have a yeast infection, that soil bacteria could cause a further infection. Nasty.

Garlic could have bacteria from the soil. Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic — bad for the body. That's why we clean wounds. If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect #vaginaisanogarliczone 3/8 — Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019

So for garlic to work you would have to crush it and stuff it up somehow. There is still the dirt thing. And the cut up garlic on raw tissues thing (OUCH). And the fishing of the garlic out by the gyno thing. #vaginaisanogarliczone 4/8 — Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019

Gunter added that there's also a concern about something called "biofilms," which Live Science defines as "a collective of one or more types of micro-organisms that can grow on many different surfaces."

Garlic can cause biofilms on braces, so could garlic contribute to biofilms in the vagina? Biologically plausible. Biofilms are bad. You do not want them to form especially when you have yeast. Effect of garlic good bacteria also unknown #vaginaisanogarliczone 5/8 — Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) April 23, 2019

Gunter is not alone in urging people to steer clear of putting garlic into their vag. Mark Yudin, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Toronto, told Vice that patients have come to him saying that they're self-treating with garlic.

"I have patients that have come to me with histories of infections, saying 'I'm putting garlic; I'm putting yogurt,' because they read online that that might help," said Yudin. "And that's not a good idea. Don't put things into your vagina."

That garlic's probably better off going into a marinara sauce, if we're being completely honest.