Do you often have bad breath? The problem could lie not in your bushing habits (although one should make sure they are brushing after each meal) but instead in your eating habits. Some foods are obvious offenders: garlic, onions, cheese, etc. However, there are some foods that may surprisingly wreck havoc on your social life when bad breath is involved.
Here are a few unsuspecting “offenders” in the bad breath department:
- Meat: An occasional steak or chicken breast isn’t the worst, however, excessive proteinconsumption can lead to the carbohydrates breaking it down for immediate fuel. This process produces ammonia and these gases can escape through your mouth… Eeek.
- Dried Fruit: While this option seems like a healthy alternative to candy to satisfy a sweet tooth, these dried treats are loaded with sugar. This sugar promotes bacteria growth and the dense, non-soluble fibers bind to the teeth and trap the bacteria with them. This can cause a stale smelling breath and can be avoided by brushing after eating dried fruit.
- Breath Mints: These little wonders seem like the best answer for a post-meal mouth. However, because most mints are also loaded with plenty of sugar, this only serves to worsen bad breath after the mint is gone. The sugar creates more bacteria, thus making the breath worse.
Here are a few foods that can actually help bad breath:
- Yogurt: Japanese researchers found that eating about 3 ounces of sugar-free yogurt with probiotic (good) bacteria twice a day for six weeks reduced bad breath by helping to lower the levels of odor-causing sulfide compounds. To best utilize the breath battling benefits, eat yogurt that contains strains of streptococci and lactobacilli bacteria.
- Herbs & Spices: Parsley is a natural breath-boosting agent that contains chlorophyll, which may have a deodorizing effect in the mouth. Other herbs that are linked to breath enhancements include cloves, anise, and fennel seeds.
- Wonderful Water: This clear, clean fluid helps flush the mouth out of the bits of food and bacteria. When you drink water, it promotes saliva production and cleans the mouth of stinky substances.