Top foods that are the causes of halitosis and bad breath

When looking at the title, almost anyone will think of onions and garlic. However, there’s quite a lot more foods out there that can contribute to bad breath. Some may surprise you!

1) Foods that have (high amounts of) sulfur compounds in them, like onions and garlic. This is already expected by most people. Whenever you eat (and sometimes even from just cutting into them) these types of foods, they have distinct odors caused from the sulfur compounds in their molecules.

2) Drying agents, mostly alcohol. You may enjoy your glass of wine with dinner, but be aware that alcohol tends to dry out your mouth. As stated in one of my earlier posts, a dry mouth means less saliva, and less saliva tends to mean more bacteria in your mouth and less ability to fight what bacteria is there. Even though it’s not a food, smoking also dries out your mouth (not to mention the various bad odors from cigarette smoke itself!)

3) Protein-rich foods, like dairy products, for those that are lactose-intolerant. If you cannot break down lactose or other proteins easily, you will build up amino acids instead. Amino acids are easily broken down by the anaerobic bacteria in your mouth, and if you have problems with chronic halitosis, those bacteria will take the amino acids and produce volatile sulfur compounds, which lead to persistant bad breath.

4) Sugars, which is probably expected by most people. Bacteria of all kinds LOVE sugar as food, and will use it to multiply. Even if you don’t have many bacteria in your mouth at the time, anaerobic bacteria or not, consumption of enough sugar will make them breed like gerbils..not to mention the issues sugar can cause with tooth decay and plaque buildup.

5) Highly acidic foods, such as coffee and citrus juices. Our mouth has a normal pH of 6.5 (7 being a neutral substance on the pH scale.) A highly acidic environment in your mouth can cause bacteria to reproduce much more rapidly. If you’re drinking these occasionally, you might be fine, but if you drink them more often for nourishment, try adding some more water – you’ll hydrate your mouth and help stablize your pH level at the same time.

Can gum really combat your average case of bad breath?

We all know that chewing gum can at least help us mask bad breath, especially after we’ve eaten something stinky, but is it actually doing more, something that gets to the root of the causes of halitosis, or is it just masking the odor?

In actuality, gum can actually combat some bacteria too – but there are a few specifics.

First, the act of chewing gum increases our saliva production. Of course, more saliva can help shake loose bacteria in your mouth, but apparantly our saliva also has anti-bacterial properties, something I never knew!

Secondly, you want to choose sugar-free gum. While any gum will help with bacteria and saliva production, there isn’t much point in chewing gum that has natural sugars in it, since those sugars are just going to decay, stick around, and potentially breed more bacteria. Plus, sugar-free gum contains Xylitol, which is a sugar substitute. Xylitol has been shown to help stop bacteria from multiplying in your mouth.

Thirdly, flavor might matter. Most people go with fruit or mint for either a nice flavor or masking odor, but cinnamon might be a winner. Apparantly, a recent study has shown that cinnamon-flavored gum actually helps fight bacteria itself, even the normal sugared variety (though you should still try to find a sugar-free version.)

I think that chewing sugar-free gum is not nearly as bad as it used to be. Sugar substitutes have come a long way, and I don’t really notice any real difference or “badness” in the flavor compared to normal gum. So feel free to go out and give some sugar free, cinnamon, or sugar-free cinnamon gum a shot next time your mouth feels nasty!

Brushing your Tongue: A weird but effective way to combat bad breath

Most people attempt to brush their teeth daily and some even remember to floss simply to look nice. Flossing may even help cut down on bad breath by getting those nasty food particles out from between your teeth so they don’t sit there and ferment. But how many people brush their tongue?

Why brush your tongue? Well, the main cause of bad breath is bacteria. They can be in various places in your mouth (like between your teeth,) but your tongue is a breeding ground for them. Imagine that your tongue is like a carpet (since it kinda is!) Now imagine everything you eat passing over your tongue, getting microscopic bits stuck onto it. Drinking and saliva MAY wash some off, but not always. If those food particles sit there, stuck, bacteria can grow and multiply. And as you get more bacteria, the nastier your breath can smell. This is one of the leading causes of halitosis.

It may feel weird to do it at first, but you’re using your toothbrush and floss to clean off the rest of your mouth..why not your tongue too, now knowing how dirty it can be? Simply floss and brush your teeth first. Then, get rid of any excess toothpaste (foam) and simply brush your tongue with the bristles. No toothpaste is needed, since all you need to do is shake the food particles and bacteria loose from your tongue. It shouldn’t add more than 30 seconds extra to your routine. Oh, and don’t brush too hard! Just a light scrub is fine.

It’ll just take some adjusting to getting used to, like switching from a standard toothbrush to an electric one. Oh, and you don’t really need to power up your brush’s spin mechanic either if you have electric – now that may feel just a bit TOO weird.

The difference between normal bad breath and chronic halitosis

This post seems like an obvious starting point, but I wanted to talk about this since a lot of my initial posts will probably be talking about fighting bad breath – not necessarily halitosis. This is mainly because bad breath is a much more common ailment and has a lot more simple, effective cures than halitosis does.

Now, as I mentioned in my welcome post, the biggest difference between bad breath and halitosis is how bad it is and how long it lasts. Bad breath is something everyone will run into during their lifetimes. It is caused by bacteria that breeds in your mouth, and is also sometimes caused by eating certain foods that contain natural chemicals that can produce temporary odors. When bad breath is caused by specific foods, you can either avoid the foods or use gums, mints, or mouthwashes to try and mask the odor until it dissipates. When bad breath is caused by bacteria, however, you need to get rid of the bacteria. This is mostly a concern of proper oral hygiene, but can sometimes be positively affected by certain sugar free gums and mouthwashes. However, the main thing here is that normal bad breath is temporary and generally something you can pinpoint the cause of and easily fix.

Now, realistically, halitosis can be called bad breath. But, if you’ve come to this blog, you’re potentially looking for the causes of halitosis and the solutions to combat the chronic version of it, something much harder to cure. You’ve potentially tried a lot of the normal cures for bad breath or things to mask it, but they don’t work at all. This is why I’m writing this post. Chronic halitosis seems to be caused mostly by specific anaerobic sulfur producing bacteria that actually breed on your tongue and throat. Specific conditions cause these bacteria to start producing volatile sulfur compounds, which cause chronic bad breath, taste disorders, and other nasty stuff. You could be the model of oral hygiene and still get these nasty things in your mouth, causing your breath to smell horrible! If some of this seems familiar, the general act of anaerobic bacteria breaking down proteins in foods is something that happens when food starts to spoil.

The problem here is that these bacteria are very pervasive, and not many things treat them. I will look into some products soon to see if any of them actually attack these bacteria and the volatile sulfur compounds they produce. If I find any good ones, I will write up my thoughts about it!

Starting up a blog

Hey there, my name is Jimmy and I decided to start up a blog about halitosis, more commonly known as “bad breath.” (Well, halitosis is more of a..long-lasting problem.)

Everyone’s had problems with it from time to time, including me and people I know. So, I decided I wanted to look into stuff like the causes of halitosis and potential cures. I figured I might as well write down all the stuff I’ve discovered in my research so that I could help others, too.

Expect to see me write about stuff I’ve found in the next few days. If I find a good product or two for treating the causes of halitosis, I’ll consider writing up a review about it, too.

Talk to you later!