Bad breath, morning breath… they’re serious issues and you may not even know you have bad breath.
I had a friend who constantly complained about my bad breath. But he was actually smelling his own breath after it bounced off of my face. No amount of offered gum or mints could fix the issue for him. But if you’ve got bad breath, here are two simple ways you can banish it…
Think Simple First
If you don’t have chronic bad breath, there’s probably a super simple solution – just drink some water. Or better yet, squeeze a little lemon into your water and drink that.
Your mouth is a breeding ground for bacteria. Over 700 strains of bacteria have been found in the human mouth, but there are typically only 34-72 different strains in the average mouth. If you missed any food while brushing and flossing your teeth (or if you didn’t brush and floss your teeth after lunch), there are bacteria working on breaking down the food you missed. It’s these bacteria that cause bad breath when you’ve got a dry mouth.
Saliva is wonderful keeping the bacteria at bay and moving the broken down food particles into your gut where it can be used. It’s one reason why staying hydrated is so important. If you have chronic dry mouth, look into getting a saliva supplement to help get rid of bad breath.
But if your bad breath is more of an ongoing issue, it’s time to address the pipes.
Improve Your Gut Health
Your gut is like a set of open-ended pipes. One end leads out of your mouth and the other end… Well, you know where it ends. If there’s foul, festering material somewhere between the two ends, you, your friends, and your co-workers will know thanks to the smell. It may not be constant, but you’ll probably get a whiff of it every now and then.
The quickest way to help improve your gut health is to eat fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. I’m not counting yogurt because it only contains one strain of bacteria and it usually has a poor colonization rate (it isn’t likely to get to your gut before it dies).
Fermented foods contain a much higher amount of probiotics than your average supplement will. You also get the benefit of having the probiotics start their work in your mouth. Probiotics can help break down the food particles in your mouth without causing foul-smelling odors. Try out this recipe for fermented vegetables.
The next best option is to use a probiotic supplement. Your gut makes up 80% of your immune system – primarily thanks to these hard-working bacteria. But probiotics are also like a little cleaning force. They help break down food, assimilate nutrients, and even prevent bad breath. A good probiotic will have a high CFU (the amount of bacteria in a serving). A better probiotic will have multiple strains of probiotics.
Each strain of probiotics does something just a little bit different than its next door neighbor. They also seed your gut in different places. That’s why we put 7 strains of probiotics in Probiotic7 – to help you cover more of your bases.
Research References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1287824
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