Nutritional Changes that Can Banish Bad Breath
Nutritional Changes that Can Banish Bad Breath
You may have thought, up until now, that bad breath was simply an oral hygiene problem and, in the majority of cases, you would be right. There is a situation, however, where bad breath is actually caused by your body's metabolism; the low-carb diet craze is a perfect example of this.
To the millions of dieters who swear by low-carbohydrate diets, it may be a form of heresy to say it but, 'low-carb diets stink!' It isn't that they don't help you loose weight -- for most people they've been pretty effective in that department; the problem is the side effect that you hear so little about: halitosis!
When the 19th Century French gourmet wrote: “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” he wasn't too far off. What you eat, or in the case of the low-carb diet, what you don't eat, causes a chemical reaction in your body called “ketosis.”
Ketosis, the process at the heart of low-carb diets, is your body's self-defense mechanism against a loss of glucose. Glucose (also called “blood sugar” and “dextrose”) is the simplest carbohydrate and it is, under normal circumstances, your body's basic 'fuel' in the sense that every cell in your body 'burns' glucose for energy. When you diet or start fasting, your body uses up its reserve of glucose within a short period of time and, since your body can't survive without glucose (your eyes, kidneys, red blood cells and your brain all depend on glucose), it starts burning fat (ketones) to displace the lost glucose.
This is where the halitosis comes in. The chemical process of ketosis (burning proteins and fat, when carbohydrates aren't available) creates an unpleasant odor that results in bad breath; bad breath that tooth-brushing, flossing and tongue scraping won't help.
Change your diet: It may appear to low-carb dieters that the only way to overcome this “dietary halitosis” is to 'cheat' by introducing more carbohydrates into your diet. This isn't necessarily the case. Low-carb doesn't mean no-carb and some low-carb diets, like the “South Beach Diet”, allow more carbs than others like the “Atkins Diet”. For starters, take a look at a summaries of 19 different low-carb diets at http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/. You may find one that appeals to you and that allows a more generous intake of carbohydrates.
Or not: If you are tied to your low-carb diet and don't want to consider other diets, there are some other approaches to this problem of dietary halitosis:
Brushing and flossing won't solve the problem completely, but they do help. Percentage-wise, poor oral hygiene may be causing close to 50% of some low-carb dieter's bad breath problems. Clean your teeth and mouth thoroughly and regularly. Brushing prevents a build-up of plaque and gets all of the tiny food particles out from between your teeth. Flossing does a better job of getting food particles out from between teeth but remember, its a supplement to brushing, not a replacement.
Most people either overlook cleaning their tongue or they just don't know about it. However, scraping or brushing the bacteria and residue from food and drink off your tongue, is one of the most effective oral hygiene treatments for halitosis. When cleaning your tongue, clean as far back on your tongue as possible. You may experience a gag reflex, but that's normal and you will, over time, overcome it. Use your toothbrush or a specialized tongue brush (available at most drug stores) to brush your tongue from back to front. Use enough pressure to clean it thoroughly but don't overdo it and irritate your tongue. Drink lots of water to keep your mouth moist. A dry mouth contributes to bad breath. Swish some water around in your mouth after you eat or snack; this will not only keep you mouth moist it will wash away any left-over food particles that may contribute to bad breath.
Use mouthwash that does not contain alcohol -- alcohol dries out your mouth.
Chew sugarless gum. Be sure its sugarless -- some say they are but they're not.
Suck on sugarless mints. Some mints contain ingredients that kill bacteria.
Chew on some fresh parsley – as unappetizing as it sounds, it acutally works!