Stopping Bad Breath From Mouth
Follow These Steps to Stop Bad Breath
It surprises many to learn that certain diets and food types can cause bad breath. A simple fix to your bad breath situation may be a change in your diet or an aversion to certain foods. Here are a few tips and steps on how to stop bad breath from happening.
Can Diets Cause Bad Breath?
Yes. Bad breath, medically known as halitosis, has several causes. Diet is one of them. While bad breath doesn't necessarily mean that you are ill or have an illness, it can be a cause of concern for many people. This is especially true in those who suffer from persistent bad breath.
It can be difficult to narrow down the exact cause of your bad breath, however. There are over 50 different reasons behind it. Some of the most common are:
- Improper diet and chewing
- Uncontrolled eating
- Bad oral hygiene habits
- Prolonged fasting
- Poor saliva flow
- Gum disease
- Certain medications that cause lack of saliva flow
- Using dentures or dental implants
Understanding the Different Classes of Food Types
Dentists typically categorize certain food types into three categories. They are adhesives, acids, and detergents.
Adhesives are the kind of foods that stick to your teeth easily. These can cause issues because they can form plague more easily on your teeth. Some examples include:
- Cookies
- Candies
- Crackers
The next group, acidic, are those attributed to foods that contain a lot of acids. These are problematic because the acid can slowly start to degrade the enamel. Some examples include:
- Juices
- Fruit drinks
- Sodas
- Oranges
- Kiwis
The last group, detergents, are made up of fibrous foods that help clean teeth when chewed. Because they promote a lot of chewing, you're essentially brushing your teeth while chewing them. In addition, they're also full of vitamins like A, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, as well as minerals like calcium and folic acid. Some examples include:
- Greeny vegetables
- Apples
- Carrots
- Other fruits and vegetables
Can Anorexia Be Determined by Dentists?
Anorexia and Bulimia are both eating disorders that can be difficult to notice by doctors. Yet dentists can typically identify whether or not someone is anorexic or bulimic. This is because the act of throwing up or abstaining from food can impact the health of your mouth.
For one, both can cause bad breath. Anorexia is a prolonged fast that can give you bad breath. Bulimia involves throwing up which increases the amount of acid that splashes over the teeth. Dentists can see the wear and tear that these eating disorders perform on the teeth.
To help relieve bad breath, eating disorders should be handled and given the proper therapy to stop.
Can a Weight Loss Diet Give Bad Breath and Other Oral Diseases?
If you've been wanting to lose weight, then you may be worried that abstaining from food for long periods of time might give you bad breath. The diet you consume also plays an important role as to if you receive bad breath at all.
Certain diets can influence bad breath. Those that require fasts will likely see an increase in bad breath because it causes poor saliva flow. Other diets may steer you away from eating good foods that can help battle your bad breath and focus on just its own diet meal plans instead.
If you want to lose weight and keep your oral health in check, then you'll want to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits. Not only will the chewing make you feel fuller, but they'll also brush your teeth for you and reduce bad breath.
You'll also want to engage in regular oral health habits like brushing and flossing.
How to Choose a Diet That Improves Your Breath
In order to stop bad breath in its track, there are a few things you'll want to avoid. Refined and processed foods contain a lot of sugar and chemicals that feed the bacteria inside of your mouth rather than battles it. Try to eat fresh food as much as possible to starve the bacteria.
You'll also want to stay away from sugary or carbonated beverages. These can feed the bacteria in your mouth as well. They're full of sugar and other chemicals that can erode your teeth.
Instead, you'll want to stick with water or other probiotic beverages that are designed to help promote the health of the good bacteria inside your mouth and body.
The Best Diet Choices
In particular, some foods you'll want to include in your daily diet are:
- Whole grains
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Almonds
- Garlic
- Radishes
- Artichokes
The last three, in particular, are great at fighting bad bacteria and cleaning out your mouth.
Finally, make sure you brush your teeth, floss, and scrape your tongue regularly to achieve the best possible health. You can kiss bad breath goodbye by following these suggestions.