Wednesday, September 28, 2011

What Does Your Stomach Have to Do With Bad Breath?

Your mouth is the entry point of your digestive system. Your digestive principles can be part of the problem of bad breath. Not the food that you're eating, but how your food is being digested can cause less than fresh breath.

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There are various foods that cause your breath to smell unpleasant. I'm not talking about garlic or onions or other foods that have a potent odor, which can give you a temporary bad breath. That problem can be fixed with gum or breath mints or by brushing your teeth.

Sensitive Stomachs

Dairy products

Dairy products, like milk, cheese or butter, can indirectly cause bad breath. It's not because they include fat. It's because your stomach cannot literally digest these types of foods. Population with this problem may be called lactose intolerant, because it's lactose which is difficult to digest. Lactose is a very dense protein molecule. If you happen to be lactose intolerant, eating dairy products may lead to breath that is unpleasant.

Flora in our intestines?

There are bacteria in your intestines, good bacteria. We call these intestinal flora. These are the bacteria that digest your food. If you don't have enough, then food in your intestinal tract remains there for too long, causing continuing bad breath (also known as halitosis).

If you're taking or have just taken antibiotics, they can kill off intestinal flora. You might've noticed that when you're taking antibiotics you had halitosis, but when you weren't taking antibiotics your breath was okay. This is a good indication that you need to restore your intestinal flora, using supplements, or just eating yogurt. Eat plain unsweetened yogurt to restore intestinal flora. If you are lactose intolerant then you may want to use a supplement instead.

It's inherent that undigested food can remain in your intestines for years. When that happens mucus is created to enclose the toxins in these undigested foods. If you think you have this condition, doing a cleanse or a fast, which will fully clean out your digestive tract, is something to consider. Consult with a condition care practitioner before you start a cleanse or fast.

On a diet? Doing a fast?

Eating a low carb diet sometimes can cause halitosis. The process of burning fat as a fuel, instead of carbohydrates, is called ketosis. "Ketone bodies" are produced while ketosis, and they have a sickly sweet smell that may be noticed on your breath, as well as in your urine. This is literally a good sign, it means that your diet is working. If you're on a low-carb diet and want to reduce your bad breath symptoms, drinking fullness of water will help dilute the ketone bodies.

Your stomach can be one of the factors causing less than fresh breath. If you're practicing good oral hygiene, and you still have breath problems, then you may want to consult with a healthcare practitioner about some of these other inherent causes.

What Does Your Stomach Have to Do With Bad Breath?

Sensitive Stomachs

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