Diet for a Healthy Mouth

Bad breath can come from many places, such as by not brushing your teeth or sleeping with your mouth open. But much of the state of your breath is caused by the state of your gut's health. If you have digestive issues or other problems in your stomach or intestines, you will have worse breath no matter how often you brush. You can address this challenging condition by improving your diet.

One of the easiest ways to improve your breath is to eat better, with the bad breath diet. Add these foods to your diet and break bad eating habits and your breath will become fresher from the inside out.

External Causes of Bad Breath

Not all bad breath is caused by diet. In addition to altering your diet, make sure your bad breath isn't caused by these issues:

Lazy Oral Care

Not brushing, flossing, and cleaning your mouth regularly can cause bad breath due to food particles and bacteria build-up in the mouth. Going for too long without brushing not only smells gross, but it also leads to plaque build-up, which permanently worsens your breath until you have it professionally removed by a dentist.

Yeast Infections

Your mouth can get yeast infections, which cause terrible breath. Yeast infections are more common in individuals with dentures. Yeast infections lead to dry mouth, which spells disaster for your breath. Most yeast infections can be avoided by proper oral hygiene and by ridding your stomach and intestines of unwanted yeast.

Smoking

If you smoke, you will have worse breath. If you want to fully freshen your breath for good, you will have to stop smoking. Smoking is damaging to the mouth on multiple levels and will always affect the mouth negatively.

Health Issues

Some health conditions, like allergies, congestion, colds, diabetes, and kidney problems can all trigger bad breath. If you are otherwise healthy and cannot pinpoint the cause of your bad breath, it could be a sign of a deeper health issue. Consult with your doctor about the possibility of a medical condition altering the health of your mouth.

The Bad Breath Diet

Eat these foods to freshen your breath from the inside out. Avoid Strong-Smelling Foods Onions, garlic, and other strong flavors will make your breath smell worse. avoid these foods temporarily until your breath is as clean and fresh as you need it to be. At that point, you can add onions and garlic back to the menu.

Eat More Fat and Protein

Carbs are more likely to cause bad breath. A diet higher in proteins and fats will be naturally sweeter than the breath of a person with a high-carb diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables will counteract much of the bad breath associated with a higher-fat diet.

Drink More Water

If you are dehydrated, you won't make enough saliva. Saliva is the number one defense your mouth has against bacteria and other invaders. If your mouth is dry, you are leaving it open to the spread of bacteria, plaque, and yeast, which will make your breath smell worse until that issue is cleared. Drinking more water is a simple way to ensure you always have enough saliva.

Drink Tea, Not Coffee

Everyone knows coffee breath is not pleasant. If you are actively trying to improve your breath, don't drink coffee. If you do choose to drink coffee and risk the bad breath, drink some water and one of the foods listed below to counteract the damage.

Take a Daily Probiotic

Much of your breath health is started in the stomach and intestines. If your bacteria is out of balance, you will have worse breath. Taking a daily probiotic can help counteract some digestive problems and give you additional enzymes that can break food down faster and avoid stinky breath.

Cardamom

Cardamom is a natural breath freshener. Chewing on a cardamom pod will instantly make your breath smell better and it will also help keep bacteria from clinging to your teeth. Fennel Fennel is a naturally sweet-smelling and tasting plant. Add the seeds or leaves to your recipes for a spice that adds flavor without damaging your breath.

Lemon

Lemon is a strong breath freshener. Simply adding lemon juice to water or sucking on a lemon slowly will kill the bacteria in your mouth and prevent additional bacteria from growing inside your mouth. Lemony breath is much preferable to bacteria breath.

Guava

Both guava fruit and guava leaves can freshen breath. Guava also helps fight gingivitis due to its high vitamin C content.

Cucumber

Dry mouth is linked with bad breath. Eating cucumber will help counteract this issue as cucumbers are so high in water content. They are also crisp and nearly odorless, which will help counteract any of the stronger flavors of other foods you eat.

Fenugreek

The herb fenugreek is effective at preventing bad breath. Fenugreek has a breath-freshening ability that works both as a temporary measure by chewing on fenugreek seeds, or from the inside of the body if you add it as a flavoring agent to foods and dishes.

Peppermint

Peppermint is nature's natural breath freshener. Chewing on peppermint leaves will instantly freshen your breath. Peppermint not only smells delicious, but it also fights the spread of bacteria in your mouth and helps you digest food better.

Cloves

Cloves contain powerful antibacterial and antiviral compounds that make clove effective as a breath freshener. Rinse with clove oil and your mouth will instantly smell better. Cloves have even been attributed to the prevention of cavities when used as an oral rinse and treatment for toothache.

Parsley

Parsley is high in chlorophyll, which is known to eat bacteria and absorb any bad breath in your mouth. Chewing on parsley after a meal is an effective way to freshen your breath even when you can't slip away to brush your teeth.

Cranberries

Cranberries are high in vitamin C, which is beneficial for oral health. Without enough vitamin C in the diet, your gums break down and lead to periodontal disease. The more vitamin C you have in your diet, the less likely bacteria will be to stick around in your mouth and cause bacteria buildup and bad breath. Cranberries can be effective in eliminating bad breath within minutes.

Apples

Chewing on an apple stimulates saliva production, which is one of the best natural ways to prevent bacteria from hanging around your mouth. Apples also remove bacteria from the teeth due to their high fiber content.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Just like apples, apple cider vinegar is also an effective remedy against bad breath. Simply add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of water and your breath will be fresh within a few seconds of drinking the liquid.

Yogurt

Yogurt contains valuable probiotics that will prevent bad breath by helping you to digest food faster. The better you are at digesting foods, the fresher your breath will smell no matter what you eat.

Sage

Sage has powerful anti-bacterial agents that fight bad breath by killing the bacteria in the mouth that are causing the issue. You can add sage to foods, chew on a leaf of sage, or make a sage mouth rinse by adding a drop of sage oil to water and swishing it around your mouth for a few minutes every morning or night.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is also able to kill bacteria in the mouth that cause bad breath. Cinnamon is also pleasant and will mask some odors caused by eating foods such as onions or garlic.

Pineapples

Pineapples contain a digestive enzyme called bromelain. This enzyme helps to break down food faster, preventing bad breath. Pineapples also prevent bad breath by breaking down bacteria in the mouth and can even reverse bad breath caused by garlic or onions.

Try the Bad Breath Diet for a Fresher Mouth and Better Breath

If you are embarrassed by your bad breath, you are not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from bad breath, mainly due to poor diets. When you improve your diet and try the bad breath diet, your oral hygiene will improve and your breath will improve once and for all. Keep up the work and not only will you have better breath, but your whole body will be healthier.