Does your breath smell bad? Medications, oral health conditions and things you cannot change may be behind it. Then what can you do? Well, at least you can mask it by making wise food choices.
Just as some foods are especially smelly and give your breath a bad odor, others help to cover it.
They usually increase your salivary flow to help fight the bad bacteria that settles on your tongue resulting in bad breath.
This article discusses the food choices that can make your breath fresher. Keep reading to know what you need to include in your diet daily.
Fruits and Vegetables that Reduce Bad Breath
Get your teeth to work by eating crunch fruits and vegetables.
When you munch on fruits and vegetables then they release saliva that removes the cavity-causing bacteria inside your mouth.
This saliva also reduces the bacteria that settle onto your tongue and produce an unpleasant odor.
The fruits and vegetables to eat include:
- Pears
- Celery
- Carrots
- Apples
- Oranges
- Cucumber
- Ginger
- Berries
- Leafy greens
- Melons
Crunchy fruits like apples and pears help to produce more saliva. Now that rebalances the bacteria in the mouth. Also, apples are great at balancing the unpleasant smell after eating raw garlic.
Hence, if you eat something that will produce volatile sulfur compounds resulting in a bad breath then eat an apple or pear over it.
Other fruits like oranges, berries, and melons are rich in Vitamin C.
Vitamin C will not only keep the bacteria at bay it will also reduce your chances of getting gingivitis and gum disease.
Since these two also stem from bacteria and cause halitosis, eating citrus fruits with Vitamin C can prevent you from getting several oral health problems.
Moreover, these citrus fruits will keep you hydrated because of this water content. Hence, that will stimulate the salivary flow, reducing the bacteria.
Cherries are also effective in this regard because eating them removes the smell from methyl mercaptan. This gas is present in foods with strong scents such as onions and garlic.
So you can eat a few cherries after getting a light snack of onion rings.
Coming to the vegetables, carrots, cucumbers and celery are crunchy enough to put your teeth at work.
Chewing them will produce saliva that washes away the food particles and debris and balances the mouth’s ecology.
What’s more, you can also take ginger. 6-gingerol compound in ginger activates an enzyme in the saliva that facilitates it to break down the odor-causing sulfur compounds.
Make a mouth rinse with powdered ginger, lemon juice and water to clear off the bad breath bacteria.
Next, leafy greens like kale and spinach are also good food choices for reducing halitosis.
They contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll masks bad breath because it is a natural fumigator.
Moreover, they also contain a high amount of calcium which can strengthen your weak tooth enamel.
Also, these crunchy fruits and vegetables contain fiber.
Hence, they clean the teeth and act as toothbrushes for them.
So, increase the amount of dietary fiber by eating more fruits and vegetables.
Another leafy green, lettuce works in similar manner like cherries reducing methyl mercaptan.
Besides that, you also need to add herbs, milk products, seeds and nuts to your diet. Let’s read about them below!
Herbs and Nuts
Parsley can give you the zest and flavor of garlic without having to eat that bad breath-producing vegetable.
This and basil contain polyphenols and chlorophyll with anti-bacterial properties. Both can reduce the bad odor.
Also, the oils in parsley help to maks the halitosis.
Spearmint also has a strong smell like parsley producing a rather deodorizing effect.
Other spices and herbs that work similarly include:
- rosemary
- coriander
- cardamom
- cinnamon
- cilantro
- eucalyptus
- tarragon
Herbs and spices like these cans mask your bad breath due to their strong scent.
If you eat cardamom right before going out then you will not shy away from talking to people because of your chronic bad breath.
Besides that, there are plenty of nuts and seeds that work to eliminate halitosis.
Almonds contain a high amount of fiber. Hence, eating them is equal to letting mini toothbrushes work on your teeth and on the bacteria.
Fennel seeds are also great at promoting healthy digestion as well as eliminating unpleasant odors.
They also increase the amount of saliva inside your mouth hence, that washes away the bacteria plus the particles they feed on.
Other foods and drinks that could help are dairy products, yogurt, green tea and water.
More on that below!
Food Choices and Drinks to Combat Halitosis
Cheese
Eating cheese right after something increases the mouth’s pH. This means the oral environment is no longer acidic.
An acidic environment encourages the growth of bacteria, hence they accumulate on the tongue increasing the likelihood of halitosis.
However. as you eat cheese, it increases the pH, therefore, it becomes slightly neutral.
Thus, it decreases the chances of getting tooth decay or bad breath because the chewing action also produces saliva.
Moreover, it contains calcium, which helps to strengthen the tooth enamel preventing a cavity.
Yogurt
Probiotic yogurt with live active cultures and calcium plus protein is good for your teeth.
The probiotics are good bacteria that can reduce the impact of the bad bacteria that produce an unpleasant smell coming from your breath.
Thus people who take sugar-free yogurt regularly have less odor-causing bacteria.
Moreover, there is less chance of getting cavities, decay, gingivitis and other oral health problems stemming from bacteria if you take a healthy amount of yogurt regularly.
Green Tea
Green tea contains catechins. These are anti-oxidants that can get rid of the bacteria that cause bad breath.
Not only that, but green tea also contains polyphenols. As discussed above, these are also present in herbs such as basil and parsley.
Polyphenols are known to eliminate bad breath. Hence, green tea contains two important elements in masking your bad breath.
Water
Water is simply the best drink to have. It can stimulate the salivary flow making your mouth an inhospitable breeding ground for the bacteria.
Moreover, it keeps your mouth moist as a dry mouth can exacerbate the buildup of bacteria. Hence, again not give the bacteria enough room to grow.
Moreover, it keeps your body healthy and hydrated.
Besides the food choices, there are other measures to take in order to mask your breath.
Measures Other Than Food Choices That Mask Bad Breath
Using a Mouthwash
One popular oral hygiene product to get rid of bad breath is mouthwash.
While you should use a mouthwash once a day, you can also rinse your mouth with it after a meal.
Swish it around your mouth for 2 to 3 minutes. Spit and then rinse.
Tongue Scraper
Most of this unpleasant smell-causing bacteria settles on the tongue.
That is why you also need to clean your tongue at least once or twice a day.
Include it in your routine with brushing and flossing. However, for better results, go for a tongue scraper or tongue brush rather than a toothbrush.
A toothbrush can reduce up to 45 percent of Volatile Sulfur Compounds however, a tongue scraper can lessen them to 75 percent.
Scrape your tongue starting from the back and then making your way to the front tip.
Do not go in the opposite direction. Keep removing the bacteria from your tongue by scraping and brushing it at least twice in a go.
Chewing Gum and Breath Mints
A quick fix to masking bad breath are chewing gum and breath mints.
Chewing gum not only has a flavor that masks the odor but it also loosens the food particles and dead cells from your teeth.
Moreover, the chewing action helps to stimulate saliva which can wash away the food particles too. However, only chew sugar-free gum as otherwise, it can cause decay when in contact with your teeth for long.
Along with chewing gum, breath mints work in a similar manner. They can temporarily mask bad breath because of their minty flavor.
However, they do not increase the salivary flow as you can eat them right away.
Summing Up
Your bad breath can stem from taking multiple medications, having a dry mouth, not taking good care of your oral hygiene or eating smelly foods.
You can select foods and drinks from these choices to regularly eat and drink especially if you have eaten something smelly.
Onion and garlic usually take the front row in producing a bad breath however, coffee, tea, smoking and alcoholic drinks can contribute to it too.
Therefore, if you do not want to smell because of food then be mindful of what you eat and incorporate these food choices in your daily routine to mask their effect.
Though, if all of this stems from having a dry mouth then your doctor may prescribe a salivary stimulant as well as recommend foods from the list here to add into your routine.
It may not be possible to completely eliminate bad breath unless you use a tongue scraper regularly and after every meal.
Some of it will still linger, however, if you make wise food choices and remember to clean your tongue then you can see a difference.
