What’s even more embarrassing and socially unacceptable than not realizing you’ve had food stuck in your teeth all afternoon? Or that you forgot to zip your fly after using the bathroom that morning? It’s talking to someone with – or having – bad breath.
For many people, grabbing a mint or a piece of gum is their go-to solution. This makes sense because it quickly masks the problem, but this approach often fails to address the root causes of bad breath.
Fixing bad breath depends on what’s causing it. Some possible causes have more complex solutions, like an undiagnosed cavity or gum disease, a sinus or lung infection, diabetes, liver disease, or respiratory tract infection.
But in around 80% of cases, it’s due to something easier to fix in the mouth. Most often, bad breath is the result of nothing more serious than a dirty mouth (poor oral hygiene causing build-up bacteria and inflammation, plaque, or a coating on the tongue due to bacteria/mucus build-up in the digestive tract, etc).
No worries though! If you’re a sufferer of not-so-fresh breath, I have some simple and effective ways to fight it right at the source, and better ways to mask it:
Brush & Floss
Got to start out with the most obvious here. Brush you teeth thoroughly at least twice a day for 2 minutes each time (if you have kids, check out this site for some fun 2 minute videos to help pass the time), and floss daily. Food and bacteria trapped between teeth and at the gum line can be removed only with floss. If it’s left to linger, it’s not going to smell nice. There are all kinds of floss options, and lots of different flavors. Look for brands that use natural plant wax with no artificial sweeteners, color, preservatives or flavor synthetic wax. Replace your toothbrush every 2 months.
Oil Pull
Is your breath not-so-fresh in the morning? One of the biggest reasons for this is because bacteria loves warm, moist, and dark places. At night when we sleep, our mouth is the PERFECT breeding ground for bad bacteria to multiply. There is no continuous flow of saliva, food, or liquids to wash it away like when we’re awake. Oil pulling is an amazing way to free your mouth of this built up bacteria.
Right when you wake up, take 1 tsp – 1 tbsp of coconut oil and swish it all over in your mouth, using your tongue to really work it through the teeth and all around for up to 20 minutes – start with 5 minutes if you’re new to this. Then spit it into a trash can or the toilet (it can clog your sink), rinse with salt water, scrape your tongue, then brush your teeth. You will be amazed at how clean your mouth feels!
Use Essential Oils
If you want even more anti-bacterial action in your mouth, add a drop of essential oil to your toothbrush along with your toothpaste, or rinse with a homemade mouthwash of a couple drops of essential oil and water. Peppermint or a special oil blend (let me know if you want more info!) are both really good bacteria-killing options. They’re very strong in flavor and completely do the trick when it comes to freshening your mouth and killing all sorts of bad bacteria build up.
Cleanse Your Body
Since bad breath can also stem from a buildup of heavy metals, yeast overgrowth, and other toxins inside the body, it is important to regularly flush your system by doing a safe cleanse (not a quick-fix solution detox pill that end up just introducing more toxins into your system). When you cleanse your body by utilizing its natural detoxifying pathways – like the lymphatic system, kidneys, liver, etc. – this not only removes the buildup of things that can cause bad breath, but it also lets those pathways rest so they can perform better for you.
If you’re looking for a safe and effective clean eating cleanse that’s easy to follow, that will give you over 70 delicious recipes, and a full meal plan, check out my 15 day clean eating cleanse program.
Tongue Scrape
If tongue scraping isn’t already a part of your daily morning routine…then keep reading! First things first, a tongue scraper is an oral hygiene tool designed to clean off bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of your tongue. It takes about 10 seconds to do. While you sleep, your body works to detoxify itself, depositing those toxins onto your tongue through the internal excretory channels. Scraping the tongue these toxins, as well as stale bacteria build-up, dead cells, fungi, etc. and often helps prevent (or completely eliminate) bad breath! Check out this post I made with how-to pictures (I promise, nothing gross!).
Take Probiotics
Along these same lines, poor gut health is another common cause of bad breath. If your digestive tract is overloaded with built-up toxins, for instance, or if routine antibiotic use and poor dietary habits have damaged your digestive system, bad breath could be a side effect for sure. Same holds true if you suffer from constipation or a sluggish digestive system. That’s because these conditions create an excess of gas in your body, and much of that gas exits through your mouth.
By adding a probiotic or eating more probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, fermented sauerkraut and kombucha, that helps to restore healthy gut flora and stop the excess gas from forming. Here’s another good tip: take 1 tablespoon of raw organic apple cider vinegar with 8oz of filtered water before eating. This will help your digestive processes run more smoothly!
Add Fresh Herbs and Produce
What you eat affects what you exhale. That’s because as food is digested, it’s absorbed into your bloodstream and then is expelled by your lungs when you breathe. Eat a healthy, balanced diet and regular meals filled with lots of fresh vegetables – including herbs. Crunchy raw fruits and vegetables are beneficial in the fight against bad breath. Eating more carrots, celery, and apples for example help to scrape out plaque buildup.
Fennel also acts as an excellent mouth freshener that helps control bad breath. It also contains antimicrobial properties that fight the bacteria in the mouth. Slowly chew a tablespoon of fennel to freshen your breath and stimulate the production of saliva. These foods also help trigger an increased production of bacteria-fighting saliva inside the mouth.
Throughout the day you can also chew a fresh sprig of parsley, basil, mint, or cilantro. The chlorophyll in these green plants neutralizes bad breath. Simply chew on a fresh sprigs to refresh your breath. Another option is to put the stems/leaves through a juicer and sip the juice anytime you need to refresh your breath. It will also aid digestion.
Stay Hydrated
Dehydration is actually one of the most common causes of bad breath. Who knew? Many people don’t drink nearly enough water throughout the day to flush away the bacteria in the mouth that is most responsible for causing bad breath. Tiny microbes in the mouth actually feed on loose food particles throughout the day, releasing odor-causing byproducts that end up stinking up breath. Saliva is your body’s built-in remedy for eliminating these bacteria. Dry mouth is caused by the decomposition of dead cells in your mouth and on your tongue. This decomposition results in an unpleasant door. Ew!
Give your body what it needs to produce enough bacteria-fighting saliva. Drink plenty of filtered water throughout the day. The oxygen in our saliva helps battle the bacteria because they require low-oxygen environments in order to thrive. Aim to drink 8-10 cups per day. Make it fun by adding natural flavors, like essential oils or infusing fruits/veggies/herbs (like strawberries, cucumber, mint or basil).
Incorporate Lemon Juice
Curing bad breath with a lemon rinse has been used for generations. The acidic content in lemons prevents growth of bacteria in your mouth. Plus, its strong pleasant smell helps mask the bad odor. Stir one tablespoon of lemon juice into a cup of water and rinse your mouth with it. You can also add a bit of sea salt to it. This remedy will help to solve the problem of dry mouth which is one of the main reasons that contribute to bad breath. I love adding lemon to my water and give my mouth a little swish with it before I swallow.
Break Out the Baking Soda
Need a quick, cheap, and easy natural breath freshener? Mix in a teaspoon of baking soda into a cup of water. Swish some of this in your mouth and “ta-da!” Instant mouth wash. You can even add a drop or two of peppermint essential oil for an extra kick. An imbalance of acid in the body can lead to a range of health problems, particularly in the mouth. Baking soda works by balancing the levels of acid in the body.
