Is maintaining your dental health a New Year’s resolution?
Although that breath mint or piece of gum may take the edge off your bad breath, it isn’t going to cure it for long. Even if you brush your teeth and rinse with that super strong mouthwash, you are just putting a band aid on your last meal’s damage.
Bad breath is caused as methyl mercaptan gas builds up in the mouth. This occurs until and no sooner than food is fully digested. Dry mouth and food bacteria are also the big causes of bad breath. You can blast the foul odor, just by eating right. Here are some food suggestions that will help you prevent and get rid of that bad breath…
Water
Drinking water flushes that food through the digestive system and helps you get rid of excess debris that sticks to your teeth and tongue and causes bad breath.
Apples
A study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University’s department of food science and technology, discovered that eating an apple was particularly effective in banishing bad breath and even “deodorizing’ the enzymes in garlic.” The high acidity levels of a raw apple can also help the deodorizing of foul smelling foods. How ’bout them apples?
Cherries
Apparently, cherries banish bad breath by destroying methyl mercaptan odors, a type of stinky gas emitted by the build up of mouth bacteria.
Research presented by author and nutritionist, David Grotto, who wrote the book, The Best Things You Can Eat, claims that methyl mercaptan destroying foods are able to break down the gaseous odors created by the development of mouth bacteria. In essence, cherries are able to break up gas and help effectively digest bits of food that cause that foul smell.
Parsley
Oh so that is why it is on the plate at fancy meals? A little sprig of parsley gets it’s pretty green color from chlorophyll, a compound with antibacterial properties that are actually able to break down sulfur compounds, those that cause bad breath bacteria.
Whole Milk
A body of research published in 2010 by the Journal of Food Science and the Institute of Food Technologist (IFT), as well as by scientists at the department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University, linked drinking milk to decreasing the malodorous breath associated with garlic breath, or offensive odor.
Spinach
Go ahead and put those onions on your salad. Studies credit the polyphenols in spinach to annihilating smelly sulfur compounds in them and even in garlic.
Spearmint
Leafy greens that are that pretty pretty green—such as mint, coriander, tarragon, eucalyptus, rosemary, and cardamom—work effectively as natural breath fresheners. Unfortunately, the masking effect of that bad breath is temporary.
Yogurt with those good Probiotics
Active cultures—Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus—which prevent the build-up of odor-causing hydrogen sulfide in your mouth. Pick a flavor, and get to eatin’.
Citrusy Fruits
Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and limes with high vitamin C content make the mouth adverse to bacterial growth. Several nutrition experts recommend citrus fruit for foul-smelling breath. Why do you think most sanitary sprays are citrus flavors?
We can also help with that bad breath with a simple cleaning every 6 months. Schedule your appointment today and let’s get you all set up for that next garlic meal.
