Bad breath, or halitosis, is an issue that plagues us all and can appear suddenly and without warning!
Whether you’ve awoken from a deep sleep and you haven’t had time to brush your teeth, or you have a workplace meeting that’s given you stress-breath – a quick and easy solution is always welcome.
Here are three foods that will help you completely rid yourself of this problem..
Acidic Fruits
Citrus fruits like limes and lemons have a pH level of roughly two, which means they’re rather acidic.
In biological terms, your mouth should approximate a pH level of 7 to be considered healthy. Each food you eat is either acidic or alkaline and changes the pH balance of your mouth, which can be damaging.
Citrus fruits having such a low pH means that your mouth has to produce extra saliva in order to bring the environment back up to a neutral pH.
The scale below should help clarify.
During sleep, the bacteria in your mouth reproduce over a period of eight hours and in the morning they cause halitosis.
To fix this, squeeze some lemon juice into some tap water and drink it first thing in the morning. It won’t be as acidic but it’ll stimulate saliva production and destroy the bacteria that are causing your breath to smell.
Another alternative is to keep a wedge of lemon at your desk or on your person, in case you need a quick breath-saving snack.
Lemons aren’t the only options, you can go for limes, oranges or even grapefruit as they all have a similar pH level to each other.
Fresh Herbs
Surprisingly, fresh herbs are some of the best natural remedies for bad breath! Plants like parsley, cardamom, mint and tarragon can all turn your bad-breath day upside-down.
These herbs contain a high amount of chlorophyll which is a pigment found in most plants that’s responsible for absorbing light and aiding in the process of photosynthesis.
This chlorophyll compound can get into the crevices of your tongue and scrape away the odour-causing bacteria, as well as providing a pleasant scent.
Another fantastic herb is cardamom which helps with the production of saliva, the results of which are similar to that of eating citrus fruits.
Cardamom is also a powerful antibiotic and antibacterial that works immediately to counteract the pervasive sulphur compounds that cause halitosis.
If chewing these herbs is a little too strong, there is sufficient evidence to support that brewing these herbs in some tea and carrying a flask works almost as well.
Dairy Products
Finally, we have dairy products.
This option is long-term rather than short term, and even though it’s dairy, it has a surprisingly strong impact on halitosis.
Products like yoghurt are fortified with many different types of bacteria.
One such strain is the aptly named ‘lactobacillus bulgaricus’ that helps reduce the chemical compounds in the mouth that can exacerbate bad breath.
Dairy products are considered to be great for your oral health thanks to the high content of Vitamin D which reduces the growth of bacteria in the body.
By incorporating dairy, with emphasis on yoghurt into your diet, you can stop worrying about your bad breath when surrounded by friends and family.
It’s also important to remember that good oral hygiene and a healthy diet can also work to your advantage because nothing beats a good brush!
Bringing It All Together..
Ultimately, it’s up to each person if they’re embarrassed about their halitosis or not.
Everyone experiences this issue, some people may cope with it better than others but knowing some tricks to help you in this situation will always be advantageous.
If you happen to be one of those who would like to quickly address the issue, or preferably initiate a diet that would prevent this, then take the list above into consideration and chew on some basil!
