Stop Bad Breath
Many people spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars trying to cure their bad breath problem, and often in vain. But there are ways to stop bad breath without breaking the bank.
A good starter is to watch what you drink. Many people drink a coffee in the morning, and then continue to drink coffee through the day. Often, they will drink a cola for a change. Then in the evening they will drink beer or wine.
But coffee and alcohol both have a tendency to dry out your mouth, providing an ideal environment for the bacteria that produce bad breath. The opposite to this is to keep your mouth hydrated – and that means simply drinking water instead.
Now we all know that we should drink plenty of water, but we rarely do. I’ve even heard people say that they get their water intake by drinking coffee!! Sorry – it doesn’t work that way. Water hydrates your body and your mouth, and causes your mouth to produce saliva, which is nature’s mouth cleanser. Coffee, on the other hand, does nothing good for your body and dries out your mouth, inhibiting the production of saliva. Most people also add sugar to their coffee, and that is the next point we will look at.
The sugar you add to coffee, as well as the sugar in alcohol and sweet drinks such as cola, feeds the bacteria that produce bad breath. It also coats your mouth with a protective layer for the bacteria to live and thrive in.
One of the best ways to stay hydrated and avoid bad breath is to drink water. As well as keeping you hydrated, water also washes down leftover food debris.
If you don’t like the taste of plain water, just add a dash of lemon juice to it. This will give a different flavor to your water, and lemon juice has the added benefit of killing off bad breath producing bacteria and stimulating the production of saliva.
Another good drink is tea. This is because it contains polyphenols that help to inhibit the growth of bad breath producing bacteria in your mouth.
We’ve already mentioned alcohol, which has a tendency to dry out the mouth. When thinking of alcohol, most people will think of alcoholic drinks such as beer or wine. But another place that you can find alcohol is very surprising, and that is in a mouthwash. That’s right, your regular mouthwash could contain alcohol – so when you wash out your mouth with it, it helps to provide the environment that bad breath bacteria love.
So a money-saving way to stop your bad breath problem is actually to stop using your alcohol-based mouthwash. You can replace it with a mouthwash that does not contain alcohol. You can also replace it by chewing on herbs.
That’s right – herbs. You can get yourself some mint or peppermint leaves – the sort of flavors that mouthwashes tend to use – and simply chew on them for a few minutes. Then spit them out. You’ll find that the minty smell stays in your mouth.
