Nutrition For Bad Breath

Bitter Vegetables

What Are The Reasons For Bad Breath Also Known As Halitosis

Halitosis is a term used for bad breath. It is often difficult to know if you have bad breath and usually you will be informed you have bad breath by someone else. There may be many reasons behind having bad breath and one of the first things to think of is your oral health. Regular brushing, flossing with dental tape and water flossing to go under the gum line can be very helpful to keep your teeth clean. Regular visits to the dentist is also important to ensure no cavities are developing that will harbour pathogenic bacteria contributing to tooth decay and cavities that may contribute to bad breath. Your dentist will check to ensure both your teeth and gums are in good health.

When someone suspects bad breath the first aid used is usually a mouth rinse, this can give temporary relief but does not deal with the underlying problem. Regular mouth rinses also contain sweeteners and chemicals that are not beneficial to oral health in the long run. Some people use chewing gum to mask breath. If this is the case choosing a gum that is natural with least additives is the best option. You can find natural gums sweetened with xylitol that is beneficial for tooth health if used properly. There is great natural gum called mastic gum that comes from he Greek island Chios. It is hard to find in the UK but this is the best gum for oral and gut health available.

Some foods can cause strong breath and also not being able to digest food well may contribute to bad health. As we age our digestive secretions are diminished so this can lead to incomplete digestion leading to bad odours.

Having a slow gut transit time (the time the food takes to travel from the mouth to the toilet) How to do a gut transit time test using beetroot? , being constipated Struggling with Constipation? What You Need To Know , having SIBO or other gut infections can all contribute to bad breath.

Having low stomach acid especially is a major factor in developing bad breath as you need good stomach acid to digest your dietary proteins. You can read about the consequences of low stomach acid in my blog post and how to do a Stomach Acid Self Test

If your food stays in your stomach longer than needed it will lead to bad breath. One reason for having low stomach acid apart from old age can be having a Helicobacter Pylori infection. This bacteria resides in the stomach and does this by lowering the stomach acid. The consequences of a Helicobacter Pylori infection can be not digesting your foods properly, stomach pain leading to ulceration and bad breath coupled with burping. A stool test is very effective way to check if you have a Helicobacter Pylori infection and I can organise a comprehensive stool test for you if you wish. Contact

How I Helped My Client With Bad Breath With Nutritional Therapy?

A middle aged lady consulted with me with the request to solve her bad breath. This was reported to her by someone close to her. She was feeling very self conscious and was very keen to get rid of it. After we established that her oral health was good and that she did not have any decay or cavities in her teeth I took the clients full health history.

She was 58 years old and had a relatively healthy diet with little room for improvement. Her digestion was good with regular daily bowel movements. She did not experience bloating or camps however she did not feel hungry either. This suggested to me that she may have low stomach acid levels and reduced digestive secretions. As you need optimal stomach acid levels to kick start the rest of your digestive processes such as bile flow and digestive enzymes. I recommended for her to include bitter foods in her diet such as radicchio, endive, rocket leaves, fresh lemon tea, radishes, artichokes, and dandelion tea.

Initially I recommended that the client to take some digestive bitters to stimulate digestive juices at the beginning of each meal and recommended some digestive enzymes. I also recommended she has some private testing for Helicobacter Pylori and a SIBO test. She was not able to have the SIBO test done but her Helicobacter Pylori test returned positive results. So I recommended a specific probiotic to deal with this infection and further support for her to help breakdown her food that included betaine Hcl, and fermented foods.

The client continued with the protocol at the recommended duration and 6 month later she has contacted me to tell me her bad breath has gone. She was very happy with her outcome.

Sometimes it is important to look deeper than where the problem is. With Nutritional Therapy I was able to solve this clients health challenge by investigating the root cause.

Get in touch with me if you have gut problems you need help with you can book a complementary 30 minute call here Book Online