Is there a worse feeling than having been out at a social gathering all evening and towards the end of the night somebody offers you a mint and gives you a knowing wink? Your heart drops into your stomach as you realize you’ve been wafting nasty dieting breath on everyone the entire time. If this has ever happened to you the good news is that bad breath is preventable and we can tell you how to stop it.
To get bad breath under control it’ll help to understand what causes it while dieting. When dieting, bad breath is normally caused by the metabolic state of ketosis, in which the body burns fat more efficiently. Ketones are released during this metabolic process into the urine and the saliva. The good news is that if you have bad breath while dieting, you are probably doing a good job of sticking to your diet and you’re losing weight and making progress. The bad news is that the smell caused by these ketones gives breath a heavy fruity or acidic odor. On top of that, increased acid in the stomach, not buffered by food, adds to this odor. So what do you do? Break out the floss and the ol’ toothbrush? Well, no, that won’t actually help since your bad breath is not caused by an oral hygiene problem. However, you can fix it by:
1. Drinking More Water
Because bad breath while dieting is caused by the ketones released into your saliva when you burn fat, one way to freshen your breath is to dilute your saliva by drinking lots of water. On top of that, dehydration in and of itself is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Not drinking enough water causes food & bacteria to stick around in your mouth longer. The longer they stick around the greater your breath stinks! So do yourself and your friends a favor and get hydrated and freshen your breath.
2. Fixing Your pH Levels
The foods you eat directly affect your stomuch’s pH levels. When you eat foods that have high amounts of acid, you’ll develop some wicked bad breath. Some examples of acidic foods are eggs, meat, nuts & artificial sweeteners. To prevent bad breath, try eating more alkaline foods like beans, lentils, milk, kale, celery and tofu. Drinking more water will also help balance your pH levels. Don’t have time to eat some alkaline foods? You could always chew on some antiacid gum like Chooz.
3. Natural Breath Fresheners
Need a quick fix? You could always pop in a stick of gum or a mint. But did you know that there are some natural breath fresheners that not only mask the smell, but also kill the bacteria that causes bad breath? You can find them right in your kitchen or even on your plate when you’re out to eat.
That’s right, that parsley on your plate isn’t just for show, it actually contains chlorophyll which kills bad breath bacteria and it even has a delightful fresh scent that’ll help mask whatever stink is left. So go ahead and munch on it.- If you’re at home try dissolving some cinnamon in water and swishing with it. Cinnamon contains cinnamic aldehyde, an essential oil that not only covers up bad breath but also reduces the amount of odor causing bacteria in your mouth.
- If you’re headed out on to a social gathering take some cloves with you and chew on them if needed. Cloves have a strong yet delightful aroma that’ll mask bad breath and antibacterial properties that’ll kill the bacteria in your mouth causing the stink.