There’s a reason why I hated my dad’s hugs and kisses. Not only did he never like to shave his beard cleanly, his breath always stank and he never did anything to deal with it.
If you’ve bad breath yourself, it may not be just a simple case of inheriting your dad’s bad breath genes. Have you ever seen people around you move away from you or grimace when you move closer to them or talk to them closely? If so, this article is for you to find out some of the reasons you may have that, and we will share some solutions, too!
Improper Oral Care
If you don’t have a habit of brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day, I have news for you – that’s the main reason your breath just stinks. As we eat food throughout the day, food particles get stuck in our mouth and in between your teeth, whether through the gaps or at the back of your teeth, or even below your tongue.
If you leave the food particles alone, they tend to break down over time and turn into a white-ish yellow substance called plaque, which cultivates harmful bacteria that will eat away at the enamel of your teeth. Leave this plaque alone for years and hardens into tartar, which causes problems such as gingivitis where your gums can get inflamed, and damaged teeth as the bacteria produces acid that eats away at them.
Dentists recommend brushing and flossing your teeth twice a day, but you can go further than that – you can add mouthwash into your twice-daily routine, and even carry a small bottle around to rinse after you eat. Some people live by tongue scrapers, which is a tool that helps scrape away residue on your tongue as well, which may be causing the bad breath.
What You Eat (And Drink)
Everyone knows that eating a spicy, garlicky bowl of pasta or pizza won’t do wonders for your own breath, but smelly (and delicious!) foods aren’t the only way that you can get bad breath.
Ever heard of ‘Nail Polish Remover’ breath, or Acetone breath? This is caused by being in Ketosis, which is often caused artificially by people on specific diets such as the Keto Diet for weight loss. When your body cannot produce insulin, it burns fat to give you energy, which produces ketones.
With high ketone levels in your body, it leads to that nail polish smell that you may notice in people undergoing such trendy diets. This also happens when you try a low carb, high protein diet. If you’re also an alcoholic, it’s very common for you to have bad breath as well as it causes alcoholic ketoacidosis.
However, we are not trying to discourage you from trying out all these new diets. We are only telling you this to make sure that you know and understand the effects that the food you eat may have on your body. Remember that everyone’s body functions differently, and some foods may cause your breath to be much worse compared to others. It’s simply just the way our body interacts with the food we eat.
The main thing you could do is simply be aware of this fact, and watch everything you eat carefully. If you care very much about your own breath and how others think about it, you could ask a trusted friend or partner to tell you what kinds of foods cause you to have bad breath and to use replacements and alternatives that give you the same benefit. Your body will thank you as well!
Health Conditions
Some common conditions do cause bad breath. For example, having Acid Reflux or its more serious cousin, Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD for short) will cause your stomach’s acids to travel up to your mouth, causing bad breath.
Other health conditions you may not know of include Periodontitis, which is an inflammatory gum disease caused by not removing plaque from your teeth, which brings us to the first point of having good oral care (which will help may not prevent you from gum disease). People with Diabetes also may complain of having a fruity chemical odor smell.
Other health conditions such as lung disease, asthma or even liver disease can cause bad breath to pop up. However, please do not ever self-diagnose yourself if you have bad breath. It is always better to first see a doctor before making any conclusions about the cause of your bad breath being clinical.
Finally, if you do wish to have a brief moment’s respite from your bad breath, you can consider taking one of our NUDE Mints. Being able to kill your bad breath within a few seconds, you will be able to enjoy a good length of time of having fresh, clean breath and a boost in confidence.
