Foods that Cause Bad Breath

Every one of us does not like having an unpleasant smell emanating in our body, particularly in our mouth. However, we fall victim to bad breath in one way or another (see Causes of Bad Breath). One of the causes of bad breath that can be easily addressed is food.

Some foods contain chemicals that get into the blood stream and consequently cause bad breath. Others have naturally an unpleasant odor when chewed and digested in the mouth. So what foods must be regulated, if not avoided, in order to have fresh breath? Here are the foods that cause bad breath:

Garlic and onions. Examples of these foods are onions and garlic. When chewed, they create a very foul odor. They also contain sulfur compounds that ferment and result in terribly bad breath. Garlic in particular has odorous compounds including diallyl disulfide, allyl methyl disulfide, allyl mercaptan and allyl methyl sulfide.




Sugary foods. Because of the small components of this food, enzymes have an easier time breaking the substances down and therefore letting the bacteria dwell and consume the remnants of the food. These bacteria will therefore cause halitosis if they stayed inside the mouth for a prolonged period. In addition, the frightening part is that other bacteria can take the sugars and produce glycan strands, which in turn end up causing thick layers of plaque on the enamel of your teeth and around your gums. This leads to tooth decay and gum disease - and you guessed it - worse breath than you started with! When eating sugary food, be sure to brush your teeth after or at least give your mouth a good rinsing. Avoid breath mints and chewing gum that contains sugar as those will do more harm than good. Also lay off of the sugary drinks such as soda pop, coffee, and others.

Read the rest of "Foods that Causes Bad Breath".

Image courtesy of PLOS.org.