The Bad Breath Blog

Sometimes brushing your teeth after eating onions or garlic won’t stop you from having bad breath. Garlic can stay in your lungs for 1-2 days after you consume it! Therefore, making your breath fresh after eating onions and garlic is more complex than brushing your teeth and gargling. Here are some pointers:

1. Try drinking some green or mint tea after consuming garlic/onions.
2. Eat a lemon/drink lemonade.
3. Chew on parsley, mint leaves, or other strong-tasting fresh herbs
4. Try eating mixed veggies crushed into a mashed potato like mushrooms, carrots, and other types.
5. Chew mint/spearmint flavored gum
6. Drink a small amount of alcohol because it can kill the bacteria that feeds on leftover food in the oral cavity. 
7. Eat a hard cheese like cheddar or swiss (not American) to cover up the smell
8. You can try to use a smaller amount of onion or garlic while cooking
9. Use a spoon to clean off your tongue if you don’t have access to a tongue scraper
10. Don’t forget to brush your teeth and rinse out your mouth, of course.

Most of us know now that bad breath (halitosis) can be caused by: cavities; dentures; smoking; alcohol; lung, tonsils, adenoid, sinus or throat infections; certain foods (garlic, onions, high sugar products, spicy foods, dairy products); poor oral hygiene; and so on.  We’ve also discussed many different possible cures.  Here are some natural remedies you may not have suspected:

• Bee Propolis (a resinous mixture that is collected by bees from tree buds and other sources) helps gum infections, as well as other infections.  Obviously, if one is allergic to bees, he or she should not try this method of diffusing bad breath.  Propolis has been used as an antimicrobial, emollient, immunomodulator, dental anti-plaque agent,anti-tumor growth agent, and even in food and musical instruments.
• Drink water to moisten the mouth, which increases the strength of saliva in the mouth, that cleanses the bad breath bacteria
• Use a tongue scraper to help remove bacteria
• Use an odorless form of garlic, which is a natural antiobiotic
• Zinc also has an antibacterial effect
• Add half a lemon to a glass a water, and gargle with it
• When brushing the gums and tongue, use powdered cloves, an herbal remedy for bad breath.  One can keep cloves under the molars without chewing to help maintain fresh breath.
• Avoid foods like blue cheese, salami, curry, tuna, garlic, onions, anchovies, red meat, milk, coffee, cola, etc.
• Parsley is a natural deodorizer
• Cardamom is a breath sweetener
• Cranberries help fight off the bad breath-causing bacteria
• Eating a green/raw Guava will help stop bad breath
• Fruits that are high in Vitamin C, like citrus and oranges, will help control the bad bacteria
• Eucalyptus Oil is found in many toothpastes and other oral products because it has an active antiseptic ingredient, Eucalyptol
• Sometimes chewing on sugarless gum or eating sugarless candies will help keep the mouth moist and not contribute to the growth of bad oral bacteria
• Edible camphor helps against bad breath caused by tonsilitis, sinusitis, and head colds, since it is a very effective throat stimulant.  It helps get rid of clogged mucus, making it a natural and effective nasal decongestant.