THE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO DEALING WITH BAD BREATH

We all know how to get fresh breath from brushing our teeth, using a mouthwash or popping a mint, but just how effective is all this when dealing with persistent bad breath? Each of these methods is temporary and that’s why we sometimes do any of these activities up to 3 times a day.

Persistent bad breath or halitosis is a sign of more serious health issues, so it’s important to get to the root cause of it.

Bad breath could originates anywhere from a problem in the mouth, nose, sinuses, throat, gullet (oesophagus), lungs or stomach. It may be due to a more serious medical issue like liver failure or ketoacidosis.

Let’s look at the causes and solutions for bad breath, starting from the top.

1. Nose and sinuses

Post-nasal drip is the mucus that drips into the back of the mouth. This could happen due to a cold or allergy. Sinisitis on the other hand is a sinus infection, where mucus gets trapped because the inflammation blocks its passage out. The mucus becomes the substrate (or “food” and “home”) that bacteria live on. Ensuring good general health and avoiding allergic reactions would certainly help as would nutritional supplementation that prevents or assists recovery from these root causes.

2. Breathing through the mouth

Saliva washes food particles down to keep our mouths and throats clean. Moreover, the enzymes in saliva break down the sugars and kill bacteria that cause bad breath. Breathing through the mouth dries the mouth out of saliva, with the result that bad breath causing bacteria are left unchecked.

3. Oral hygiene

This is the basis of clearing the bad bugs out and maintaining an environment where they will not thrive in. Removing unwanted sugars and proteins that nasty bacteria feed on ensures the remaining bugs inside do not have a field day of food supply and multiply to a population that makes any nasty gases produced noticeable. Brushing, rinsing and flossing are all important.

A visit to a dentist may reveal gum disease, another cause of bad breath which will require treatment and regular intake of vitamin C.

Yeast infestions sometimes manifest as a coated tongue which cause bad breath, so do not forget to clean the tongue whilst brushing your teeth. Caprylic acid and garlic are potent anti-fungal agents are a great complement to oral hygiene and maintaining yeast balance.

4. Crypts formed after a bad bout of sore throat

These are scarred pits that collect food debris inside the throat (tonsil crypts) and no amount of brushing can eradicate this. What you really need is an effective gargle to constantly flush these bits out.

Otherwise, when they are stored for some time, they will form soft yellowish plugs called tonsil stones or tonsiliths which cause the foulest odour. When oxidised, they harden and can become much harder to remove and may even cause pain or discomfort when swallowing.

The use of oral irrigators may be helpful but some of these devices have been known to damage and rupture the tonsils.

Apart from seeing a otolaryncologist to resurface the throat lining via laser or curettage, both of which are painful, it would be advisable to keep nasty bacteria at bay with thorough oral hygiene methods and a regular probiotic supplement to increase the friendly bacteria population to fight the nasty ones.

5. Lungs

Lungs that retain cigarette smoke eventually leak the smoke out into the gullet which, when mixed with the gases formed from the stomach during digestion, creates the putrid odour. Even in the absence of digestion gases, smoker’s breath has a reputation of its own. Of more concern is the possibility of a lung infection, like lung cirrhosis or other lung disorders which require medical examination and treatment.

6. Stomach

This is a critical stop that has direct route to the mouth. A practical point to observe is to eat in a relaxed way to allow your digestive system to work effectively on the food you ingest.

A loud belch isn’t just noticeable in auditory way. It also has its own signature aroma and other special flavours. The presence of gases is partly due to aerobic but mostly anaerobic digestion which causes flatulence, burping and distention.

Taking a regular digestive enzyme supplement is important for adults who are waning in digestive enzyme production and young children whose digestive systems are not very developed.

Having proper digestive health is critical and ncapsulate® has a suite of supplements to meet individual needs. We also cannot stress the importance of having a regular health screening to eliminate the possibility or diagnose and treat medical issues like GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) and ulcers.

Well, we’ve covered the places where you may be getting bad breath from. Apart from the social stigma that comes with bad breath, there are more significant health implications we hope affected persons will make the commitment to watch.