Plannin’ on some kissin’? 5 Foods to Keep Your Breath Fresh!

Picture the scenario: you’ve been thinking about this moment for weeks (possibly months, possibly years) and now it has actually arrived. You can’t believe it is happening! The most perfect thing in the world is about to kiss you…but just as your lips are about to touch there is a pause….and then a flinch.

And then a grimace.

And then you realise…

…you stink.

OK, so there are no literary awards up for grabs and even if there were, I ain’t winning any for that little foray into the world of romantic prose. But you catch my minty fresh drift. Every now and then your breath will stink. That’s a fact.

So if you’ve got a date tonight, tomorrow or maybe only in your head – in the future – with a girl or guy you haven’t even had the guts to talk to yet, you’re going to want to make sure your breath is as fresh as snow when it matters. And that’s where breath-freshening, alkaline foods can really boost your kissing chances.

Top 5 Foods for Fresh Breath / Home Remedy for Bad Breath!

If you’ve been here before you’ll no doubt know that this is, in fact, not a dating or relationship site – it’s a health site. So, here come the top 5 bad breath banishing foods ranked with the following equation:

Pleasant Breath = (freshly goodness x naturalness)/health

Got that?

So here we go, in reverse order:

• Iiiiiiiinnn 5: Water. That’s right – water! Not even a food! Heh, bear with me because this is probably the most simple and accessible tip of them all. If you become dehydrated your body attempts to conserve moisture by producing far less saliva. ‘Why is this important?’ I hear you ask. It is important because saliva is incredibly effective at cleansing and diluting the bacteria and its stinking products that make your breath smell bad! And here’s an extra tip for you – giving your mouth a rinse out with water is actually a very effective short term, quick response breath freshener because it removes the bacteria’s waste. The reason it is only short term, though, is because most of the bacteria remains…
• Iiiiiiiiinnn 4: Vitamin C – oranges, Kiwis, Grapefruits, Asparagus, Kale, Broccoli and any other high vitamin C fruit or vegetable are a great home remedy for bad breath. Now some of these are not the most alkaline foods, but you CAN still enjoy them as part of a balance, nice and alkaline diet.

  So, the reason why vitamin C is effective at keeping your breath as fresh as a glacier is two-fold. Firstly, it is great at reducing mucus and toxin levels in the body which are a major cause of bad breath, and secondly it is another great bacteria fighter. Smokers should pay special attention here because smoking actually destroys vitamin c.

• Iiiiiiiin 3: Fibre – fibre is absolutely wonderous in so many ways and yet so few of us actually get our required amount each day (supposedly 30-40g). Getting enough fibre is so essential for so many other important reasons but it is also great for keeping your breath fresh. The principle reason being that a lot of breath issues actually stem from the gut rather than the mouth – and fibre helps to keep your digestive tract in perfect, clean working order. And back to saliva – crunchy, fibre rich foods encourage your mouth to produce more of that beautiful bacteria battling saliva!
• Iiiiiiiiiin 2: Probiotics – they’ve been the darlings of the wellness movement ever since Yakult got wise, but you rarely hear about probiotics in terms of their kiss-increasing powers!

  If your breath is making flowers wilt the reason could easily be due to the presence of hydrogen sulfide in your mouth. Probiotics kick hydrogen sulfide’s butt. Especially Lactobacillus salivarius which is also known to help bleeding gums, tooth decay, thrush and canker sores whilst also encouraging the production of vitamin B, enzymes and lactic acid. Bonza!

• And Bully’s Special Prize: Herbs – nicks in at number one because so many herbs are brilliant at fighting bad breath and promoting a nice healthy, fresh mouth. Parsley, coriander, spearmint, tarragon, eucalyptus, rosemary and cardamom all come top of the class in breath freshness.

  But out of all of the herbs – here are my top three:

  1. Cardamom, (Elettaria cardamomum) is a great source of the antiseptic cineole, which is extremely effective at destroying that pesky bad breath bacteria.
  2. Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) is found in many breath fresheners and mouthwashes because it also contains high levels of cineole.
  3. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – along many other green leafy herbs – is great at destroying odour because it contains expecptionally high levels of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is great at ridding the body of toxins and is a potent alkaline food which also helps to cleanse and purify the body. Chlorophyll also has a strong deodorizing effect which is great for a quick fix in emergency situations!

So there you go. Never will you have bad breath again! And especially not right before a hot date!

As a big hat tip the inspiration behind this post comes from another of Darren’s excellent group writing projects. I strongly urge you to head on over to problogger.net and check out all of the other Top 5′s!

And if you have stopped by here as a result of the project – do say hi in the comments and have a browse around!

Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.