Methods of Prevention for Bad Breath

GERD, or as it is more commonly known, acid reflux is an often encountered health problem that will lead to a bad breath as its symptom. This medical condition results in having the stomach’s acid, bile or even undigested food come back up your throat and cause unpleasant burns, pains, as well as a bad breath. The breath usually becomes bitter or sour as a result of the acid reflux but this can be treated by simply changing the lifestyle, diet and if necessary by using various types of medication.

Modify your diet

Acid reflux can be avoided or at least reduced by not consuming various foods or drinks, usually acidic and the bad breath caused by the reflux can also be avoided by not consuming products that only intensify the smell. Coffee, alcohol, onions and garlic are common culprits that lead to acid reflux as well as bad breath during the reflux. Eliminating or at the very least reducing the consumption of these items would reduce the frequency of acid refluxes as well as the intensity of the breath. Citric fruits should also be avoided as they only increase the acidity in the stomach and cause refluxes to be more common and more severe, thus leading to a frequent bad breath and other symptoms.

Someone who is suffering from this affliction can, however, further reduce the chance of it happening and improve the quality of his breath by eating certain beneficial types of foods. Fiber-rich foods such as beans, rice and whole grain products will prevent the foul breath and reduce the frequency of acid coming back up the esophageal tract.

Change your lifestyle

Those with GERD should consider altering their lifestyle in such a way to prevent the reflux from happening so often and to reduce its severity. Making simple changes in the daily routine can prevent these problems and reduce the chance of having a bad breath.

One of the major changes would be quitting smoking as that is one of the main causes that will eventually lead to acid refluxes and foul breath. It is a well-established fact that smoking leads directly to a bad breath, but the nicotine will relax too much the muscle which needs to be tight in order to hold down the food and the acid and keep it from coming back up.

If you are not a smoker, however, there are simple, minute changes that will make large differences. Waiting two or three hours before lying down after a meal would significantly reduce the chance of an acid reflux. Another way of reducing the chance of having unpleasant breath from a reflux would be to split the meals into several small ones throughout the day instead of having 3 large meals that are too much for the digestive system to handle.

Conclusion

Bad breath caused by GERD is a common problem but it can easily be solved even without the use of drugs. People with this problem need to inform themselves about it and make adjustments in their lives. Working on the diet and changing the daily routine would be a great start for significantly reducing the chance of having an acid reflux that in turn would worsen the breath.