Some foods break down tooth enamel, some foods cause excess bacteria in your mouth, some foods have a tendency to get stuck between your teeth… And as we all know, some foods can cause bad breath. Did you know there are also foods that you can consume that are not only beneficial to your dental health, but that help to mask bad breath as well?
According to Everyday Health, foods that contain onion, garlic, and other culprits of bad breath contain pungent oils that get carried from your mouth to your bloodstream to your lungs. This means that when you breathe out, the pungent oils also come out, causing you to have bad breath. Luckily, there are some foods that have the opposite effect!
Parsley
This herb has chlorophyll, which allows the scent of the herbs to follow the bad breath oils into the bloodstream and lungs, and therefore mask the smell when you breathe them back out.
Green Tea
According to Best Health magazine from Reader’s Digest, this delicious drink not only gets rid of the odor, but also gets rid of many microbes that get trapped in your mouth. It has even been found to be more successful at fending off bad breath than using mints!
Apples and Pears
These two fruits help produce saliva in your mouth, according to sharecare.com. When extra saliva is produced, it helps brings balance and nourishment to your mouth. This results in the pungent oils from bad breath being suppressed.
Oranges and Berries
Everyday Health describes that these two fruits are particularly rich in vitamin C. Although vitamin C doesn’t attack and mask the oils from other foods that cause bad breathe, it does help to keep bacteria levels low and gets rid of gum diseases which can be another cause of bad breath.
So the next time you know you’re going to consume foods that may cause your friends (or significant other) to cringe, try one of these edible solutions!