Halitosis Cure: Green Tea for Better Breath

Many types of food and dental products have been placed on the market claiming they are good for freshening breath, but actually one of the best natural breath fresheners is green tea.

Halitosis or foul breath is actually caused by mouth bacteria as it works to dissolve proteins which in the end produces a foul, sulfur-based odor. Bad breath can have drastic social and personal consequences and is difficult to control since more than 600 different types of bacteria can grow in the mouth. (The tongue is also known for containing massive quantities of bacteria.)

But recently, progress against halitosis was made by researchers in Japan who tested numerous products sold as potential breath-freshening agents to determine which ones were most effective at covering up bad odor, or that worked to stifle the sulfur smells from forming in the first place. Various mints, gums, oral sprays, mouth wash, parsley-based fresheners were each tested and found to be overall losers in the study. Toothpastes were tested as well but results showed they only served to cut down the odor without halting the initial formation of the oral stench.

Green tea however was the major success story in the study. Green tea is already widely known for its numerous health benefits due to its powerful antioxidant properties, but in the breath freshening test, green tea powder successfully masked the halitosis smell, PLUS stopped the initial formation of sulphur odors (one of the major antioxidant chemicals in green tea was identified as the main combative agent against halitosis).

Besides helping with bad breath, consuming green tea on a regular basis is also thought to lower the risk of heart disease, have cancer fighting properties, be good for weight loss, increasing metabolic rate, boosting mental abilities, having anti-diabetes qualities, strengthening the immune system, lowering stress levels in the body, helping inhibit the HIV virus, among other beneficial things (keep in mind that certain studies provided significant evidence for the claims listed above, while others did not produce the same results); and now another benefit of green tea can be added to the list: eradicating halitosis.

So the next time you find yourself at an important dinner or other social engagement and want to make sure you don’t turn anyone off with your breath, at the end of the meal have a nice cup of green tea, or choose a dessert with green tea added (such as GT ice cream) as it will help cover any halitosis you might have PLUS hinder the formation of future sulphur odors. You never know, you may want to kiss a member of the opposite sex after the meal, and if you use green tea, you can be sure your breath will be fresh and appealing.