Bad Breath a High Protein Diet and You

March 15, 2008 | By NRP In Bad Breath |

Body builders and dieters are two groups of people that are likely to eat high protein diets and suffer with bad breath as a result.

These two groups are exact opposites in many ways but they often ask the same question which is “How do I get rid of my bad breath?” The answer for both groups is to start a specialized diet under the supervision of a nutritional expert that’s working with their doctor. The reality for many makes this answer a solution that isn’t possible because body builders might be preparing for a competition and need to either increase muscle mass in a hurry or lose some fat in targeted areas and.

A high protein diet helps in the production of ketones which help the body turn fat into energy among other things. Excess ketones exit the body through the mouth, urine and sweat which is good BUT they have a bad odor which can cause bad breath. Short term high protein diets are good for burning fat but you need to be aware of the cause of the changes in your breath.

Eat this type of diet too long and you may develop other health problems because your nutritional needs are out of balance.

How to Help When Someone Asks: “How Do I Cure Bad Breath From a High Protein Diet?”

Help them examine their diet to see if it is a high protein diet based mostly on meat, fish and chicken. A reintroduction of carbohydrates might be added back into the daily meal regimen to help with the halitosis. Beans are great examples of meal ingredients that leave you with plenty of proteins and just enough carbohydrates to prevent the incomplete burning of stored fats.

Another approach might be to work in the sun or to spend time in saunas so that accumulated ketones use skin pores as alternate exits to your breath in order to escape from the body. Drinking plenty of water will help ketones leave the body through urine while diluting their concentrations inside mouths at the same time.

You may try to help a friend that’s on a high protein diet with a few suggestions for their halitosis but trying to help over an extended period of time is a risky business. The person suffering from bad breath might have other health issues that may be adversely affecting their breath.

People with undiagnosed or a poorly managed diabetes, people with inadequate insulin production may have ketones building up in blood and this can quickly degenerate in to a life threatening situation and other health issues may be experiencing halitosis and you want no part of keeping these people from seeing a doctor for a more permanent bad breath solution.