What Really Causes Bad Breath?

December 7, 2009

Interview with Dr. Harold Katz, Founder of The California Breath Clinics

www.TheraBreath.com

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Mike Carruthers:
Nothing will drain the fun out of the moment like being told you have bad breath. What is it exactly?

Dr. Harold Katz:
There’s still a misconception after all these years, people still think bad breath comes from the digestive system – that’s a fallacy.

Dr. Harold Katz, Founder of The California Breath Clinics…

In the early 90’s research done up in Canada proved that bad breath is caused by what are called anaerobic sulfur producing bacteria, which live in the back of your throat, tongue, and tonsils. And these bacteria produce chemicals called volatile sulfur compounds – hydrogen sulfide is one of them that’s the rotten egg smell. Another chemical they produce is called cadaverine another is called putrescine so you could imagine what they smell like just by their name.

What the bacteria do, says Dr. Katz, is break down protein that you put in your mouth.

People on the Atkins’ type diets, one of the unfortunate side-effects is bad breath because the bacteria are able to exact sulfur from the amino acids in certain proteins – and dairy foods are a big culprit.

So what’s the best advice for someone with bad breath?

The number one recommendation we tell everyone is drink more water. Water helps to replenish your saliva. As we get older we produce less saliva, we have less ability to conquer bad breath and that’s why many older people have a bad breath problem. So drink more water.

For Part 2 click here.

To hear the complete unedited interview, click here