Most bad breath — about 90 percent — is the result of bacteria lurking in the crevices of the tongue, where they have nothing better to do than release noxious, bad-smelling gases. Everybody has some bacteria in their mouth, but keeping it in check is key to having sweeter tasting kisses. The best way to do this? First, brush and floss your teeth regularly. After eating, food particles left in your mouth become a meal for bacteria. Starve them by keeping your mouth clean. Second, make sure you drink plenty of water. Saliva helps limit bacteria growth, and the best way to keep producing a healthy supply of saliva is to stay hydrated. By the way, when we sleep,our saliva production slows way down — so much so that on average we swallow only about twenty times a night, compared to swallowing about two thousand times during our waking hours. It's this lack of saliva while sleeping and the resulting growth of bacteria that causes the dreaded morning breath. So next time you wake up with a less than fresh taste in your mouth, start the day by re-hydrating yourself with a glass of H2O.
Another source of bad breath is our diet. Garlic and onions are star ingredients in a lot of wonderful cuisine, but kissing a partner whose breath is ripe with their odor is a little like devouring a bad meal. Hardly the stuff of romance. If you wake up knowing a kiss may be coming later, it's not a bad idea to swear off certain foods for that day. Foods that have a high sulfur content can do a nasty number on your breath for up to twenty-four hours after they're eaten. Besides garlic and onions, other foods that can make your kisses taste bad to a partner include strong coffee, red meat, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli. Of course, one time-honored way around this problem is for partners to indulge in the same offending food. Dining out at your favorite Italian restaurant? No need to turn your nose up at the to-die-for fettuccine alfredo that's laced with garlic. Just order a second helping for your sweetheart when you both indulge, it has a way of putting you in sync with one another's scent, preparing each others olfactory senses for the close contact afterwards.
One indulgence I can't recommend sharing with a partner is smoking. It's common for habitual smokers to underestimate how strongly that stale-cigarette smell clings to their clothes, their hair, and, particularly, their breath. Cigarette manufacturers have spent millions of dollars over the years to market smoking as sexy and sophisticated, but recently as more and more bad news about smoking comes to public awareness that false glamour has shriveled. And even in the cigarette manufacturers' glory days, it's a habit that never left a good taste in anyone's mouth. It has long been a cliche for non-smokers to claim that kissing a smoker is like kissing an ashtray and, in terms of the after-taste that remains long,after a smoker has stubbed out their cigarette, that's not far from the truth. In a survey conducted by the NHS Smoking Helpline, 57 percent of the 2,274 people questioned said they disliked kissing someone who smoked, compared to just 6 percent who enjoyed the experience.
To add insult to injury, the constriction of blood flow that is one of smoking's side effects can do a real number on a man's long-term ability to function sexually. If you’re a smoker,it's a habit worth kicking for the sake of your love life, as well as your health.
Finally, if you're out on a date and you suspect your breath isn't all it could be, the go-to emergency solution is usually something to mask the bad smell with a better smell. Mints are the obvious choice.
Comment