I love skiing in the winter. But every time I’m out on the slopes, I cringe when I see the water vapor people lose on every exhale.
I can’t help but think: they’re losing water fast, they’ll feel it in sore muscles later, and when they get home? Bad breath.
Mouth breathing dries out the delicate mucosa in the nose, mouth, and throat. Once dry, bacteria build up and release odors.
Covering that smell up isn’t the answer. And if you’ve ever wondered why your own breath goes south after a long day, a workout, a flight, a morning run, or a night out, that’s exactly what you’ll learn how to fix in this newsletter.
What You’ll Learn
- Why needing to pee a lot is connected to bad breath
- How mouth breathing, low saliva, and not enough electrolytes drive odor
- Why quick fixes create dependency by harming the microbiome
- The handful of daily habits that actually work
- The six types of bad breath (and how to tell which you have)
First, let’s talk about why the cover-ups make bad breath worse…
Sprays, strips, menthol mints, and neon-blue rinses give about 20 minutes of relief, then the odor returns and you use more.
That loop is no accident. These products kill the bugs that cause odor, but the bad ones grow back stronger and in the wrong ratios.
The good bacteria that keep breath fresh get wiped out too.
And it’s not just alcohol-based rinses—many “alcohol-free” formulas use essential oils or sodium chlorite (think Therabreath) that disrupt your microbiome the same way.
So what’s actually causing bad breath?
There are six broad patterns, shown in research from my friend and oral microbiome researcher David Lin, PhD at Bristle: gum-based, tongue-based, post-antibiotic overgrowth, fungal overgrowth, intermittent, and mixed. If you want the deep dive (or testing to see your own pattern), Bristle’s article and oral microbiome test are a great place to start.
The good news: no matter which pattern you have, the same daily habits below restore balance to your oral microbiome—the root cause in every case.*
What Works (and What Doesn’t)
- Tongue scraping – When you scrape your tongue, you’re disrupting, not killing, so that the oral microbiome can come back in a better state. I recommend stainless steel, even though a lot of people swear by copper. This is the one I use, but any stainless steel tongue scraper from Amazon will do the trick.
- Oil pulling – If you swish oil for 5–10 minutes with coconut or MCT oil and spit it in the trash, you’ll loosen debris and support a fresher mouth. I like adding CoQ10 to mine. Click here for DIY recipes on my website.
- Electrolytes + water – Plain water isn’t enough—even if you’re sedentary! Here’s why: your kidneys sense the dilution of electrolytes and make you pee more, so you don’t hold onto that water. Add electrolytes, and water actually stays in your system. Sodium pulls water into your tissues, potassium balances fluid inside your cells, and magnesium helps the whole process run smoothly. Without them, less spit, thicker spit, fewer antimicrobial proteins—it’s the perfect storm for bad breath. And here’s the tricky part: the magnesium test your doctor runs doesn’t actually show your real status. Less than 1% of your body’s magnesium is in the blood. Your body will even pull it from your bones and muscles just to keep that blood number looking “normal.” So you can look fine on paper, but still be depleted where it matters—leading to fatigue, cramps, even worse breath. There’s a common misconception that electrolytes are just for athletes—not true. I keep these electrolytes with me every day—whether I’m working at home or skiing.
- Nitrates: foods + mints – Eat a serving of leafy greens like arugula, spinach, or beetroot every day—they boost nitric oxide and freshen your breath from the inside out. Or, if you’re not getting many greens, a single nitric oxide mint can deliver the same cycle support—like getting the benefit of a whole salad in one serving. A nitrate-rich mint like this one (which I helped develop) after tongue scraping doesn’t just cover up odors. It feeds the good bacteria on the tongue that make nitric oxide, while suppressing the sulfur-producing bacteria responsible for bad breath. Over time, this shifts the balance of the oral microbiome toward fresher breath—and helps fix the root cause of your bad breath instead of just masking it.
- Mouth taping – When you keep your lips closed and breathe through your nose, day and night, you protect your mouth from drying out. If it’s hard at night, you might even try gentle mouth tape. There are tons of different brands—I recommend experimenting to see which one you feel most comfortable in. Mine is this one but my wife prefers this one. If you can mouth tape at night, you’re guaranteeing that you’re spending about one-third of your day nasal breathing—that’s huge for the oral microbiome and NO production because you’re not drying out your mouth. Start by mouth taping during the day—if you can’t do it, then it’s time to book an appointment with a myofunctional therapist and ENT to figure out what’s causing the nasal blockage—you need to make sure you can breathe through your nose, this is critical not just for fixing bad breath, but for your brain, heart, sleep quality, and longevity.
- Xylitol gum – Chew xylitol gum after meals—5 to 10 g daily. It stimulates saliva and helps block cavities. Just keep it away from dogs. Please be aware of these xylitol gum brands with only 1g of xylitol per piece—the science is clear that the effective dose is more than 1g (learn more about that here).
*One Important Exception: If your bad breath is sudden, severe, or doesn’t improve with basics, see your physician. Reflux, diabetes, cancer, and sinus disease can play a role. If you’re on prescription meds, check before adding new routines.
Do the above for seven days, and hit reply to let me know what improvements you notice. I’d love to hear from you. Most people will notice a shift by day 3–4.
P.S. Know someone who lives on mints and mouthwash? Forward this to them and tell them to never miss another newsletter and sign up for future emails here.
The post No One’s Explained Your Bad Breath Like This Before… appeared first on Ask the Dentist.
