Is there a connection between bad breath and acid reflux? Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition where stomach contents return up the esophagus, sometimes all the way to the mouth, causing heartburn and an unpleasant bitter taste. Many professionals and health writers list GERD as a possible cause of bad breath, but few go into any detail about what produces the bad odor. Given that there may be a demonstrable connection, there are a couple of explanations we can consider.

First, symptoms of bad breath and acid reflux often strike after consumption of a large meal. Many foods, though we love to eat them, don’t smell too good on the breath afterwards. These include garlic (probably the best known food cause of bad breath), onions, strong cheeses, spicy foods, alcoholic beverages, and a number of other foods. When a recently consumed meal is pushed back up the esophagus, it wouldn’t be surprising that an unpleasant smell is produced on the breath.

Secondly, it’s no secret that one’s stomach contents don’t smell too good. The stomach is an acid environment where foods start to break down in preparation for digestive processes in the intestine. If enough time has passed since the food was consumed, stomach contents that return up the esophagus in a case of GERD will have the sharp acidic smell of vomit – an unpleasant odor producing an atypical halitosis and suggesting a link between bad breath and acid reflux.

Thirdly, in cases of chronic GERD, acid stomach liquids repeatedly come in contact with, and burn, the lining of the esophagus. Because the damage recurs frequently, the tissue never has time to heal completely and is thus chronically irritated with continual production of dead tissue. Dead tissue has an unpleasant odor, and when it is present in the esophagus, it’s likely to produce an indirect connection between bad breath and acid reflux.

But, the truth is, there doesn’t seem to be a really strong correlation between bad breath and acid reflux itself. A relatively low percentage of people with GERD experience chronic halitosis. Instead, researchers recently reported at the 71st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (2006) that there is an apparent connection between proton pump inhibitors (drugs commonly used to treat GERD), and chronic bad breath. The drugs, it seems, may cause an overgrowth of odor producing bacteria in the mouth – and anaerobic odor producing bacteria in the mouth are by far the most common cause of chronic halitosis.

By: R. Drysdale

About the Author:

Dog Breath
by Dav Pilkey
Amazon Price: $6.99
Customer Review: I read with first graders, and my most challenging boy (who was bored with EVERYTHING in the early reader pile...) LOVED this book! He borrowed it to read to everyone who would listen and even got his buddies together and made it into a play!

Eagles have bad breath: Or, How to identify birds without knowing anything ab...
by Jack Aulis
Amazon Price:
Customer Review: I am the illustrator for my late husband's five books: Eagles Have Bad Breath, Butterflies and Other Birds, Plants Don't Do What You Tell 'Em To,How Porcupines Make Love and Never Hug an Octopus. They are very funny but also truly researched.

Bad Breath Report
by Erica Abbott
Amazon Price:

Bad Breath. Wow – that’s something that scares people to death. Many people are so afraid they are going to have bad breath during an important meeting, a hot date, or just in every day conversations with others that they will take significant steps to help avoid it. For everyone’s sake it’s great to see so many people concerned about this, but unfortunately, there are many others who don’t think about it and the rest of us end up paying the price.

If you want to help eliminate the possibility of having bad breath, there are a number of things you can do. By following the 5 tips below, you’ll likely keep your co-workers, your boss, friends and your significant other very happy.

1. Keep An Eye One What You Drink

Drinking coffee, beer, whine and whiskey will definitely cause you some breath issues. The problem with these beverages is that they leave a residue that attaches to your plaque which in turn gets into your digestive system. Every time you exhale, traces of the odor of these drinks is pumped back into the air.

2. Tote A Toothbrush Around

A number of odors can be eliminated – or at least suppressed for a short time if you get in the habit of brushing after every meal. The main issue that causes bad breath is the sticky film of dead as well as living bacteria that clings to your teeth and gums – commonly referred to as plaque. The best way to get rid of this odor causing plaque? You guessed it – by brushing right after a meal.

3. Drink Water

While it may not always be practical to brush after every meal, you can take a swig of water after meals and rinse your mouth out. Doing so will carry some of the smells from food away and down the drain. Studies have shown that by drinking eight 8 oz. glass of water a day, your mouth will remain moist and will help wash away food debris that bacteria love.

4. Gargle With A Minty Mouthwash

Sure, this is a well known idea. But, this will only give you about 20 minutes of fresh breath. If you are looking for extended protection from bad breath, try dipping your toothbrush in a mouth rinse with 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate. Peridex is one such brand name.

5. Brush Your Tongue

Most people don’t even consider this. But understand that your tongue is covered with things that look like small hairs. If you were to check them out under a microscope, you’d find that they look like little mushrooms. Under the caps of these “shrooms”, there is plenty of space for bacteria / plaque to grow. Bingo – bad breath. To help kill this bacteria, gently go over your tongue when brushing your teeth.

Of course, if you really want to get into it, you can purchase a tongue scraper as well.

Hopefully, if you’ve found that you have bad breath on occasion, you’ll take notice and implement each of the five tips above, for if you do, you just may find that more and more people will be willing to carry on a conversation with you.;)

By: Scott Graves

About the Author:

Dog Breath
by Dav Pilkey
Amazon Price: $6.99
Customer Review: I read with first graders, and my most challenging boy (who was bored with EVERYTHING in the early reader pile...) LOVED this book! He borrowed it to read to everyone who would listen and even got his buddies together and made it into a play!

Eagles have bad breath: Or, How to identify birds without knowing anything ab...
by Jack Aulis
Amazon Price:
Customer Review: I am the illustrator for my late husband's five books: Eagles Have Bad Breath, Butterflies and Other Birds, Plants Don't Do What You Tell 'Em To,How Porcupines Make Love and Never Hug an Octopus. They are very funny but also truly researched.

Bad Breath Report
by Erica Abbott
Amazon Price:

miss_rbg_makaveli8803 asked:


I have PTSD, and for many years I had amenisa along with it. While I have remembered a lot & have dealt with some of the issues that caused it, I find that I am still startled VERY easily. I will lose my breath, my heart will race, & this lasts MORE than 10 minutes. I can be startled by the smallest things; such as hearing someone walk down the hall at night…
It’s so bad that I’ve had to take off work because I’ll get startled and fear will grip me beyond words.I have tried sedatives before, such as Xanax, etc… But after awhile these lost the effect & I’m back to being, sleepless and very afraid.
My question is, does anyone know of any successful ways to treat this? If anyone can share methods or successful meds used, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance!

Shrimp asked:


Exactly what the title says:

Since I was six years old (I am now 13) I have found it really hard to take deep breath. I don’t know why, but most of the time it’s really uncomfortable. SOmetimes, it will happen out of the blue, sometimes – well, sometimes it feels like I can’t breath. But that makes it worse because it makes me think I can;t breath, yet I sometimes try to tell myself I can, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. It till doesn’t help my chest, though.

I have been to my doctors before, but they have all just said that it’s nothing and it will go away – but it hasn’t;t gone away. Once, the doctor gave me an inhaler which seemed to help for a little while.

He say’s he can’t find anything wrong.

I researched this on the internet.

One one site, it said it could be hypoglycemia – but surely the doctor would have spotted that? And another site – someone said it cold be diabetes. Diabetes does run in my family, on my dads side – but the doctor would have spotted that, wouldn’t he?

My mum said it’s just my way of coping with stress, but I found that it never comes when I’m stressed – it just comes regularly.

And tips, ideas what it could be?

And help will do – it isn’t necessarily annoying – just really uncomfortable, since I’ve had it since i was 6.

Also it cant be asthma because the doctor said it isnt. he did about 5 tests for it and none said asthma

Dana S asked:


ok there is this boy I know who is 14 (I am 18) he’s my cousin’s brothers friend. and he always acted like he liked me, like it seemed SO OBVIOUS people even made jokes about it sometimes. I started to also develop feelings for him, so one night when he was sleeping i went into the room and woke him up and just chatted, i was very nervous but eventually i told him how i felt.

However, he did not react the way I expected, he said “im 14 and youre 18, we could never work” and he said “i like girls my own age” he also said at one point “i dont want this to sound like i am rejecting you” and “lets not make this awkward” and gave me a hug. He asked me “arent you into guys your own age?” and said we could be”maybe in a couple of years”

Before I left I asked him for a kiss and he said “only on my cheek” and i go “why?” and he said “cause i have bad breath” and i laughed and said “i dont care. i’ve never kissed a guy” and he said “i;ve never kissed a girl” and i was like “really” so i was like “see we’re on the same level” and he just laughed and i leaned in and kissed him really quick for a couple of seconds, it was just a peck and my first and only kiss.

Since then we’ve hung out and its been cool and we still share laughs and stuff but we dont get a chance to be alone or really “talk” because we’re always surronded by other people.

I think about him from time to time now and always look foward to seeing him, i am confused about how exactly he feels about me and whether or not he said no to me or not? i also don’t know how to cope with my intense platonic feelings.I just think about us doing cool things like watching a movie together or holding hands. What do I do and what’s his deal?

PLZ HELP!

and to be clear I DO NOT want to have sex with him

drfreshbreath asked:

Bad Breath Treatment. A very informative video about the Bad Breath Clinic. Watch the reaction on the Reporter as Dr Geoffrey Speiser makes him smell some Bad Breath samples he specially prepared for the interview. This is in the last few minutes of the video. This video was shown around Australia and New Zealand as well as the Health Channel on Foxtel. For more information about us please visit our website www.breezecare.com.au

G G asked:


the doc said its going to be extreemly painful, and will take about 2 weeks for the pain to go away. he also said that he will (i forgot the word, but something to seal the veins) and if it starts bleeding that i should go to the emergency room right away. he said 3 out of 100 people will bleed. i am getting it done, but how bad is the pain. he said it was a 10. is there any way i can prepare to cope better with this pain. any thing i can do to help ease my mind and get my mind off the pain while im haveing pain. will it hurt to breath, will it hurt to eat/drink, i assume yes for both. will i cry and regret i ever did it? do you think i should get them out? im getting them out cuz they cause me bad breath, sore thoughts, and thought infections, there cryptic. thanks so much!!!

sonicproducers100 asked:

top-3-products.info – READ the 10 Minute Bad Breath report NOW!!! The best ways is to see your dentist who can recommends the right remedy to get rid of bad breath. Others are to wash your mouth once you wake up from bed and going to bed. Remember to brush your tongue as bacteria likes to stay under and on tops of the tongue. After each meals also wash your mouth with water to get rid of the food you take its time. Try to floss your mouth once a day to get rid of the food bacteria in your mouth and tongue. Reduce the intake of food that cause bad breath.