“I have horrible breath even though I’ve tried everything — brushing my tongue, avoiding certain foods, rinsing with mouthwash. Nothing helps!”
If your dentist has given you the all-clear on oral hygiene, it’s time to start looking elsewhere for the source of your distress — say, a little further south to a cistern known as your stomach. “Can you get bad breath from heartburn? Absolutely,” says gastroenterologist Jacqueline Wolf, a Harvard professor and author of A Woman’s Guide to a Healthy Stomach.
If your all-day morning breath is accompanied by a sour taste, stomach-rumbling, difficulty swallowing, and food “repeating” after you’ve eaten it, Jacqueline says, treat your heartburn for a couple of weeks with a histamine type 2 blocker (also known as a H2 blocker) such as Zantac, Pepcid, Tagamet, or Axis. Or try a proton pump inhibitor (also known as a PPI) such as Prilosec. You can get any of these at the drugstore. Choose non-caffeinated drinks, because caffeine increases stomach acid (and sorry, but this means you have to cut down on chocolate, too). And skip the mint, which opens the gateway between the esophagus and stomach, in favor of a handful of fennel seeds or a cup of licorice herbal tea. We’ll all appreciate your efforts.
—For more information about bad breath and other problems caused by a sour stomach, check out Dr. Wolf’s book at drjacquelinewolf.com
