What is Halitosis?
Halitosis is more than just occasional bad breath. It’s chronic bad breath that sometimes even the best and healthiest dental practices cannot completely eradicate. It’s not the typical morning breath many have experienced – halitosis lingers for an extended amount of time. It can also be an indicator of a more serious underlying health issue.
What Causes Halitosis?
Halitosis can be caused by a number of things:
1. Dry mouth
2. Dental Issues
3. Mouth, Throat and/or Nasal Infections
4. Smoking (or Tobacco use in general)
5. Gut Issues
6. Other Chronic Illness
In this case we will be looking at possible gut-related issues to halitosis, along with oral treatments.
Natural Remedy for Halitosis
I recently received this interesting question:
“I have been trying to resolve a major issue for over 15 years, but to no avail. I’ve gone to dozens of western doctors, in addition to, naturopaths, herbalists and homeopathic physicians. I haven’t met one who has been able to give me a diagnosis. I’ve developed Major Depressive Disorder due to this and have become extremely discouraged with the medical system.
During one of my hundreds of deep google searches looking for an answer, I came across LTYG and ordered the online book and supplements with hopes that this will lead me down the road to recovery. I feel overwhelmed with all the information and honestly don’t know where to begin, as I have no idea what is causing the issue I am having.
I am trying to cure chronic halitosis. It’s not your regular bad breath. My breath literally smells like diarrhea! Dentists and periodontists have all said I was fine and it is not due to anything related to bad dental hygiene. I believe it’s gut related and something is getting into my system and traveling in the blood. I smell the sulfur in my menstrual blood as well. It smells like a stink bomb or hard boiled egg.
I am losing all hope and not having any luck finding answers. This is embarrassing and affecting all aspects of my life… personal and professional. I figured I would reach out to your team to see if they have come across a case like this and could guide me toward some answers that would lead to a cure.
I was recently diagnosed with diverticulitis, but I’ve been dealing with this breath issue for 15+ yrs, so doubt that this may be the cause. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.”
I think this person is on the right track by thinking this is gut-related. Consider: she’s gotten the all-clear from her dentist and periodontist and she recently was diagnosed with diverticulitis. So although I can’t give her a definitive direction (having never dealt with this particular condition), if this were me, here’s what I’d do:
1. Connect with my Intuition
I would see if my body would like colon hydrotherapy, or, fecal implant. Follow the colonic lavage or fecal transplant with Jini’s Probiotic Retention Enema (instructions are in the LTYG book).
2. Killing Off The Bad Bugs
Regardless of #1, I would immediately start on Jini’s Wild Oregano Oil Protocol (includes high dose oral probiotics). And then continue on high dose oral Natren probiotic supplementation for at least 6 months. I would also do at least 2-3 Probiotic Retention Enemas.
3. Go on a Liquid Cleansing Diet
Simultaneously, I would also go on a liquid cleansing diet – raw juice, smoothies, easily tolerated shakes, or an elemental diet, for at least 1 week. If you are on an elemental diet, keep in mind that these shakes are very sticky on the teeth and gum line, so follow the oral cleaning procedure in point 4 below…
4. Directly Address the Oral Cavity
To directly address the oral cavity, I would get a stainless steel tongue scraper. First, brush teeth with a Sonicare electric toothbrush and UV sterilize the brush head every night (comes with a UV sterilization unit). Then use the tongue scraper to clear all film, white fungal growth, etc off the tongue. Next, use the Sonicare toothbrush to brush the tongue thoroughly (add a drop or two of wild oregano oil to the brush head if you can). Lastly, floss well between teeth. Please see this post for proper brushing and flushing technique (scroll down to the videos). If you also have unhealthy gums, then you need to get an oral irrigator to clean into gum pockets.
5. Do an Herbal Cleanse
If my gut felt okay (and I didn’t do #1) I would also do an herbal cleanse at the same time as the liquid/elemental diet. Flora has a very gentle one and Blessed Herbs has a stronger one – ask your gut which one it wants.
6. Take an Herbal Blend
Take an herbal blend (tinctures are my favorite) to support liver detoxification (burdock root, milk thistle, dandelion) and lymphatic function (ashwaganda, astragalus, dandelion, goldenseal). Eat turmeric and ginger.
7. Identify and Heal Emotional Causes of Halitosis
I have long been convinced that if you don’t heal the underlying psychological and emotional causes of halitosis or gut dysbiosis, then you will never have long-term good health. After all, over 60% of your body’s neurotransmitters are not in your brain, but in your gut!
There is now an entire field dedicated to emerging knowledge about the interrelation of the mind, emotions and the digestive system, called neurogastroenterology. (See Dr. Michael Gershon’s book, The Second Brain, to learn more about this). This is not airy-fairy stuff – this is hard science. Consider blushing – a purely emotional event that instantly produces a marked physical reaction.
In my experience, the most effective mind/body therapies to treat halitosis and gut disorders are acupressure tapping (like Lazer Tapping), hypnotherapy and craniosacral therapy (at Level II or higher). You need to work with a skilled therapist, at least initially, to really see good results. And it’s best if you can use a therapist who is experienced with chronic illness; which is more complex than regular illness.
Can you see what these steps are intending to accomplish?
- Kill pathogenic microbes (bad bacteria, yeast, viruses, mild parasites)
- Re-populate with beneficial bacteria – will improve digestion, absorption and also prevent re-infection
- Reduce fungal and bacterial population in the mouth with proper cleaning and hygiene.
- Cleanse colon of accumulated (impacted, putrefying) waste matter
- Cleanse liver and lymphatic system (also helps cleanse colon and vice-versa)
- Heal emotional causes
I suspect that accomplishing these objectives will cleanse and restore the gut; which will then have a positive domino-effect on the blood, circulatory system, lymph, skin and sweat glands. Hopefully the halitosis will be automatically resolved as a result. I also recommend taking a look at my tooth decay healing protocol – my family and are have been 5 years clear, and part of the protocol addresses halitosis.
When people say, ‘all health begins in the gut’ this is what we’re talking about!