Low carb diets are becoming all the rage now-a-days. With a great way to slim that waistline, and shed those extra pounds you’ve been carrying around, why wouldn’t you do it? Many have claimed to lose weight quickly, and I’ve seen it work myself, when my grandfather tried it.
What most people don’t realize though, is that with certain diets, come certain negative outcomes. Most aren’t that bad, and most can be reversed, so that they’re not as negative as they seem, but at the start, they are certainly negative outcomes.
One outcome, specifically for a low carb diet, is getting a case of halitosis. Bad breath and a low carb diet just go hand in hand, as we’ll take a look at below. But with a few simple tricks, a tweak or two at your diet, and some common sense, getting rid of your halitosis shouldn’t be that hard to do.
Low Carb Diets
There are many low carb diets around today – the keto diet, paleo diet, Okinawa diet, South Beach diet, and the Atkins diet. All of these diets revolve around eating a diet consisting of more fats and proteins, and cutting out the majority of the carbs that you would otherwise eat.
When your body doesn’t have carbs to use as energy, it will find something else to burn. And that something is fat. This is great because you start losing weight almost immediately on these low carb diets, and can see result quickly.
The problem with your body burning fat is that it burns it through a process called ketosis. As your body burns this fat, it produces a lot of ketones for your body to use for energy. These ketones, after being used, need to get expelled out of your body. And one of the ways that they get expelled is through the lungs.
So, as you breathe, your body will naturally get rid of these ketones. While it’s great that your body is working to get rid of the ketones, it’s terrible because it gives you bad breath, also known as keto breath. Typically, this kind of breath has a rather fruity smell to it.
A word on the dangers of low carb diets
Low carb diets are good to lose that extra weight you have. But there can be some unhealthy effects of staying on this kind of diet for too long.
If your body produces too many ketones, and you can’t get them out of your system soon enough, these ketones might 
become toxic to you. A build up of ketones that is dangerous to your health is called ketoacidosis, which can lead to a coma, and possibly even death.
Additionally, your keto breath might not be coming from your low carb diet, but from something else entirely. While not completely common, it has been shown that those with diabetes can have keto breath. If you are a diabetic, you won’t produce enough insulin to break down the glucose in your bloodstream, and thus will start burning fat and making more ketones.
While these are dangers that can happen, in most cases they aren’t going to happen to you. But they should be noted in the (rare) case that this does happen to you, or someone close to you who is on a low carb diet.
Getting Rid Of The Low Carb Halitosis
It’s said that over 40% of those who partake in a low carb diet will get bad breath because of it. That’s a lot of people! And with that many people getting keto breath, some may start to wonder if there really is a cure.
But take heart! There is a cure. Well, there are several ‘cures’ actually. Some may work for you, and some may not. But as you continue to try them out, one of them will help, and you’ll be able to live a life free of keto breath.
Mask your breath
This is a challenging concept of masking the odor that is coming from your lungs. Because the ketones are in your actual breath, and not in your mouth, it’s hard to mask the smell as you normally would.
Even if you brush and floss more, and religiously do your oral hygiene routine, that probably won’t help get rid of your bad breath. So what options do you have to mask the smell?
Chewing Gum. Find some minty chewing gum, as that will help give your mouth a fresher breath, which will help mask your keto halitosis.
Mouthwash. As you do your oral hygiene routine, grab a mouthwash and see if you can’t cure your halitosis that way. It won’t remove the problem, but it will help you be able to go out in public without any fear of being told you have halitosis.
Essential Oils. This article helps show how essential oils can be used to get rid of bad breath. Just use a drop or two of your favorite essential oil, and you might just possibly cure your halitosis. On a related note, having some herbal tea may just do the trick as well.
While masking the smell is a great way to change your breath to something better, it doesn’t really get rid of the actual problem you’re facing. So what options do you have to actually get rid of the problem?
Drinking water
Believe it or not, but drinking more water can actually help cure your keto breath. Why would water help?
Besides having many other useful benefits for bad breath, water makes you want to urinate. I know, you must be thinking, why would I want to urinate?
Above, I said that one way the ketones are expelled, which are giving you the bad breath, is through your lungs. While this is true, there are other ways that your body will get rid of ketones. And one of those ways is through the urine.
So, essentially, if you use the bathroom more often during the day, you’ll be able to get rid of more ketones from your body, which means that there will be less for your lungs to expel. Simple, right?
As noted above, herbal tea is a great way to help cure halitosis in other areas of your body. So why not combine the two, and cure not only your halitosis, but bring optimal health to your whole body as well?
Stay on that low carb diet
Another way to get rid of the keto breath is by having your body start to burn carbs as energy for your body. I’m not saying to stop your low carb diet. But it is called a low carb diet for a reason. You can still have those carbs, just not as many as you used to have.
Some suggest that a no carb diet is bad for you. They say that our bodies do need come carbs, and so we shouldn’t completely cut out all the carbs in our diet.
As you give yourself some carbs, your body will have fewer ketones being produced, and thus fewer ketones to be expelled out of your lungs. This will help clear up your bad breath,and also give you those carbs that won’t harm your diet.
Legumes are a great source of carbs that can be added, in small dosages, to your diet. Fruits and veggies are also high in carbs, and would be another great idea to add to your diet once in a while.
Your Halitosis Can Be Cured!
One of the above options will work. If they don’t, and you still want to get rid of your keto breath, then I would suggest switching diets. If you’ve lost the weight you’ve wanted, then changing and tweaking your diet might not be a bad idea.
Whatever the case, bad breath and a low carb diet are two things that do revolve around each other. It is possible to have one without the other, and is very easy to get rid of one, or both. But doing so may take some time, patience, and a determination to see it through to the end.
As long as you have those three qualities, you’ll be able to kick that halitosis soon, and be able to stay on your low carb diet!