That's a line from commercials for the mouthwash Listerine.
It's sort of a joke, except it's one of those things that aren't really funny because if you're at all insecure (and who isn't?), you're afraid YOUR closest friends aren't telling you.
What is it? Why, Edna, why aren't you married yet? (From the classic Listerine ad.)
Halitosis.
That's a scientific-sounding name Listerine invented in 1921 (derived from Latin and Greek) to make the threat of it more real, so they could talk seriously about the unspeakable in their ads.
In plain talk:
Bad Breath.
What if your closest friends aren't telling you? Is that why you haven't had a date in three weeks? Or why Steve stopped trying to kiss you goodnight, and then never texted you back?
You're not alone. 30% of Americans - 90 million - sometimes have bad breath.
And you normally can't smell it yourself.
Ask Your Dentist
As makes sense, dentists are acutely aware of bad breath in their patients. However, they label it "breath odor."
They classify its severity by how far away from your mouth it's detectable:
Degree 0: No halitosis detected.
Degree 1: Halitosis detected at 10 cm - about 4 inches.
Degree 2: Halitosis detected at 30 cm (almost a foot).
Degree 3: Halitosis detected at 100 cm (almost a yard).
If your breath is driving people farther than a yard away from you, you probably realize you have an issue.
And we all should be concerned about the people - that is, NOT dentists - we allow within four inches of our mouths.
Scientists say 90% of cases of bad breath are Intra-Oral Halitosis (IOH). It arises from inside the mouth, not the stomach or lungs.
Most cases (51% to 73%) of IOH come from the coating on your tongue.
Most people do have a grayish-white coating there.
That's composed of old tongue cells, blood metabolites, saliva, secretions (mucus) from your postnasal area, and bacteria.
People who have gum or periodontal disease have around four times as much of a coating.
Also, tiny food particles, saliva, and bacteria become trapped in the cracks of your tongue, forming a biofilm coating over it.
How to Prevent Higher-Than-Normal White Coating Buildup
Turns out, our mouths are self-cleaning. You manage the bacterial buildup by chewing, producing saliva, moving food around with your tongue and swallowing.
Yes - by eating.
Except - notice - NOT eating soft, easy, highly processed, fiberless "fast" foods - foods that require actual chewing. Vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts.
Foods with substantial amounts of fiber in them.
Processed foods require fewer tongue movements and less chewing - and, therefore, can result in a thicker tongue coating.
This can lead to bad breath.
Mouth Self-Cleaning Put to the Test
20 subjects were randomized to eat either a high-fiber or low-fiber meal. Their breaths were tested right before each meal, right after the meal, then two and a half hours later.
Immediately after the meals, all the subjects had reductions in bad breath. However, the group eating the high-fiber meal had less bad breath than the low-fiber eaters.
And they also tested better two and a half hours later.
That was just one meal. You have to wonder: do people who normally eat high-fiber meals have less bad breath than those who eat low-fiber meals - on a long-term basis?
If so, it's no wonder the market in America for products claiming to cure halitosis is so large - $10.75 billion.
The government recommends women get 25 grams of fiber every day, and men 30. Yet only around 3% of Americans eat that much fiber on a daily basis.
Fiber Feeds the Beneficial Bacteria in Your Gut - and Your Mouth
We all have complex microbiomes of bacteria in our intestines - and in our mouths.
In both cases, some species of bacteria are beneficial. Some are unhealthy - and smell bad too.
The good bacteria in both our guts and mouths love to dine on fiber, so feed them. Given plenty of food, they multiply faster than rabbits, driving out the bad, smelly bacteria.
Avoid Eating Foods with Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSCs)
These VSCs are a rich source of the white coat of protein putrefaction that builds up on your mouth.
Dietary sources include:
* Onions
* Garlic
* Dairy products
Don't Neglect Your Basic Dental Hygiene
No matter how much fiber you eat, always floss and brush your teeth at night, before you go to bed. If you leave food particles in your mouth overnight, of course bacteria is going to use them for food, and multiply like crazy.
Also, when you brush, scrub some of that white coating off your tongue. Of course, then spit it out. (Don't swallow.) Tongue scrapers are even more effective than tongue brushing.
Drink Green Tea
It's a natural disinfectant against the bad, odor-producing bacteria in your mouth. The polyphenols in green tea get rid of strong-smelling sulfur compounds that also get into your mouth.
The Problem With Mouthwash
Antibacterial mouthwashes, especially those with hexachlorophene, kill too many of the bacteria in your mouth.
They're good, healthy bacteria as well as the unhealthy ones that cause bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease. Like a nuclear bomb, antibacterial mouthwashes don't separate the good guys from the bad guys. They just kill everybody.
That leaves your mouth more vulnerable to incursion by more bad bacteria (you can never keep them all out).
Conclusion
Practice all of the above, and you won't have to worry about what your closest friends aren't telling you.
Maybe you'll find more of them want to kiss you.
Or, at least, your dentist won't have to hold their nose when they look into your mouth.
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/555423549/halitosis-treatment-market-global-analysis-segments-size-share-industry-growth-and-recent-trends-by-forecast-to-2028
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/foods-that-cause-and-help-halitosis-bad-breath/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBqLIYzQ6OA
W�lti A, Lussi A, Seemann R. The effect of a chewing-intensive, high-fiber diet on oral halitosis: A clinical controlled study. Swiss Dent J. 2016;126(9):782-88.
Yaegaki K. Advances in breath odor research: re-evaluation and newly-arising sciences. J Breath Res. 2012;6(1):010201.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGXwUCLHOM