Can Xylitol Help You Beat Your Bad Breath?

If you’ve dealt with bad breath for a while, you might think you’ve tried everything — breath mints, mouth washes, brushing five times a day. But what about xylitol?

Mostly we hear about xylitol as a sugar substitute at home, for sweet treats like cakes and muffins. But it’s also a potent weapon used by dentists to help their patients whip periodontal disease and generally improve the health of their gums.

The reason is, xylitol is a powerful antibacterial substance. Not only does it effectively wallop S. mutans, the oral bacteria responsible for most of our cavities, it also discourages the growth of those bacteria that lead to foul-smelling sulfuric compounds on the backs of our tongues.

For many people with bad breath, periodontal disease and S. mutans is an unfortunate contributing factor to their problems. So if you haven’t tried xylitol yet, you may want to give it a shot. Here’s how:

Xylitol needs to be going in your mouth throughout the day — just like all those bacteria causing you problems. So you’ll need a supply of xylitol chewing gum, breath mints, or simply a jar of plain xylitol from the grocery store, that you can spoon or pinch a bit from throughout the day. Caution: many of the “xylitol” gums and mints at the checkout counter do not actually contain much xylitol, so be sure to select a high-xylitol product specifically designed to deal with oral health, like Dr. Katz’ Zox mints or Zellies.

How much do you need? About five to ten grams. But don’t go overboard, thinking that if five grams is good, a kilogram is better. Just like other forms of sugar, ingesting too much will raise your blood sugar levels. Diabetics, for example, are warned not to consume more than 60 grams a day — probably good advice for all of us.

Finally, be aware that xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs, even in small amounts — much more so than chocolate. So if you’ve got counter surfers around, make absolutely sure that your xylitol products can never be accidentally consumed by your pets.