As I pointed out in the article, sugar can promote dysbiosis, but I haven’t found any evidence of dysbiosis being linked to halitosis. It’s certainly possible, though! Either way, there are many reasons to justify avoiding sugar regardless of whether or not it can cause halitosis.

The volatile sulfur compounds that have been associated with halitosis are generally believed to be produced by bacteria breaking down proteins in the mouth.^1,2 Although it would be easy to interpret this as a good idea to avoid protein, I think a better approach would be to eat healthy and practice good oral hygiene. This will reduce the potential for undesirable bacteria to proliferate and will help to prevent the buildup of protein from food and other debris.

In addition to regular flossing and brushing, tongue scraping and the use of mouth wash are usually recommended as well for good oral hygiene. I make my own mouthwash with filtered water, baking soda, and peppermint oil and find it to be quite effective.

1. Scully C, Porter S, Greenman J. “What to do about halitosis.” British Medical Journal. 1994. 308:217.

2. Lee PPC, Mak WY, Newsome P. “The aetiology and treatment of oral halitosis: an update.” Hong Kong Medical Journal. 2004. 10:414-418.

my best friend suffers from chronic halitosis since he was 14. Now he is 43. After workout at 10 pm. he was consuming a lot of gems, jellies and white bread with a lot of sugar. In my opinion his intestinal balance has changed to acidic condition, that causes the anaerobic bacterial growth in his mouth that produces volatile sulfur gases,which is the main cause of severe chronic halitosis.
What is your suggestion, if he quits taking foods with refined carbohydrates and sugary products, it will end his problem? Also natural honey belongs to sweet sugary products or not?
Looking forward to your reply,

Cordially,

Irakli K.

What you experienced is one of the primary reasons why I believe health should always come before weight loss. For someone who’s overweight, a truly healthy diet will promote weight loss, but not all weight loss programs will promote good health. In some cases, they can do the opposite.

I’m glad that you pointed out how easy it is for you know to stay away from sugar. Although the transition can be tough, it’s not as difficult as many people think, and the benefits are clearly worth it.

Visit http://www.kaysheppard.com. Read Kay’s books, they saved my life. Also go to http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org. Good luck!

It’s never too late to take measures to improve your health, and now that you’re aware of the harm that sugar can do, I hope you can take some positivity from your situation by using it as motivation to follow a better diet going forward.

You may find it interesting to read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price. Not only is this an excellent source of general nutrition information, but Dr. Price is a dentist and he describes a number of cases where teeth damaged by sugar repaired themselves after dietary improvements were made. It might be worth your while to check out some of Dr. Prices other work as well.

I’ve revised this article, and as you can see from some of the references I’ve provided, there is plenty of evidence that sugar can indeed cause withdrawal symptoms. However, other than how you may mentally react to such symptoms, I’m not aware of any information indicating that a sudden reduction in sugar consumption would cause a problem.

As I mentioned in the article, I think the best way to minimize sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption is to follow a well balanced diet based mostly on natural whole foods. Not only will this eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates by default, but it will provide the amino acids and other nutrients that will help you maintain a balanced mood. The Diet Cure by Julia Ross provides some more specific ways to deal with sugar cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

It seems that most people get through the withdrawal symptoms in a week or two which was the case for me. In fact, after I changed my diet, my sense of taste changed and I developed an aversion to excessively sweet foods and beverages. This is especially the case with orange juice which I used to drink a lot of.

Dental osteoporosis is now called enamel wear or acid wear, which can weaken the teeth’s enamel enough to cause more cavities or be suspectible to a fracture a chip.

I am suffering from the severe damage sugar has done to me.

Even worse, I fear that sugar can promote or exacerbate gum disease to debilitating levels…so debilitating that the teeth have to be extracted.