MORNING BREATH.

Everyone gets it (except maybe Beyoncé) and we’re all united in deeming it to be pretty gross.

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True love = kissing someone with morning breath.

But what’s the story? Why is it that we still have bad breath in the morning, despite brushing our teeth and swishing Listerine around our mouth every night? And is there anything we can do to prevent it?

Here’s the lowdown.

theonewhoprotested / Tumblr theonewhoprotested / Tumblr / Tumblr

First of all, your morning breath isn’t necessarily an indicator of any underlying issues — practically everyone has bad breath in the morning and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

According to Mental Floss, bacteria in your mouth work during the day to break down all the “amino acids, proteins and other chemicals” left behind in your mouth after eating.

This process produces volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) like hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, and methyl mercapatan, which are responsible for the funk.

During the day, this is not an issue as your mouth produces enough saliva to wash the foul-smelling bacteria away. But when you fall asleep, your mouth stops producing saliva, allowing bacteria to run riot in your mouth.

As Gizmodo explains:

The result is bacteria left alone to multiply for hours, which results in an outsized concentration of components that are cooking up something nasty.

Hence that charming smell in the morning.

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So is there anything that can be done to prevent it? Or at least minimise it?

Aside from brushing and flossing regularly, not really.

Per Gizmodo:

With a little time, your mouth flushes away the ingredients that keep bacteria at bay, setting the stage for rapid microbial growth.

Oh.

To maximise your chances of nice morning breath, it’s recommended that you brush your teeth, brush your tongue, smell your floss and drink loads of water.

Otherwise, you can just take solace from the fact that we’re all hideous trolls in the morning.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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