Have Halitosis? Tea May be the Answer
(HealthDay News) – Forget about mints, peppermint “bursts” or chewing gum to freshen your breath.
The answer may be resting in your kitchen cabinet.
Scientists have discovered that tea – the same substance used when you have a cold or the flu or to serve iced during the summer – contains a compound that stops the bacteria that causes halitosis, bad breath.
Two studies presented a few years ago at an annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology concluded people who drank tea regularly tea were less likely to have bad breath.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that tea contains polyphenols, which halt the growth of odor-causing bacteria.
Bad breath is caused by sulfur compounds made by bacteria that thriving in the back of the tongue and in the deep recesses of gums.
Polyphenols appear to hit halitosis with a one-two punch by preventing the growth of those bacteria and then blocking their ability to produce sulfur compounds, the study suggests.
The researchers tested the drink's odor-fighting powers by incubating tea polyphenols with three species of bacteria associated with bad breath for 48 hours.
Using a range of concentrations typically found in several cups of black tea (16 to 250 micrograms per milliliter), they found the polyphenols inhibited the growth of bacteria.
Moreover, at even lower concentrations the polyphenols cut the formation of hydrogen sulfide, the smell-producing culprit, by 30 percent.
A second study by Pace University researchers found green tea extract also shows microbe-fighting properties that protect the mouth from disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
"Many toothpastes don't fight viruses. But when we add green tea, it's an amazing result: I get a 90 percent destruction of viruses," said study author Milton Schiffenbauer, a microbiologist, professor and assistant chairman of the Department of Biology at Pace University's Dyson College of Arts & Science in New York City.
No scientific trials have yet been conducted to determine how effective tea is in fighting halitosis, but University of Illinois researchers have organized a study to do just that -- test the efficacy of a black tea rinse for bad breath on patients in a controlled trial.
On the Web
Learn about the causes and treatments for dragon breath at the American Dental Association.
SOURCES: Milton Schiffenbauer, Ph.D., assistant chairman, Department of Biology, Pace University Dyson College of Arts & Science, New York City; May 20, 2003, presentations, American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.
Author:
K.L. Capozza, HealthDay Reporter
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