Can Tea Bag Bad Breath?
TUESDAY, May 20 (HealthScoutNews) — If you’re worried your bad breath will put a damper on a date, you might consider substituting tea for wine with that candlelight dinner. Two new studies suggest that regular tea drinking can stave off unsociable mouth odors. Both were presented May 20 at the American Society for Microbiology’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago found the popular beverage contains compounds, called polyphenols, which halt the growth of odor-causing bacteria. Bad breath is caused by malodorous volatile sulfur compounds produced by anaerobic bacteria that thrive in the back of the tongue and in the deep recesses of gums. Polyphenols appear to hit halitosis — the medical term for bad breath — 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 polyphe
