Tag: Yoghurt

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Food & Health

Foods That Help Get Rid of Mouth Odour

Get Rid of Mouth Odour

Can foods help get rid of mouth odour? I am sure this is a question that will be going through the mind of some people as they see this topic. Well, I can tell you that some certain foods can help reduce or get rid of halitosis or bad breath as mouth odour is also called.

This will article will cover what Halitosis is, what the common causes are and how it can be managed, especially making use of some of the foods we eat. Nobody wants to be around or talk to someone with mouth odour. The person with mouth odour also tries to avoid having to talk to people.

Medical News Daily (MNT) reports that bad breath, also known as halitosis or fetor oris, affects an estimated 25% of people, globally.

Get Rid of Mouth Odour

What is Halitosis, Bad Breath or Halitosis? What Causes it?

WebMD simply put it that Bad breath, medically called halitosis, can result from poor dental health habits and may be a sign of other health problems.

Not brushing and flossing your teeth after meals can keep food remnants in your mouth and between teeth. Bacteria will grow on these remnant, they decay and lead to to bad odour coming out of your mouth.

Smoking Causes Bad Odour

Food particles from foods with strong smells like garlic and onions do not go away completely even after brushing your mouth and teeth. The odor will not go away completely until the foods have passed through your body.

Smoking and other health problems can also lead to mouth odour. All these are the common causes of bad breath or mouth odour. However, there is one source of bad odour that is usually not being addressed – the population of bad bacteria in the gut (unhealthy digestive system).

A Little-Known But Major Cause of Bad Breath

The little-known but a major cause of bad breath and other diseases is the ratio of good and bad bacteria in your gut. Our guts should have a balance of around 85 percent good bacteria and 15 percent bad.

An imbalance between good and bad bacteria can predispose you to a wide number of health problems, more serious than bad breath and body odor. These bad bacteria can cause conditions that lead to bad odours.

intestines microflora

Having less-than-optimal gut flora can make you vulnerable to health conditions linked to bad breath. A fishy smell in the breath suggests kidney problems, while a fruity-smelling breath may mean uncontrolled diabetes according to Mercola.com.

For these reasons, supplying your gut with good bacteria and eliminating the bad ones is very important. So, how do you do supply more good bacteria to get rid of mouth odour?

Foods/Supplements That Help You Get Rid of Mouth Odour?

First of all, you must ascertain that your mouth odour is not caused by poor dental hygiene or smoking first. The solution to those is simply brushing your teeth and using mouthwashes. If all these have not yielded results, your mouth odour may be due to high population of bad bacteria to good ones.

antibiotics

1. Eliminate Some Foods: To get started, you may want to get rid of bad bacteria in your gut first. The first step towards this is to first eliminate foods that may make mouth odour worse by causing poor balance of bacteria in your gut.

2. Use Antibiotics: They not only kill bad bacteria, but also destroy the beneficial organisms in your gut. This means that you have to replace the good/beneficial microorganisms after the antibiotic treatment. So, you only need to do this when absolutely necessary.

More Foods That Help Get Rid of Mouth Odour!

3. Fermented Foods: Eat fermented foods such as such as kefir and yoghurt, fermented vegetables (including cabbage, turnips, eggplants, carrots), and fermented soy. These cultured foods have the ability of supplying your gut with billions of beneficial bacteria.

yoghurt for mouth odour

It is ideal to consume cultured foods that are high in Lactobacillus strains and bacteria that possess high concentrations of lactic acid. Yoghurt is a very good example that falls into this category.

4. Probiotics: Taking supplements should only be done to support or compensate for a nutritionally deficient diet, as you can mainly get the nutrients your body needs from the food you eat. Probiotic supplements are a great option if you don’t consume raw organic vegetables on a daily basis.

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Food & Body

Foods That Will Help Heal Your Injuries/Wounds Fast

wound cuts

It is always very devastating after sustaining an injury/wound due to accidents. Many get upset because they have turned tentatively or permanently immobile while others are bothered about how the injuries have disfigured their beautiful skins. Asides the feeling of pain due to the injuries, the length and difficulty of the healing process can also add to your sufferings.

Yes, the very first point of contact during injury treatment are the medical doctors, nurses and physiotherapist. While these professionals are key in helping injured persons, the need to speak to a nutritionist to help you plan an adequate menu that will help you heal fast can not be overemphasized. See the foods that can help you achieve this healing from inside out.

4 Foods/Food Groups That Heal Injuries Fast

wound cuts

1. Tumeric:

This food item has been known to be used for many decades in the treatment of wounds. The volume of antioxidants found in turmeric lowers inflammation and speeds up the healing process during injuries. In the traditional treatment of open wounds, people of older generations form a paste out of turmeric to be used in covering the open wounds and it has proven to be effective.

However, it is much better to include turmeric into your daily meals so that your wound could heal from inside out and it could raise your immunity against infections.

2. Liver And Leafy Vegetable:

The importance of iron in the treatment of wounds is very critical and that is why foods like liver and leafy vegetables that can supply an ample amount of iron are key. A deficiency of iron, which is commonly called anemia may retard the process of wound healing.

You should not forget the loss of blood during injuries which somewhat reduces the iron level in your body. So, it is better to eat foods high in iron to quicken the healing process.

3. Milk, Yoghurt And Meat:

Protein is regarded as a macronutrient that helps in building worn out tissues. Protein from animal sources has been found to speed up the healing process because they are regarded as a complete protein as they contain all the essential amino acids needed for this process. These proteins can be combined with a healthy amount of carbs for a healthier meal.

4. Honey:

It is a super antimicrobial agent that can be used in wound care. One major problem that had reduced the use of honey in this part of the world is because original honey is rare to find. Burns are one of the most difficult problems to treat because this type of wound provides the perfect breeding and feeding ground for many organisms.

As such, burn wounds can easily become infected, and the infection often spreads rapidly into the bloodstream, which can kill the victim. This was reported by Dr. Williams, a medical researcher. He further stated that using honey to cover the face of the wounds will quicken the healing process.

Note: Asides from poor nutrition, wound healing can be a complicate process and it is usually influenced by several factors such as infection, age, sex hormones, stress, diabetes, medications, obesity, alcohol intake, and smoking.

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Food & Body

Foods That Help You Get A Good Night’s Sleep

foods that help you sleep
Photo: health.usnews.com

Sleeplessness is a condition that is fast becoming common in the lives of many and a whole lot of the people struggling with these are completely unaware that foods can actually be helpful in triggering drowsiness or sleepiness. The unhealthy thing about this condition which is technically called insomnia is that it affects the entire body function and activities.

Tiredness, sluggishness, and moodiness could become your daily expressions. It has even been reported based  on various researches that certain minerals are critical in the  remedy  of insomnia.

foods that help you sleep
Photo: health.usnews.com

Ask a  few of your friends or colleagues – How was your night? Did you sleep well? I bet many of them will tell you that they had a difficult time sleeping. Usually, so many factors are involved but foods can be a good remedy especially if you consume the foods at dinner. Let’s check some of the foods that can help induce sleep.

1. Herbal Tea:

Herbal Tea is one of the foods that has been helpful in making people get some sleep for many decades. In fact, there are many tea varieties that make people be more sleepy. These teas are known to put the body in a relaxed state.  A popular herbal tea known to be effective is chamomile tea.

A cup of tea before bed will help you relax and fall asleep faster.  Lemongrass tea is also known for helping you fall asleep. Caffeinated teas should be avoided as you all know they work in the opposite direction.

2. Yoghurt:

Dairy products are loaded with calcium and yogurt can be helpful in removing the stress out of your body and this helps you fall asleep more easily.  Calcium helps the brain make use of a certain amino acid called tryptophan to manufacture a sleep-inducing substance called melatonin.

yoghurt

This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods.  It is not advisable to consume whole milk products because they are not better tolerated at bedtime compared to healthy bacteria loaded yoghurt.

When taking Yoghurts, go for the quality brands that produce real yoghurt. See how to know those good yoghurts here (opens in new tab).

3. Banans:

Banana is a super night snack particularly for those hoping to gain few pounds of flesh. Asides this, research has shown that a certain mineral such as magnesium is effective as a natural remedy for insomnia.

A lack of this mineral may cause you to wake up after a few hours and not return to sleep. Other magnesium-rich foods include spinach, nuts, seeds, fish and whole grains. Fortunately, it is one of the foods you can healthily snack on at night.

4. Fish

We have said so much about fish before. As a person, I prefer fish to meat. They contain more nutrients and the fats in many of them are the healthy type and more beneficial. There is no way we want to look at it, eating fish is better than eating meat.

Oily fish

Most fish—and especially salmon and tuna—have a significant amount of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is needed to make melatonin – a sleep-inducing hormone triggered by darkness. This has also been confirmed by an article published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

5. Almonds and nuts rich in Magnesium

Almonds contain tryptophan and magnesium. These two components help to naturally reduce muscle and nerve function while also steadying your heart rhythm. You would note that many of the foods we have mentioned above too either have magnesium or tryptophan.

almonds

Other nuts and seeds that are rich in magnesium include, almonds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews, pine nuts, flaxseed, and pecans.

You may want to add these nuts to your diet. They are even easy to snack on at night before you go to bed. They will relax you and help induce a good night sleep.

6. Sound Night Sleep? Eat Cherries!

I have heard and read uncountable times that the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to increase your melatonin intake. We talked about this melatonin under yoghurt as a sleep-inducing substance. Some other foods foods other than yoghurt contain it too.

Cherries, along with nuts and oats, are a natural source of melatonin and, when eaten regularly, can help regulate your sleep cycle. I guess this is why some people would ask that you add coffee to their oat when they take it as breakfast – they don’t want to be sleeping about.

People have reported that alcohol and milk chocolate help them sleep but I wouldn’t recommend that. Alcohol makes you wake up with a hangover and you don’t want to eat chocolate just before going to bed.

7. Honey

It has been found that honey contains glucose, which tells your brain to shut off orexin. Orexin is the chemical that is known to trigger alertness. So, when glucose tells your brain to stop the supply of orexin, you become less alert (somewhat dull) and feel sleepy.

When you are taking honey for this purpose, you should not overdo it. One tablespoon for a good night’s sleep is more than enough. Make sure you get the real honey though. See how to identify real honey.

Please note, you should avoid eating heavily at night particularly close to bed time as it will affect your sleepiness. Other foods that I find to be effective in inducing sleepiness include garri, potatoes and some other carbohydrate loaded foods.

Understand the saying “different strokes for different folks”. What works for someone might not work for the other. So, we would like to hear from you to share foods that you eat which triggers sleepiness.

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Knowledgebase

The Brands of Yoghurt You Must Stop Buying

Many of us drink yoghurt and enjoy drinking it. Yoghurt is good for the body and if you recall, I mentioned it as part of foods that give you a fresh and younger-looking skin. Yoghurt is made from milk and it could be a very good source of calcium and proteins which we all need for our bones and body tissues. Some of them are even used as probiotics these days and consuming them only does one thing to the body – a world of good.

so called yoghurt bottles

Another very good thing about yoghurt is that, even though it is being made from milk, people that are lactose intolerant can take it and still derive all the important nutrients of milk from it. When yoghurt is being made, the lactose in the milk gets converted to lactic acid — making it safe for lactose intolerant people to consume. You can count on me to write about the full health benefits and nutritional facts of yoghurt.

Why should you stop buying some Yoghurt brands?

First of all, I am wrong to be calling them Yoghurt because many of them are not even what they say they are. To build a good premise for my argument, let me give you the definition and properties of yoghurt.

What is Yoghurt?

It is a custard-like food with a bit sour flavor, prepared from milk curdled by bacteria, especially Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, and often sweetened or flavoured.

Many yoghurt brands that you would see in many developing countries including Nigeria make products that are called yoghurt, but not yoghurt in the real sense. This could be dangerous for someone that was given medical advise to consume yoghurt as part of his diet. Of course, he thinks he buys and drinks yoghurt but what he has been buying is something else. Our regulatory bodies should do more to ensure that our companies make labels that are correct, accurate and not misleading.

Many of these companies make their yoghurt the same way, but what is different is what they do to it after production.

What Defines A Good Yoghurt?

A good yoghurt should contain the live, active bacteria that was used to ferment the yoghurt after production. These beneficial active cultures promote a healthy intestinal environment. This is the reason any good yoghurt manufacture would write on their label that you keep the Yoghurt refrigerated to slow down or halt the activities of the microorganisms. If you do not do this, the microorganisms continue to ferment the Yoghurt outside the refrigerator and in no time, it spoils.

This is how yoghurt should be but what you often see here is “yoghurt” packed in bundles and left on the shelf at different stores. Some even pack them in stacks under the sun and leave them there until whenever they decide to refrigerate them. Of course, they are not going to get spoilt because the manufacturers have killed the microorganisms after production.

What Brands of Yoghurt Should You Stop Buying/Drinking?

I am not going to be mentioning brand names here but will only be telling you what to look out for on different brands of Yoghurt to decide whether to buy it or not.

Since the microorganisms have been killed, there is no bacteria to make it spoil at normal room temperature, therefore they can be stored anyhow. If you see any yoghurt that is not in the refrigerator, DO NOT BUY THEM — they are not yoghurt. However, if you just want to take something that tastes like yoghurt but do not have all the health benefits, go ahead and buy.

Check the labels of the yoghurt, if it does not contain a warning that you should keep refrigerated, you may want to avoid it. Some may include a statement like “best served chilled” but it is not the same as a statement telling you that your product remains in good state only if you refrigerate it.

Check the expiry date: when you see yoghurt with 6-month expiry date stored in the normal room temperature, don’t buy it. A real yoghurt can only stay for about 2-3 months if it is frozen and many manufacturers would not even want to honestly advise you to freeze yoghurt. It has effects on the texture and ultimately, the mouth-feel of the product. I’ll advise that you only refrigerate yoghurt if you want to enjoy it. It would only be able to stay for about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Finally, a one litre bottle of real yoghurt would normally be more expensive than one that has had its beneficial organisms killed.

COMING SOON: The Quick Way To Make Your Own Yoghurt At Home

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Food & Body

Foods That Give You Fresh, Younger-Looking Skin

Oily fish

Many people don’t know that it is much more easier and convenient to use Foods to make your skin fresh and glow than using creams. Many people resort to using creams to make their skin look fresh and younger forgetting or not knowing that these creams contain ingredients that are carcinogenic. You don’t have to expose your skin to these kind of dangers; eat well and see your skin look fresh and younger.

5 Foods For A Fresh & Younger-Looking Skin

Skin beauty largely depends on the overall health of your body. Adding the right foods into your diet helps you fights wrinkles and get you glowing to keep you attractive and vibrant. This post will share with you, some of the foods that can help you achieve the kind of beautiful skin that you desire. Some of these foods help us by protecting skin from the damaging and ageing effects of the sun.

1. Eat nuts for fresh skin

Nuts will help remove signs of ageing and gives you some youthful appearance. Nuts in general are high in vitamin B complex help with not only skin cell restoration. They also help improve hair growth and dry skins.  Nuts such as Brazil nuts are also rich in antioxidants like vitamin E. This Vitamin E is skin-friendly and have been shown to improve skin’s circulation, this in turn helps a healthy skin glow.

It is a common knowledge that some nuts can be rich in fats. However, these fats are usually polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which promote a healthy circulatory system. All nuts have different nutritional profile and will offer various health benefits, one of which is to help get a fresh and glowing skin.

Mixed nuts and seeds

Examples of nuts that fall in this category are; Almonds, Brazil nuts, Peanuts, Pecans, Sesame seeds, etc.