Bad breath? Try Ginger Tea

We’ve all experienced it – a friend of family member with breath that could literally wake the dead. Forget over the counter expensive pills and potions as the solution could be closer, cheaper and much more pleasant for all concerned – Ginger tea.

Ginger tea has for a long time been touted as a cure all for a whole raft of conditions and ailments but now new research has it down as a possible cure for bad breath too.

The key is a substance called Gingerol which destroys sulphur containing amino acids. Gingerol is also the key ingredient in giving ginger its distinctive taste.

Now the science bit. Gingerol breaks down the foul smelling substances by triggering the production of Sulfhrydl Oxidase enzyme in saliva. Simply putting some singerol in your tea may ward off bad breath. The study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry discovered that test subjects given ginger in their tea saw production of the odour beating enzyme increase by 16 percent.

Don’t drink tea? The same process also works in coffee where it beats a similar compound called Sulphur 2 Furfuryithiol.

It is likely following the research that gingerol will be added to the formula of many brands of toothpaste too.