10 Months in and STILL have Keto Breath, BAD!

#1

So I had someone tell me the other day my breath smelled like “sh!t”. A friend who is always very honest and up front with me. I thought it was a fluke thing because no one else had mentioned it to me other than when I first started keto. When I returned from my trip I told my wife about it and she confessed, yes it does. Then my teen chimed in and said something about feeling like he was “hot boxed” whatever that is whenever he’s in the car with me. Asked wife why she didn’t tell me and she said because I was doing so well on keto she didn’t want to ruin it for me.

Been doing some reading on here and for the most part it seems like keto breath should go away after a few weeks. Not here. I’m pretty hardcore on my carbs <20 total a day. Could this be the cause?

I’ve never had bad breath in my life, I wouldn’t even get morning breath according to my wife. I read about peppermint oil and water, I’ll try that to mask it, but I’d really try and get rid of it entirely, should I try upping my carbs?

#2

Ironically, my bad breath went away after I started eating keto. Don’t know how long I’d been going before my wife noticed though. Sorry.

Does you mouth get dry, and/or are you drinking plenty of liquids?

#3

I drink about a gallon of water a day.

#4

Don’t know if you’ve seen this, but might check it out.

#5

Thanks for the link!

(Laurie) #6

I did some research on this at one point, and I found out that too much protein can be the cause. I was wolfing down large amounts of keto food, probably two or three times the amount of food I really needed. For example, I’d have three beef patties for dinner, several large snacks in addition to meals, etc.

The recommended amount of protein for me was 70 grams a day, which meant 3 meals of 20 grams (e.g., one beef patty or 3 eggs) plus a snack of 10 grams. I couldn’t believe how small the portions were! Like, are you kidding me? But I’m used to it now.

Anyway, cutting back on protein might help reduce keto breath. Good luck!

#7

@islandlight - Interesting. I’m at 99 grams of protein a day for my macros (75/20/5 and my calorie target), and I’m typically always under (yesterday I was at 78). I only eat two meals a day and rarely snack so for me it’s pretty easy to keep the protein in check, however, I’ll have to monitor this more closely.

Thanks for your input and leg work on the research!

(Brandy) #8

As was mentioned by others, the only thing that made my Keto breath go away was cutting my protein back.

#9

Dropped my protein down to 50mg a day (tough) and still crap breath . . . grrrrrr.

Got some peppermint oil, works but only for about 10 minutes. Not sure what to do now.

(Brandy) #10

I should have amended my original comment. A protein cut back did not necessarily make the bad breath go away- it just kind of changed it from a stinky farm situation back to a metallic one. The bugs I’ve yet to fully work out are the breath and the Keto rash- both of which folks say will just resolve themselves over time, but after six plus months, they sure are hanging on like they’re comfy. I’ve gotten to the point that I just manage the symptoms and remind myself that I much prefer managing them over the symptoms of Type 2. :smirk:

#11

Hey @KetoInVegas, not sure how things are going, but I too have started to feel self conscious about this side effect. Apparently this is just a byproduct of fat burning, so at least we’re on the right track!
I’m attempting a method from Megan Ramos called oil pulling, where you swish coconut oil in your mouth for 20 minutes, gargle with salt water and then brush your teeth. She said that for her this really helped curb the bad breath, and after doing it daily for a while could cut back to every other day. I’ll let you know what happens!

(Jay Patten) #12

I just brush more often and I have a mini bottle of mouthwash in my car.

(Daisy) #13

I had bad breath before keto, had really bad breath starting keto, then it actually went away for about 2 weeks when I started using a homemade toothpaste that I made. Now it’s back. I just keep gum in every pocket.

#14

@Juke88 - YES, please let me know if this works. I carry a bottle of spearmint oil and water with me everywhere. Masks it a bit but my wife says it’s still there. Just had my keto-anniversary and still have this crap.

#15

So far so good!

My husband reports it’s much more tolerable haha.
Give it a try!

(Alex ) #16

mouthwash and chewing gum for me - I am of the belief though that as long as there is dirty body fat being burned off - any humming breath that I have or fruity flavoured metallic grossness in my throat is just the price I have to pay for years of eating pie!

Also, it’s kind of reassuring when you have minging breath that the process is working?