You know that feeling when you wake up from a night of partying. Your head feels like it wants to burst open from even the littlest sound; your mouth is dry and sticky and smells awful. Alcohol leaves many side effects the day after and a halitosis is one of them. Halitosis is the scientific name for bad breath.
Alcohol not only dehydrates the cells throughout you entire body but also dries up the saliva in your mouth. The release of a diuretic hormone called ADH is blocked from the pituitary gland and this then promotes urine production. When the ADH level drops the kidneys cannot absorb as much water. This means that your body releases a nett loss of fluid and electrolytes resulting in dehydration.
It has been researched and proven that for every 10 grams of alcohol you consume (1 standard drink) your body excretes about 100 millilitres of urine. This means that if you consume six to ten standard drinks it could lead to a net fluid loss of 600 to 1000 millilitres and could lead to significant dehydration.
Effects alcohol has on your mouth
We already know that alcohol dries up your saliva. Without saliva your mouth is a playground for bacteria to grow in. Our saliva is a natural mouthwash that cleans and rinses our mouths free from bacteria. So as the sulphuric anaerobic bacteria accumulate in your mouth you start to breath out that bad breath. This is called hangover halitosis.
What makes your halitosis breath smell even worse the morning after is that not only did alcohol dehydrate your body and mouth, but while you were sleeping your salivary production dropped to a minimum, as it happens every night and that’s where morning breath comes from. So now you have the hangover halitosis as well as morning breath to deal with.
What you can do to prevent hangover halitosis
- You need to keep drinking water to keep your body hydrated. So for one glass of alcohol, drink one glass of water. You will feel a big difference the next morning.
- By brushing your teeth before you retire will clean your mouth of any anaerobic bacteria and clean away any leftover food particles
- Rinsing your mouth with an alcohol free mouth wash will help keep your breath fresh.
- Before consuming any alcohol you should eat a good meal filled with vitamins and minerals to help absorb the alcohol faster.
- Our bodies loose electrolytes when we consume alcohol. Make sure to eat a banana or spinach to help maintain the potassium in your body.