6 Home Remedies for Bad Breath

If you're like me, you never want to force your possible bad breath on an innocent bystander. And, when you're in a social situation, you cannot just breathe into your cupped hand to check. Popping mints and gum might mask bad breath for a little while, but those methods do not deal with the underlying problem. Several home remedies for bad breath are out there that address the two reasons for bad breath: oral hygiene difficulties and digestive tract problems; you just need to learn what those home remedies are.

Oral Hygiene

1. Drink Water

This first of the bad breath remedies is so basic you might not have even considered it: drinking more water. The Mayo Clinic says that when you don't drink enough water, your mouth can become too dry to wash away bacteria and food particles. Keeping your mouth moist helps wash all that nasty stuff away.

2. Rinse with Mouthwash

Using mouthwash works the same way water does; it rinses away bacteria and food particles. But it's important to choose a mouthwash that does not contain alcohol, which can actually contribute to bad breath. Alcohol dries out the mouth, and we now know from the Mayo Clinic that dry mouth encourages bacteria that cause bad breath.

3. Brush Your Tongue

Beside brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing once a day, you need to brush your tongue if you have bad breath. Bacteria can collect there. Brush as far back as you can using a toothbrush or a tongue scraper.

Digestive Tract Health

Image source: morgueFile

 4. Eat Celery, Apples and Carrots

Celery, apples and carrots have a high fiber count. You need to chew fibrous foods well, which produces saliva in your mouth, a cleansing agent. Fibrous fruits and vegetables can also help break down plaque and sulfur compounds, which contribute to bad breath. Note that a white coating on your tongue indicates you have high sulfur content in your mouth, explains Jonathan B. Levine, a world-renowned dentist.

5. Eat Foods with Vitamin C

Fruits that contain vitamin C, such as blueberries and citrus fruits, create an unfriendly environment for bacteria. And vitamin C does double duty as a bad breath remedy because it helps prevent gum disease, which leads to bad breath. You cannot substitute vitamin C supplements for food to fight bad breath because the supplements could upset your stomach, which could cause bad breath, according to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietician and ADA spokesperson.

6. Drink Black Tea

Black tea contains polyphenols that kill bacteria responsible for bad breath, according to 2003 research conducted by scientists at the University of Illinois. The polyphenols in the black tea also help prevent plaque from forming on teeth. Black tea specifically helps to get rid of the sulfurous rotten egg smell.

Do you have any tried and true bad breath remedies? If so, let me know comment section below!

Why do some guys like feet?

This post I originally wrote for Yahoo! Shine attracted a lot of interest and some great comments. I hope it continues to do so here as well.

Guys who like feet are more common than many people might think. Feet are curvy, sensitive, and oh so responsive to touch. What guy wouldn't like them? But deep down women probably already know this. Why else would we totter around on ridiculously high heels or wear strappy sandals that show off our latest mango-hued pedicure? And besides, all that prancing about requires a nice foot rub at the end of the day.

Image source: morgueFile

Intimacy

Men who like feet want to do more than look at them. To a guy who adores tootsies, sucking toes and licking insoles are as intimate an act as

intercourse, according to self-proclaimed foot fetishist Izzy Cihak. Dr. Reef Karim, psychiatrist and relationship expert, said the fetish "could get a little more freaky like needing to be walked on by smelly, dirty feet." He told me that he has heard the "dirty feet thing" from a few people. But gals who are just looking for a soothing foot massage will be disappointed. A massage is too functional and removes all the sexiness involved.

 Cinderella

Any girl who watched Cinderella as a child drew a connection between men and feet, but not just any feet -- small delicate ones. The prince immediately rejected the big-footed stepsisters for Cinderella, who possessed a perfectly sized foot. Men, like Prince Charming, are visual creatures who are apt to focus on a particular body part.

Theories

Although there is really no telling why some men are focused on feet, theories abound. One Freudian belief suggests it stems from shame. Maybe a little boy sees a sex organ and quickly looks away out of embarrassment, focusing his eyes on the feet instead. Voila. Feet and sex become intertwined.

April Masini, relationship advice expert and author of "Date Out Of Your League," voiced a similar theory. She told me, "Men who are coming of age and discovering sexual feelings as they relate to women's bodies may have had an initial sexual urge at the sight of a woman's usually covered up feet. That memory stays long after the young man is a fully mature man."

Karim pointed out that women's feet can "serve a submissive purpose. Submissive men worship women's feet, like to be walked on by those feet, and the feet show sexy dominance."

Dr. Ava Cadell, who founded the Loveology University, explained to me, "Some foot worshippers can only experience orgasms while making out with a woman's foot because it is the most erogenous of all the sexual zones for them. They often long to be a foot slave to a woman and will suck toes (also known as shrimping) until the point of no return."

Compatibility

Regardless of the reason, if your honey likes feet and you abhor being touched there, well, the relationship will have a difficult time succeeding. On the other hand (or foot), if you like all the foot attention, this just might be a good fit.

The Disadvantages of Reverse Mortgages

My aunt took out a reverse mortgage back when they were a brand-new financial product per my advice. I've learned a lot about them since then. 

A reverse mortgage allows a homeowner 62 or older to borrow against the home's equity. This type of arrangement can be an attractive option for a retired person who has lots of equity built up in a home but doesn't have enough money to afford daily living expenses, as was the case with my aunt. I suggested she take out a reverse mortgage in the early 1990s, before I knew much about them. Although it was probably the right choice for her, I have since learned of the various disadvantages that exist.

They're Complicated

A reverse mortgage is a type of loan, and a complicated one at that. The principal and interest must be paid off at some point -- when the borrower moves, sells the house or passes away. This amount could be quite large since the borrower doesn't pay the loan back monthly. The amount owed keeps increasing, and interest continues to build. The process to determine how much a person can borrow is also complicated; it's based on a percentage of the home's worth, its location and, in the case of co-owners, the age of the youngest borrower.

Source: morgueFile

They're Expensive

Reverse mortgages are expensive when you consider the origination fees and closing costs. Servicing fees also occur throughout a mortgage's term. Because of the high costs, it's a bad idea for borrowers to take out reverse mortgages if they intend to leave their homes in fewer than five years. My aunt had no plans to move, so no worries there. But if health reasons require borrowers to live in medical facilities or nursing homes for 12 consecutive months, the loans become due. This did happen to my aunt but only after she had the reverse mortgage for about 15 years. Which brings me to another disadvantage: keeping these loans out for a long time isn't a great option. The longer borrowers have reverse mortgages the bigger the loans grow because of compounding interest.

Monthly Insurance Premiums

Most reverse mortgages are offered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration. All people who take out an FHA-insured reverse mortgage must pay a monthly insurance premium. These fees need to be paid upfront or they'll be added to the reverse mortgage. The latter incurs interest charges.

Less to Leave to Heirs

A reverse mortgage can easily eat all the equity left in the home. My aunt wanted to leave the house to my cousin, but she needed to pay off the loan in full to keep it. The loan was not more than the property's value, but if it were, my cousin would have had to pay a loan larger than the home's value. If she had chosen to sell the house, however, the debt would not have been more than what the house sold for because the loan was from the FHA. A non-FHA loan from a private company, a nonprofit organization or a state or local government might not have the same guarantees or protections.

A Bad Option

Reverse mortgages might be a worse option compared to other choices. A home equity loan, a home equity line of credit and loans made by state and local governments to pay for items such as home repairs and property taxes aren't as expensive as reverse mortgages. They require monthly payments, so they work only if borrowers can afford to make them.

Why I'm Bucking the Yoga Trend

Yoga to me is like pickles. I keep trying to like both, but every time I try either, nothing changes. No matter what kind of pickle I try -- Kosher dill, sour, or those sweet ones you often find on burgers -- I just don't like them. It's the same with yoga. I've heard about all the benefits of yoga -- improved flexibility, stronger muscles, improved posture, reduced stress and increased spirituality -- but still, I don't like yoga.

The Beginning

I started attending yoga classes because my daughter was taking it for her physical education course at school. She loved it, and it is no small feat when a teenager shows an interest in anything positive. So I figured I needed to try, too.  Plus, my gym conveniently houses a yoga studio. It was the perfect set up.

Too Hard

I showed up to my first class. The atmosphere was one I found more suited to a relaxing spa day, but I was at the gym. When I work out, I like to listen to loud music and work hard. This seemed altogether too relaxing for me, but I was open-minded. And then came the poses. We needed to get into certain postures that would flow naturally to the next pose, which I later learned is "hatha yoga." There were about eight or 10 such poses that we'd repeat what seemed like 100 times. It was really difficult, and I'm in pretty good shape.

Too Easy

The next experience I had was much easier, but it was too easy. It felt like one long warm-up with no real exercise involved. I didn't see the point of that one. I tried a few more classes, but nothing seemed satisfying.

Too Weird

I also never found an instructor I liked. I mean, they all seemed like wonderful people, but being a captive audience to the various stories they told made me wonder whether I was attending a poetry reading or a performance art show.

Too Illegal

The strange words were a little off-putting: Namaste, for one. It was all getting somewhat cultlike for my tastes. And what is the deal with hot yoga performed in 105-degree-Fahrenheit conditions? Yes, I know the heat is supposed to prime the muscles for enhanced stretching, but some people do this to lose weight. They should wake up. The only weight loss going on is temporary water weight. Not to mention that its founder Bikram Choudhury was sued for sexual harassment, and then settled. Not very yogi-like.

Too Narcissistic

My conclusion is that yoga's for skinny people who like to show off their cute, overpriced Lululemon yoga pants they can then wear to Whole Foods as they pick out their faux hamburgers, nondairy ice cream and tofu.

Maybe Not the End

I know I'd probably get more out of yoga if I had a better mindset and took time to learn the discipline, but meh. On the other hand, I found that I like the pickles at Ted's Montana Grill. So maybe there is still hope for yoga yet.

Photo by Robert Bejil

Wikimedia Commons

The Liberal Woman's Paradox

Feminism, I thought, was supposed to liberate women – to pave the way for opportunities and to give women choices. Women do not need to be homemakers or stay-at-home moms in modern society, but neither do they need to have a career outside the home to be of value. Some overly vocal liberals do not seem to get this, or if they do, they have disdain for women who do not work outside the home.

Never Worked a Day

Liberal strategist Hilary Rosen verbalized this all too common disparagement when she said Ann Romney, mother of five, has never worked a day in her life. Romney graciously reminded Rosen that she chose to raise her children and that people need to respect the choices of others.

Uneducated Women

Just a few days after Rosen’s arrogant remark came another gem from NPR’s Mara Liasson on Weekend Edition Sunday. Liasson made a distinction between “stay-at-home moms” and “educated women.” NPR immediately tried to pretend this never happened by scrubbing the clip and the transcript displayed on the website. But the damage was done. Although Liasson claimed to misspeak, listeners that day heard what she really thinks.

Liberal Arrogance

The Democratic Party likes to pretend it is the voice of women. If that were true, the Party would not be filled with women who look down their noses at others who don’t fall into their ideal of what a woman should be. Many liberal women in the Democratic Party think they are better than stay-at-home moms, period, end of story.

Nothing New

This is nothing new. Teresa Heinz Kerry put down Laura Bush, and Hilary Clinton mocked all stay-at-homes. Kerry accused Bush of never having a real job. Clinton said she chose to fulfill her profession instead of staying home to bake cookies and have teas.

Human Connections

The Democratic Party is supposed to be fighting for women’s policies. How is anyone supposed to believe that when the women in it show such contempt for people who do the most difficult job there is to do well? The success of our country depends on how well we raise our children. Female liberal politicians should keep that in mind.