Oral Health Side Effects of the Keto Diet: Bad Breath & Dry Mouth

Increasing your physical activity and changing your diet can help you reach a weight-loss goal. But altering what you eat and how you eat requires more than reducing your calorie intake. It also requires adjusting the types of food you eat. Any food and drink alterations can cause certain side effects besides the loss of weight.

One example is the Keto Diet, or ketogenic diet, a relatively new way of eating that is gaining popularity in much the same way the Atkins diet gained a following more than a decade ago.

The Keto Diet is a moderate-protein, high-fat, low-carb diet that was designed to help a person achieve ketosis. But while it and other low-carb eating plans have proved successful in helping people lose weight faster, one of its side effects is so-called “keto breath."

Obviously, it’s not a positive side effect. Here is what you need to know about all the side effects, symptoms and how to get rid of them.

What Is the Ketogenic Diet?

The Keto Diet offers several health benefits through the consumption of foods with high fat and low carbohydrates. In fact, the diet replaces carbs with fats.

With a reduction of carbs, your body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. This state has your body become efficient at burning fat for energy and turns the fat into ketones in the liver, which supplies your brain with energy.

Proponents say the diet improves a person's health as well as helps them lose weight. Ketogenic diets may help against epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and cancer.

Pros and Cons of the Keto Diet on Your Oral Health

Keto breath is an odor or distinct taste in your mouth that is different from typical bad breath. People have described keto breath as a metallic taste or a funny taste in your mouth. The keto breath can also be described as being similar to nail polish or even a fruity smell.

When you enter full ketosis, and your body is completely burning fat as an energy source instead of carbs, your blood will become elevated with ketones. The ketones are responsible for the acetone-scented or fruity smell to your breath, which you will not be able to alleviate with brushing.

There are a lot of benefits with the keto diet for your physical health, however, the side effects for oral health may be uncomfortable. Between having bad breath, and an odd taste lingering in your mouth, you will have to overcome these discomforts to achieve the physical benefits.

Symptoms of Keto Breath

Keto breath will leave you with a distinct odor or taste in your mouth, one different than ordinary bad breath. Many people who undertook the keto diet reported experiencing a metallic taste in their mouth. Others describe it as a more distinctive taste, such as nail polish remover, or a fruity taste.

Why Does the Keto Diet Cause Bad Breath?

Why does the Keto Diet have a bad-breath side effect? Because all low-carb diets do.

Your body receives energy from a lot of food sources, including carbohydrates, protein and fat. It breaks down glucose or carbs first, for energy, then break down fat.

Because the Keto Diet and other low-carb diets restrict your intake of carbs, your body must use stored fats for energy. When your body is forced to use these fats, breaking them down to gain energy.

Fatty acids are turned into ketones, natural chemicals produced when fat is burned for energy. Ketones are typically harmless, and your body releases them through urination and exhalation. The ketones cause the resulting bad breath.

There are three primary ketones:

• 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHB)

• Acetoacetate

• Acetone

Acetone is a key ingredient in nail polish remover. If your breath starts to smell like polish remover, it indicates that you are in a state of ketosis.

How Long Does Keto Breath Last?

Not all people who go on a Keto Diet experience keto breath. And even if you do, while it may be troublesome it should only last a short time. You will notice a change in your breath within days, or perhaps a week after starting the diet, but the odor will go away as your body adjusts to your lower-carb intake.

Typically, within a couple of weeks, the odd tastes and odor will disappear. During the couple of weeks when your body is adjusting to your new diet, there are a few things you can do to mask the tastes and bad breath.

Risk of Keto Breath and Dry Mouth

Another Keto Diet side effect is dry mouth. Much like bad breath, dry mouth is to be expected when you increase your fat intake and slash your consumption of carbs.

Why? Because the transition takes a toll on your body. Your metabolism is going to shift during the first couple of weeks of ketosis, and your body will undergo changes in fluid balance and electrolytes. When this process happens, you can become excessively thirsty and find yourself urinating more than usual. It is important to consume a lot of water when on this diet.

How to Get Rid of Keto Breath

Here are tips to help you get rid of keto breath:

• Increase your water intake

• Eat less protein

• Chew sugarless gum

• Suck on sugarless mints

• Increase carb intake

• Use good oral hygiene methods

Prevention of Keto Breath

It’s not likely that you can prevent keto breath if you opt for this low-carb diet. But one step you can try is to use a ketone breath analyzer to learn how much carbs you can consume without being kicked out of ketosis.

A ketone breath analyzer is a breath test to determine how many carbs you've consumed and let you know whether or not you are in fat-burning ketosis.

You can also wean yourself from carbs and gradually add more protein to stave off the development of bad breath. It’s not a guarantee, but the slowed-down changes also will slow down the weight-loss effect of the diet.

If you notice keto breath and are not on the keto diet, or other low-carb diets, eating more carbs can kick your system out of ketosis and eliminate bad breath.

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