Bad Breath? Frequent Strep Throat? Ear Infections? Try mouth and throat probiotics.

There was a time some years ago when I went to kiss my kids goodnight and they would hold their noses and screw up their faces and tell me straight – “Mum your breath stinks”. And my husband would tactfully ask “Have you cleaned your teeth?”

I had bad breath or halitosis – and it was getting worse.

I noticed it was particularly bad after eating dairy, and I’ve found this is pretty common.
So what is going on here? I found the answer well described in animatedteeth.com
“A person’s mouth can be home for hundreds of different species of bacteria. And on going in our mouth, at all times, is a constant battle for living space between the types of bacteria which do create waste products that cause bad breath and those that don’t. And it is the precise balance between the relative numbers of these two different types of bacteria that will ultimately determine the quality of a person’s breath.
Bacteria, just like humans, consume food and excrete waste. The waste products produced by some oral bacteria are sulfur compounds. And it is these sulfur compounds that usually lie at the root of a person’s breath problems.

Have you ever smelled a rotten egg? The stench associated with rotten eggs is caused by the sulfur compound hydrogen sulfide. The stinky smell emanating from feed lots and barnyards is one created by the sulfur compound methyl mercaptan. The odor you associate with the ocean is in part due to the presence of dimethyl sulfide. And each of these types of sulfur compounds is also excreted as a waste product by the bacteria that live in our mouths.
Bad breath is caused by “volatile sulfur compounds.”

Dentists refer to the sulfur compounds excreted by oral bacteria as waste as “volatile sulfur compounds” (VSC’s). The term “volatile” simply describes the fact that these compounds evaporate readily, even at normal temperatures. The extreme volatility of VSC’s explains how these compounds have the ability to offend those around us, instantly.

While volatile sulfur compounds are the principle causative agents of bad breath, the bacteria that live in our mouth produce other waste products too. Some of these have their own unique and unpleasant smell. A few of these waste byproducts are:

* Cadaverine – the smell we associate with corpses.
* Putrescine – the compound responsible for much of the foul odor produced by decaying meat.
* Skatole – the characteristic smell of human fecal matter.
* Isovaleric Acid – the smell of sweaty feet.

Most of the compounds that cause bad breath (hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, cadaverine, putrescine, skatole) are the waste products of anaerobic bacteria (more specifically Gram-negative anaerobic bacteria). The term “anaerobic” describes the fact that these types of bacteria grow best in environments that are devoid of oxygen.

The most common cause of halitosis is the anaerobic bacteria that live in a person’s mouth. Most of the volitile sulfur compounds that cause bad breath are waste products created by anaerobic bacteria as they digest proteins. This means that as we consume food items such as meat and fish, the bacteria that live in our mouths are getting a meal too and subsequently producing the waste products that cause our bad breath.

Even without an obvious protein source, like just having eaten a cheeseburger, it’s not hard for the anaerobic bacteria that live in our mouths to find a meal. There are always protein food sources floating around in our mouths such as dead skin cells or one of the many protein compounds found in saliva.”

Delightful, so I had an abundance of protein loving bacteria letting off truly evil ‘farts’ in my mouth!

So how does one deal with this? Well I could start gurgling anti-bacterial mouth wash. However I take real issue with anti-bacterials of any sort. Why? Because they are indiscriminate and kill all bacteria, not just the nasty ones. Then bacteria tend to evolve and the nasty ones get nastier and more resistant to antibiotics. (That’s why I refuse to buy any anti-bacterial house hold cleaning substance or soap). Plus, it’s not a permanent solution – it knocks off the bacteria for a while – and then they just grow back again.

So obviously – if I have an imbalance of bacteria – surely the answer is to correct the balance and get a mouth full of nice bacteria that don’t create nasty smells.

Fortunately there is a great product designed to do just this. BLIS K12 probiotic mouth lozenges. Products made with BLIS K12 help to balance the microflora in your mouth, competing with the halitosis-causing germs while leaving room for more good bacteria to thrive. BLIS K12 is an extremely safe yet powerful strain of a beneficial bacteria called S. salivarius which normally occurs in the mouth and throat. It crowds out “bad” bacteria and secretes the “BLIS” proteins (“bacterocin like inhibitory substances” proteins) which control the growth of undesirable bacteria. BLIS K12 can also trap and inactivate viruses coming in from the outside, by promoting interferon production in the body.

So not only is BLIS K12 a probiotic that crowds out the ones that cause bad breath, it also crowds out ones that cause throat and ear infections and stops them getting a foot, and also secretes substances that kill them.

It’s very straight forward to use. First, clean and floss your teeth, then scrape your tongue. Then swish the potent anti-bacterial mouthwash around for 30 seconds, to kill off the most of the bacteria in your mouth. Then suck on the BLIS K12 lozenges hourly for the first day, so that the new bacteria get a chance to fully inhabit your mouth. Easy. Then suck on a lozenge after cleaning your teeth every day after that for a month or so.

And hey presto – no more bad breath. Yep none! I did this a couple of years ago – and still no bad breath. And if I did – my family would let me know pretty quickly.

The other remarkable use for BLIS K12 is dealing with mouth, throat, sinus and ear infections. After a virus, my husband had a fairly evil smelling sinus infection / post nasal drip. With BLIS treatment it was gone in a couple of days.

BLIS K12 was developed by New Zealand microbiologist Professor John Tagg at the University of Otago. (Lots more information here: http://blis.co.nz/)
He originally developed it as an alternative to traditional antibiotics for the treatment of strep throat, a nasty bacterial throat infection, common in New Zealand children, which leads rheumatic fever, and can cause permanent heart damage.

To find a powerful effective probiotic bacteria, Dr. Tagg followed New Zealand school children through many years, analyzing their saliva samples looking for differences. A breakthrough came when Dr. Tagg and his team discovered the specific BLIS substances (the bacteriocins) which are responsible for fighting off pathogenic bacteria such as S. pyogenes, the one that causes strep throat. The team isolated this unique BLIS-producing strain of S. salivarius K12 from a healthy child who over a six-year period never contracted sore throats. This was developed into probiotic lozenges, which were tested for effectiveness, and studies show that children with K12-like S. salivarius are about 50 percent less likely to acquire the bacteria which cause strep throat. They may also experience fewer inner ear infections (the most common bacterial infection in young children and a primary reason for doctor’s visits). These recent studies found that BlisK12 are clinically effective in reducing throat and ear infections. www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/BLIS-K12-s-oral-health-benefits-get-support-from-2-clinical-trials/?

Where can you get BLISk12 from?

Information and sales from the New Zealand Company http://blis.co.nz/
In New Zealand it is available in Pharmacies and online Net Pharmacy
In the USA – from online stores based in NZ and Costco

More on K12 here http://www.blisk12.com/

And you tube videos.