Constipation and bad breath
Can constipation cause bad breath?
Yes, constipation can cause bad breath. When a person becomes constipated, gases develop in the digestive system. Some of the gas then mixes with a person’s breath and exits the body causing bad breath.
Your stomach is a part of your digestive system. The stomach connects to the esophagus, a muscular tube which travels down from your mouth. At the bottom, the stomach connects to the intestines which in turn connect to the colon and rectum. Food travels down the esophagus and into the stomach.
From the stomach the food travels through the intestines, colon, and accumulates in the rectum. Finally, it exits the body via the anus.
During constipation, feces become compacted and remain the rectum longer than they should. The feces produces gases some of which exits the body in the form of flatulence, while the remaining portion diffuses back up the colon, intestines, stomach, and into the esophagus. From the esophagus, the gases enter the mouth.
When you exhale air, the air travels from your lungs up into the trachea, a muscular tube which connects the nose to lungs. If you exhale through your nose, no bad breath results because the air travels directly from the trachea into the nose. It does not get an opportunity to mix with the air in the esophagus.
If you exhale from your mouth, the air from the lungs is directed to the mouth where it mixes with gases which traveled up form the esophagus, and bad breath results.
In conclusion, yes constipation causes bad breath. It does so because gases develop in the digestive system and mix with the air you exhale.