Fresh Herbs Are The Secret Weapon To Help Combat Onion Breath

Onions are hard to avoid. Order a sandwich or burger and you will find a few of these chopped up or piled onto these portable meals. Onions are a part of simple caramelized onion pasta, a vital component for traditional tasting tacos, and the secret to utterly craveable Greek salad. But onions can also be the culprit behind bad breath. Eat a mouthful at lunch, and your work colleagues may be inclined to inform you that dragon-breath has hit you — and hard. Luckily, there's an easy, natural fix for this common problem that involves simple, fresh herbs that may be on your plate at a restaurant or in your fridge at home.

Onion breath happens because once you start chowing down on this bulbous veggie, you release the sulfur in its cell walls. The sulfur mixes with the bacteria in your mouth, and you've got the perfect storm for bad breath. Of course, the foul smell may continue as you digest them, manifesting itself as you breathe in and out. The fresh herbs are going to crush that odor before it happens with superpowers of their own. Enter the likes of parsley, mint, and cardamom, coming to the rescue.

Parsley, basil, and cilantro are frontrunners at aiding you when onion breath strikes. The concentrated levels of chlorophyll that these fresh herbs contain counters the bacteria and toxins that are causing it in the first place and neutralize it in its tracks. This is one of the reasons those little green sprigs of parsley are served up alongside some of your favorite meals in restaurants. 

Fresh mint leaves are also a good option, with those of the peppermint variety being the best at fighting onion breath. Suck or chew on these green leaves and they will help produce more saliva, which in turn will help clean your mouth, rid it of the odor-causing bacteria, and freshen it in the process. 

If you are a fan of cooking Indian fare and have the spice cardamom on hand, its flavor can be used to help kill onion breath. Cardamom oil contains cineole, which acts as an antimicrobial substance that attacks bad breath bacteria.