what about mouthwashes yeah um i've never liked them um they feel they burn for one and then i learned some years ago and this is just kind of fun to cue to years ago it must have been like eight ten years ago i heard i think on the tim ferris podcast somebody said oh you know mouthwashes will nuke certain chemicals that are essential for cardiovascular function and so don't don't use them don't use mouth strips don't use any of that stuff and at that time that was considered like clear quote-unquote pseudoscience nobody like alternative science outrageous now we know this is actually true and this always you know this always um delights me and scares me at the same time that many of the things that right now people go oh that's pseudoscience i like creatine seems to be a big thing right now 10 years ago it was only the gym gym rats that we're talking about now everyone's like creatine creatine so uh what's the story on on mouthwashes and mouth strips and mints and things of that sort that again like people just want to have fresh breath or at least they don't want to be the person with the bad breath sure yeah so listerine and those stronger rinses in in particular uh they generally contain alcohol astringents really strong antimicrobials you know it says kills 99.9 percent of germs well i think we've learned we're over disinfecting you know this is why asthma is up eczema allergies are up in our children we now are saying get into the dirt get you know get exposed to microbes and things um so we're carpet bombing the mouth what we've learned through the the data and you're right there are studies to show that chronic habitual use of these mouthwashes including prescription strength mouthwash like chlorhexidine is a common one it can damage the nitrate reducing bacteria so we have bacteria in the dorsum of our tongue specifically that is essentially your tongue that reduces nitrate to nitrite which is a precursor to nitric oxide nitric oxide is a molecule that is really important for cardiovascular health and vasodilation and immune health um so if we're indiscriminately carpet bombing the mouth with these really strong astringents and rinses we can be affecting our cardiovascular health and there are studies to show it can increase blood pressure and potentially cause cardiovascular issues so when i hear someone say but my breath is so bad you know i have to use this multiple times a day i immediately think well gosh why is your breath so bad it's normal to have bad breath after you eat a garlic you know garlic hummus or have a cup of coffee but if it's chronic halitosis or bad breath i'm curious do you have periodontal disease which is a chronic inflammatory issue in the mouth which can have a slew of downstream effects which we should discuss um in a bit um or do you have an infection it could be a sinus infection post nasal drip do you have tonsil stones or tonsillar infected infection like what else is going on in your mouth where you feel you need this multiple times a day to even feel like you can present yourself in public um really strong essential oils and mints again i you'd be cautious with that every once in a while of throwing in a piece of gum or a mint of course it's really the habitual use of these things that can be damaging