Dangers of Daily Mouthwash Use | Dr. Staci Whitman & Dr. Andrew Huberman

00:00:00.000 | what about mouthwashes yeah um i've never liked them um they feel they burn for one

00:00:11.040 | and then i learned some years ago and this is just kind of fun to cue to years ago it must have been

00:00:16.540 | like eight ten years ago i heard i think on the tim ferris podcast somebody said oh you know

00:00:22.440 | mouthwashes will nuke certain chemicals that are essential for cardiovascular function and

00:00:29.320 | so don't don't use them don't use mouth strips don't use any of that stuff and at that time that

00:00:36.420 | was considered like clear quote-unquote pseudoscience nobody like alternative science outrageous now we

00:00:43.420 | know this is actually true and this always you know this always um delights me and scares me at

00:00:49.300 | the same time that many of the things that right now people go oh that's pseudoscience i like creatine

00:00:55.620 | seems to be a big thing right now 10 years ago it was only the gym gym rats that we're talking about

00:01:00.060 | now everyone's like creatine creatine so uh what's the story on on mouthwashes and mouth strips and

00:01:05.800 | mints and things of that sort that again like people just want to have fresh breath or at least they

00:01:09.800 | don't want to be the person with the bad breath sure yeah so listerine and those stronger rinses in

00:01:16.220 | in particular uh they generally contain alcohol astringents really strong antimicrobials you know

00:01:23.600 | it says kills 99.9 percent of germs well i think we've learned we're over disinfecting you know this

00:01:30.680 | is why asthma is up eczema allergies are up in our children we now are saying get into the dirt

00:01:36.940 | get you know get exposed to microbes and things um so we're carpet bombing the mouth what we've learned

00:01:43.600 | through the the data and you're right there are studies to show that chronic habitual use of these

00:01:48.960 | mouthwashes including prescription strength mouthwash like chlorhexidine is a common one

00:01:53.540 | it can damage the nitrate reducing bacteria so we have bacteria in the dorsum of our tongue specifically

00:02:01.560 | that is essentially your tongue that reduces nitrate to nitrite which is a precursor to nitric oxide

00:02:08.760 | nitric oxide is a molecule that is really important for cardiovascular health and vasodilation and

00:02:14.940 | immune health um so if we're indiscriminately carpet bombing the mouth with these really strong

00:02:21.400 | astringents and rinses we can be affecting our cardiovascular health and there are studies to

00:02:27.000 | show it can increase blood pressure and potentially cause cardiovascular issues so when i hear someone say

00:02:34.140 | but my breath is so bad you know i have to use this multiple times a day i immediately think well

00:02:40.280 | gosh why is your breath so bad it's normal to have bad breath after you eat a garlic you know garlic hummus

00:02:47.040 | or have a cup of coffee but if it's chronic halitosis or bad breath i'm curious do you have periodontal

00:02:54.140 | disease which is a chronic inflammatory issue in the mouth which can have a slew of downstream effects which we

00:03:00.840 | should discuss um in a bit um or do you have an infection it could be a sinus infection post nasal drip

00:03:07.700 | do you have tonsil stones or tonsillar infected infection like what else is going on in your mouth

00:03:13.200 | where you feel you need this multiple times a day to even feel like you can present yourself in public

00:03:20.720 | um really strong essential oils and mints again i you'd be cautious with that every once in a while

00:03:27.100 | 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