The other day, for apparently no reason whatsoever, my husband, Bill, decided to eat an entire onion. He didn’t eat it raw or anything; he just used the incredibly massive onion in some concoction he was making for his dinner. (Of course, maybe this was actually one of those subconscious moves to get me to cook more often.)

Anyway, a few hours later I was sitting on the couch reading my very important In Style magazine and Bill walked in the room to give me a hug. (He’s very cuddly.) Oh my gosh. I never knew someone’s breath could be that bad. It was like the smell of onion was oozing from his pores! “What in the world made you eat an entire onion?” I demanded.

“I wanted to finish it before I went out of town tomorrow,” said Bill.

“You can’t go on a plane smelling like that,” I exclaimed.

“Oops,” said Bill.

Over the next several hours, Bill brushed his teeth seven times, took fourteen swigs of Listerine and ate three entire 24-piece packs of a ridiculously minty “fresh breath” gum. We even looked online for quick remedies where there were hundreds of crazy websites solely dedicated to curing onion and garlic breath. Apples and chocolate seemed to be the tastiest options and it did seem to help Bill a little.

After our onion fiasco, I called upon two experts to get their take because, let’s face it; everyone at some point has eaten a little too much onion or garlic.

“It can take close to 20 hours to leave your system,” says Buffalo Grove resident, Dr. Fred Lucas, Periodontist, out of North Shore Periodontics and Implantology in Skokie. “It permeates not just on your breath but through your tissues.

“Garlic and onions contain certain oils that get absorbed into your bloodstream,” says Dr. Lucas. “The oils are carried to the lungs and given off in your breath until, basically, the food/oils are eliminated from your body. So, either don’t eat those foods or be prepared for how it will affect your breath. Gum will only mask it temporarily and then you’ll taste the onions/garlic again.”

“Of course, there are other non-food related malodors such as periodontal disease, systemic diseases, severe dieting, nose and throat conditions to name a few,” adds Lucas. “If a malodor lasts for a few days and you cannot relate it to any specific cause, you may want to have that evaluated.”

Next, I spoke with Dr. Michael Simon of Simon Family Dentistry in Buffalo Grove. “Brushing your tongue is huge, regardless of whether you’ve eaten an onion or not,” says Dr. Simon. “The tongue has little bumps called papillae, which can harbor food and bacteria. This can create bad breath if it’s not removed. Besides using your toothbrush one can also use tongue scrapers.”

“Also, baking soda toothpastes tend to work better than those without,” says Dr. Simon. “This is because baking soda has the ability to neutralize the acids and oils found in stronger flavored foods. Flossing, Listerine and milk products will also reduce the smell.”

Although we’re avoiding onions for the time being, we’ll definitely use the advice given by Dr. Lucas, Dr. Simon and the interesting websites dedicated to breath issues. To contact me about an idea for a future column, go to www.susandubin.com.

© 2008 Susan Dubin, Buffalo Grove, Illinois