Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 August 1

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August 1

Vegetarianism and Bad-Breath

Is it a fact that those practicing vegetarianism are more likely to have bad-breath ? - 124.253.59.227 (talk) 06:50, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Why would it be more likely for that particular group of people, than people who have rotten teeth? --TammyMoet (talk) 08:48, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Our article halitosis doesn't mention any specific foods as causing bad breath, and the causes of persistent bad breath are not directly related to diet. Certain conditions that can cause bad breath may be partly due to a meat-heavy diet, e.g. diabetes mellitus which is associated with a western-style diet high in meat, sugar, etc, while trimethylaminuria sufferers are often told to avoid red meat. But most bad breath isn't due to such conditions. Foods which cause temporary bad breath are the obvious ones: garlic, onions, spices, etc, which can be eaten with either meat or vegetarian diets[1][2][3]. So there's no evidence that a vegetarian diet causes bad breath, although if you switch from unseasoned chicken to hummous and vegetable curries, then you may notice a difference. --Colapeninsula (talk) 08:56, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

There are both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods which cause bad breath. In some cases, the method of preparation makes a difference. For example, raw onion is far smellier than cooked onion. Some vegetarian foods may actually improve the breath, either because they cover bad smells, like mint, or because they tend to remove food stuck between the teeth, etc., like an apple. Of course, brushing the teeth is even more effective, both for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. StuRat (talk) 09:34, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

There's no substitute for regular tooth-brushing. But if halitosis persists, a doctor should be consulted, not some random wikipedians. But this all reminds me of a couple of oldies. (1) A guy is sitting in a library reading a book of trivia. He says to the nearest other guy, "Do you know that every time I breathe, a man dies?" The other guy says, "Try chewing cloves." (2) Cooked onions may not be as smelly as raw onions, but they are plenty smelly nonetheless. There's an old saying: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away. An onion a day keeps everybody away." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:00, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Diets that exclude carbohydrates (which are almost exlusively sourced from plants) can cause ketosis which causes bad breath. So, in a way, the opposite of what you asked is true. 203.27.72.5 (talk) 21:04, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

What is a "vegetarian food"? Vegetarians are defined by what they don't eat, not what they do, so the concept doesn't make a lot of sense. It's not like only vegetarians eat mint or apples... --Tango (talk) 22:28, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

The amounts of those foods which they eat are greater, and this can affect the breath (along with not eating meat). There are also some non-vegetarians who eat virtually no fruits or vegetables. StuRat (talk) 08:47, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

80s NBA (basketball) player

I might need a little leeway here. Before the existence of the Dream Team, I had a conversation with someone who was very into NBA basketball about what it would be like if the top professionals could be part of the Olympics. Back then I knew nothing at all about basketball. Now I know nearly nothing about it. He reeled off a list of players who would have been in such a team, none of whom meant anything to me. Somehow, one of the strange names sort of stuck in my head, but clearly not very well. I think he said "Dr John"... but I can't imagine Dr. John having magnificent slam dunking skills. If that's not vague enough, I'd date the conversation as somewhere between 1981 and 1990, lol. Have I given enough clues for someone to work out who the player was? --Dweller (talk) 11:51, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Possibly Julius Erving, who was known as "Dr. J". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:32, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

I think we have a winner. Thank you. --Dweller (talk) 12:39, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

I will mark this Q resolved. StuRat (talk) 21:44, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Resolved