Mouthwash messes with blood pressure control
Physiological role for nitrate-reducing oral bacteria in blood pressure control
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Your mouth bacteria help make chemicals that keep blood pressure normal. When you use special mouthwash, it kills these bacteria and messes up the system.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Your mouth bacteria help make chemicals that keep blood pressure normal. When you use special mouthwash, it kills these bacteria and messes up the system.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 544 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Kapil V, Haydar SM, Pearl V, Lundberg JO, Weitzberg E, Ahluwalia A
Related Content
Claims (10)
Bacteria in the mouth help regulate blood pressure by converting nitrate to nitrite, which is part of the body's natural blood pressure control system.
When bacteria that help convert nitrate to nitrite in the mouth are reduced, blood pressure tends to go up by a small amount (2-3.5 mmHg for systolic and 2-2.2 mmHg for diastolic).
Bacteria in the mouth help keep nitrite levels in the blood stable, which is shown by the fact that people with higher nitrite in their saliva also tend to have higher nitrite in their blood.
When people start using mouthwash that kills mouth bacteria, their blood pressure can go up within just one day.
Using mouthwash that kills mouth bacteria leads to higher levels of nitrate in both saliva and blood.