Eek! One moment, you are talking to a group of friends and sharing a joke that leaves everyone rolling in laughter. When you open your mouth to laugh as well, suddenly everyone grimaces and steps back. You realize in horror that they are all stepping away because your breath is rancid.

Nothing is worse than realizing that you have bad breath. The only thing worse is when you have bad breath that you cannot get rid of. In addition to being embarrassing, this symptom can make you afraid to go to social events or talk at work. While this is sometimes an indicator of an underlying medical issue, it may also be due to factors like oral hygiene or the foods you ate. If your breath smells like poop, your first goal is to figure to why so that you can solve the problem and have sweet-smelling breath again.

The Potential Reasons Why Your Breath Smells Like Poop

1. Diabetes

Diabetes is an extremely common ailment in the United States. Sometimes, people with diabetes have breath that smells like poop. This starts because your body is not creating enough insulin. As a result, your body cannot metabolize glucose. Fatty acids try to do the job, but this causes symptoms like bad breath. If you have or think you could have diabetes and your breath starts to smell, go to your doctor to have your blood sugar levels checked out.

2. Oral Hygiene

One common cause is quite easy to remedy. Sometimes, conditions in your mouth lead to a foul-smelling odor. The most common cause is bad oral hygiene. If you forget to floss or brush your teeth, it can lead to bad breath. In addition, badly fitting dentures, cavities and gum disease can lead to bad breath. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or smoking cigarettes can give you bad breath. Some other things like garlic, onions, sinus problems, dry mouth, medication or vitamin supplements can also give your mouth a foul-smelling odor.

3. Ketoacidosis

If you wait to eat for too long or skip a meal entirely, your stomach acid begins to turn sour. Then, the scent escapes from your mouth. This can cause your breath to smell like poop. To prevent this problem from happening, drink plenty of water and make sure to eat small meals throughout the day

4. Dehydration

Dehydration is actually a very common ailment. You may not be drinking enough fluids, or you may be dehydrating yourself by consuming diuretics like sugar, caffeine and alcohol. When you are dehydrated, your mouth becomes dry and develops bad breath. The easiest way to fix this is to drink more water. If you cannot drink liquids immediately, a sugarless candy can help stimulate saliva in your mouth.

5. Kidney Failure

If you are suffering from kidney failure, toxins in your body are excreted through your lungs. This actually causes your breath to smell like urine. If you think that this could be the cause, you need to go to your doctor right away to be checked out.

6. Upper Respiratory Infections

When you have an awful upper respiratory infection, you already feel awful. Worse still, you can develop bad breath. Known as bronchitis, this infection causes your lungs to become irritated. When you cough, your bad breath is easily smelled. Luckily, the scent should go away once you heal from the infection.