There are various tricks to keep your breath fresh when you can chew on gum, take a Mentos or chew on natural herbs. But it gets a little bit challenging and a whole lot awkward when your breath starts getting, well, not so fresh, into the fasting day.

Here are our tips and tricks on keeping a fresh breath as you fast:

1. Have a healthy sohour of veggies and fruits: Eating fresh vegetables and fruits is a natural teeth cleanser that works on clearing plaques and food residues and have antioxidant properties that are needed for a decent oral health.

2. Have carbs: Yes, we are actually recommending carbs, but the good, complex carbs kind. If your body is low on cards, it releases foul-smelling ketones, giving you a rather fishy breath. Eat a banana for sohour to keep you well hydrated and keep your body from excreting ketones without having to sacrifice your weight loss.

3. Brush with baking soda: Mix 1/4 cup baking soda with two tablespoons lemon rind and two teaspoons of salt. This helps reduce your oral acid levels and so decreasing bacteria in your mouth.

4. Gargle with clove water: Add four cloves to two cups of hot water and let it stew for half an hour. Use as a mouthwash twice a day during the fast for 60 seconds. This will kill the bacteria in your mouth.

5. Do not have raw garlic or onions over sohour: No matter how much you brush next morning, the smell of garlic actually remains in your bloodstream and is then secreted by the lungs. Because you can’t chew on coffee or follow any of the normal tricks to get rid of onion-breath, avoid it over sohour. If you must, then chew on a lemon wedge with salt before you sleep.

6. Avoid coffee and cheese: These two tend to cause foul breath, so avoid them if you can or eat them earlier if you must.

7. Make sure you drink plenty of water after iftar: Lack of water is one of the main reasons your breath might be smelling bad, so make sure you constantly sip on water after iftar. You need to drink a glass of water every half an hour from 7pm to 3am to be able to drink your daily need of three liters of water.

8. Use a mouth wash or a siwak throughout the day: You can use both as you fast, as long as you make sure you spit it all out, to keep your breath fresh. Try the natural clove gargle recipe mentioned above.

9. Brush well: Simply brush and floss well throughout the day using a medium brush. We tend to brush in the morning in Ramadan and then forget about it for the rest of the day because we’re used to brushing after meals only. Make a point to brush two to three times during your fast to keep your breath fresh. Make sure you brush your tongue too.

10. It might be your nose: Your foul breath might be due to secretions from your nose, if you feel a little runny, it’s probably not your oral health in question, but rather a flue or a cold.