Breath always smells like rancid milk. Can anybody help me? I may have found out why but need second opinion?

Question

Ok, so I've had chronic bad breath since I was a little kid. I still have it now and I'm well into my twenties. My parents have taken me to doctors my whole life and we could never figure out the problem, but I think I may have pinpointed it...I just need another person's advice about whether or not this makes sense.

My breath and nose air have the smell of rancid milk. Disgusting, I know. I've pinpointed this smell to an overgrowth of Isovaleric Acid in my mouth, tongue, body, etc (not sure which one yet). Since Isovaleric Acid is found in dairy products (especially cheese), I've decided to completely cut dairy out of my diet, which is something I've never done before that may make a difference in the smell of my breath.

What do you all think? If Isovaleric Acid has a characteristic rancid milk smell and my breath certainly smells like that, it must mean there's an overgrowth of this acid. Especially if I'm Lactose Intolerant and lack the ability to digest dairy, this could be my issue. Oddly enough, i don't have any trouble with gas, bloating, etc. when I eat dairy, just the constant bad breath like I consumed 20 gallons of chunky milk. Ugh. So, I'm not exactly sure if I'm Lactose Intolerant, but I have no other explanation for my breath always smelling like rancid dairy.

Does anybody else have any other suggestions or think my theory makes sense?

Answer 1

Your body has an excellent innate buffer capacity, ie, blood, saliva, etc, so excess acid is unlikely.  (Especially if you don't have rotten teeth or metabolic acidosis.)  It uses bicarbonate to neutralize acids.  Acid is not alive (unlike bacteria) and can't "grow," so there can't be an "overgrowth."  

If anything, the smell may be coming from your stomach, where milk curdles instantly because of your stomach acids.  If you think your problem might be related to dairy, then reducing the amount of dairy you consume is a good experiment to try (but be careful that you replace it with something that will still give you the components you need in order to stay healthy.)  

I would recommend seeing a gastroenterologist if you haven't already.  I'm sure that doctors have already done blood tests to rule out a whole bunch of systemic problems, and chances are a GI specialist will have seen other patients with the same problem you have.

You could also try searching www.pubmed.com for related articles.  The information here is probably more reliable than anything you will read elsewhere in general, as it is scientifically based.  You could also try a naturopath.  Although as a scientist I believe that a large percentage of the so-called "natural" theories are a load of bunk that work based on the placebo effect, I do know people who have had success with various things this way, and in your case there probably wouldn't be any harm in trying (providing you don't take any "natural" substances that aren't licensed by the FDA because these can be VERY toxic.)  Whatever works!