Five things your breath reveals about your health! (Watch slideshow)

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, can be embarrassing. Yet, a quick breath check can save your life from more than just an awkward social situation. While poor oral hygiene could be one reason, sometimes bad breath reflects more serious underlying conditions.

For instance, you're struggling with bad breath and you've tried all kinds of tricks and remedies, but your breath still stinks. Then, that's the point where it tells you that you need to see your dentist or physician to ensure that a more serious condition isn't causing your breath to smell bad. Here are five things your breath can reveal about your health. Take a look!

Foul breath signals that you have a digestive health issue such as acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that can affect your breath. That's because even small amounts of undigested food may even regurgitate and cause bad breath.

If you have a fruity or acetone breath, you could be suffering from diabetes. This occurs due to inadequate insulin production, which leads the body to burn fat - condition known as ketoacidosis. This increases ketones, which can make your breath smell fruity.

If your breath smells of mothballs, you migh have allergies or a sinus infection. Because these conditions often tend to cause nasal congestion, making you to breath through your mouth. This leads to dryness and the growth of bacteria that causes foul breath.

Breath that smells fishy, urine-like, or similar to ammonia may indicate kidney failure. This can happen when the kidneys, responsible for removing toxic chemicals from the body in the form of urine, are no longer functioning properly.

You might have lung disease if your breath smells like something is rotting. A very foul breath odour could be a sign of a lung disease ranging from an infection like pneumonia to cancer, say experts.

By: Salome Phelamei