A healthy person's salivary glands produce 1 qt. of saliva per day, according to MayoClinic.com. Occasionally, this saliva production increases dramatically and becomes an uncomfortable nuisance and/or a serious medical concern. Each time you swallow, your saliva helps neutralize harsh stomach acids, lubricate the mouth, protect your teeth from bacteria and assist with digestion in the stomach. Since saliva has such benefits, you'll want to avoid just spitting it out as it accumulates. Instead, try adjusting your diet to better balance your saliva production.
Foods to Eat
Relatively bland foods with a dry texture are often among the best foods to eat to help eliminate excess saliva. Examples include crackers, baked chips, toast and dry cereals. If your excess saliva production occurs throughout the day, pack small containers of crackers or dry cereal and keep them with you at all times. Although salty foods should be eaten in moderation, they can help temporarily solve your saliva problems. Along with salted crackers, you might try sucking on salted sunflower seeds or snacking on a small handful of salted nuts. Between snacks, chewing sugarless gum, rinsing your mouth with mouthwash or brushing your teeth frequently can also help eliminate excess saliva.
Foods to Avoid
During an episode of excess salivation, avoid sweet, spicy and sour foods. These foods often cause hypersecretion --- an immediate production of saliva to help coat the mouth and throat. In fact, just smelling these types of foods might cause your saliva production to kick into overdrive. Also, avoid any foods that make you nauseous --- whether by sight, smell or taste. An episode of nausea commonly triggers the vomiting reflex, which may cause a small amount of stomach acid to reflux into the esophagus. This acid then triggers your salivary glands to produce saliva to neutralize the acid.
Considerations
If you are suffering from severe nausea or pregnancy morning sickness, you might be unconsciously swallowing less often. During a bout of severe nausea, swallowing just about anything --- even your own saliva --- can trigger a strong desire to vomit. As your rate of swallowing decreases, the amount of saliva that accumulates in your mouth increases. In this case, eating any type of food will likely help your problem since you'll be swallowing the excess saliva as you eat.
Other Treatments
People with severe cases of excess saliva might also benefit from the use of a suction machine. Portable and battery-powered, these small machines feature a small hose inserted into the mouth that sucks out excess saliva. Certain medications can also be prescribed to help decrease saliva production.
References
- The ALS Association: Managing Excessive Saliva
- BabyCenter: Excessive Salivation During Pregnancy
- "MayoClinic"; Excessive Saliva; December 2009
- Pregnancy-Info: Pregnancy First Trimester
- Survive Morning Sickness: What To Eat To Relieve Morning Sickness
- Eat Run Play: Excess Saliva Production In Mouth -- Causes And Home Remedies
