Save Your Teeth Save Your Health Paleo Quick Tip of the Day podcast

Your dental health is at least as important for your overall quality of lifestyle and health as is the health of your organs, your cardiovascular system, or your musculature.  With a healthy and inflammation-free set of teeth and gums, your mouth will be a source of strength, a means to convey high quality nutrition into your body.

The problem is that nowadays, the vast majority of people have hugely deteriorating, plaque covered teeth by a quite early age.  In fact, it is often stated the over 75% of Americans have gingivitis, which means that their teeth are badly infected, and will probably not last them throughout their lives.

Teeth and gums that are so inflamed will develop pockets of pus beneath the gum line.  This can result in receding gums, bleeding, and eventual tooth decay and loss.  Pain and extreme expense are the result of this occurrence, along with huge expense.  Also, this inflammation spreads throughout the entire body, vastly increasing the risk of hearth disease, along with other circulatory diseases.

In addition, as people age and lose their teeth, and find it more and more painful to chew, they avoid many nutritious, hard to chew foods, and switch more and more into eating soft fruits and pastries- bad, inflammatory foods that further fuel the decline of their health.

The solution is quite simple: eat a paleo type of diet!  This means avoiding grains and sugars for the most part.  Grains not only turn to sugar right in your mouth, they also tend to stick and coat your mouth with the damaging plaque that erodes tooth enamel.  Contrarily, eating a diet of good meats, real fats, (avoid vegetable oils!), and other foods such as vegetables and some fruits will leave your mouth undamaged.  Also, they will provide ample nutrition so that your own body can remineralize your teeth as you go, keeping your teeth forever strong and vital.

Also, eating fermented vegetables will do the opposite of grains in your mouth, since the beneficial microbes in them will remain in your mouth, crowding out the undesirable types that cause damage and decay.  Of course, brushing before bed, preferably with a Sonicate type of electric toothbrush will help immensely, as well.  But remember, out paleolithic ancestors had good lifetime teeth without brushing at all, since they only had good, real foods to eat!

But today, brushing is prudent, and definitely helpful.  Just use a light touch (don’t bear down), and do not use commercial toothpastes with their assorted harmful chemicals- a mix of sea salt and baking soda is what I use, and it is not only cheap, but it works wonderfully.  Ironically, the latest research shows that flossing actually does more harm than good, by pushing pockets of inflammation further into the gums.  So, don’t floss!

There are two more things you can do instead, however, that are far more effective-

1. Pull coconut oil between your teeth, swishing it around your mouth as you shower.  Do it for about 15 minutes a day, and you will vastly improve the health of your mouth, as the anti-bacterial power of the coconut oil literally smothers and bad bacteria in your mouth, which you later spit out, leaving you with a fresh, clean, healthy mouth!

2. If you do have some gingivitis or infection in your gums, there is a very effective and cheap fix- get some white oak bark powder.  I got some online for about $3.50, postpaid.  I had a small area that was infected towards the back of my jaw, right by my right rear molar.  It had been there, not advancing, but not retreating, for years.
For a couple of weeks, I put a small pinch of the white oak powder between my cheek and the gum line, much as guys do with the harmful habit of chewing tobacco, after I had brushed before bed.  The powder acts as an astringent, and it literally draws out the infection through the action of the tannins within it.
It is amazing- within two weeks my gums were totally healthy!  Now, I have added a sprinkling of the white oak bark powder to my sea salt and baking soda toothpowder, just to further protect my precious tooth health.  I suggest you do and do likewise.

Save Your Teeth on Paleo Quick Tip of the Day podcast

Most of us know by now how great the paleo type of diet and lifestyle is for your body- I mean, your fat stores shrink drastically as you become a “fat burner” as opposed to a “sugar burner”, and your health literally explodes as you provide your body with vital nutrients instead of harmful substances like processed foods, chemicals, and gluten.

Throw in a little exercise, good sleep, and harmonious tribal relationships with family and friends, and Mr. or Ms. Paleo is looking very healthy and happy indeed! I hope that this is you, and that you have most of your paleo routine figured out, and blended in with your everyday life.

But have you considered your dental health? Back in paleo times, the health of your mouth and teeth was pretty much a given, since the food available to you was so nutritious, and not harmful to your health, as is much of the stuff we label as food today. Even now, wild animals have excellent dental health, and I guarantee they don’t brush or floss.

Step one in modern dental health is to simply eat a paleo diet, leaving out semi-poisons like gluten containing bread, pasta, and sugar laden candy. This one step alone will improve your dental health to an amazing degree! And, of course, brushing your teeth is a wonderful idea, do it at least twice per day, especially just before bed. But, there are some things you should incorporate that you probably do not know about:
Flossing has been shown to be harmful. The floss actually has been shown to push bacteria into the bloodstream, where it can compromise the immune system. It is also rather easy to damage the gums and teeth with the floss- forget flossing!
Use an electric toothbrush, especially for that last nightly brushing. An electric brush is far more effective than manual brushing.
Don’t use conventional toothpastes. Most contain fluoride, which actually weakens tooth structure, and is toxic to boot. I mix baking soda with sea salt in a small jar, and use that. Sometimes I also mix in coconut oil, and turmeric powder- this is a very potent anti-inflammatory mixture, and very inexpensive.
And finally, do “oil pulling”. This is a timeless Aruvedic system of oral health that is probably the most important of all of my recommendations here, with the exception of eating a good paleo diet.
I keep a small jar of coconut oil in the bathroom. When I take my daily shower after my morning workout, I take a finger and dip out about a teaspoon worth of the oil and put it in my mouth. It immediately liquifies, and I begin swishing it around between my teeth and all around my mouth as I shower, and continue my morning routine.
After showering, I take another finger full of oil and, warming it between my palms, spread it over my face and body- the best moisturizer ever! I even shave using the oil. When I am done, I spit the coconut oil into the toilet (it would clog your sink pipes), and flush it away, along with the bacteria and toxins that is has leached out of my mouth.
The coconut oil actually smothers the bad bacteria like Streptococcus Mutans that causes decay and gum degeneration. So go ahead- make coconut oil a mainstay not only in your kitchen, but also in your bathroom!

Check out this episode!