The Dental Diet
Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows I read a lot of books. My bedside table is always groaning with the weight of the latest health bestsellers. Many of them contain pretty much the same information but sometimes I come across one where I really learn something.
Recently I have been diving in to The Dental Diet and it made me think how little I actually knew about what goes on in our mouth. Which is really quite remiss given my primary training is in nutrition.
Probably like many of you my understanding about tooth decay did not go much beyond
Too much sugar + Poor dental hygiene = decay.
Which is actually as much of a myth as saturated fat giving you heart disease.
Tooth decay is actually caused by a bacterial imbalance in the mouth which directly influences the immune system, digestive system, heart and brain.
What Dr Lin describes in his book is the complex interplay between our diet, environment and the mechanisms of oral diseases such as tooth decay, gum disease and over crowded teeth.
Who knew that rather than being bits of inanimate boney type stuff our teeth are actually living metabolic tissue with just a thin hard coating of enamel?!
The latest research shows crooked teeth and dental decay are not primarily genetic. Poor teeth is not just something we are "born with" or"runs in our family". These issues are triggered by our environment and what we eat.
The state of our teeth can provide a complex warning system for health issues in the rest of the body.
Dr Lin's recommendations for diet are pretty much what you would expect - minimally processed foods and a paleo/traditional style diet with a strong focus on the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K.
The links below have more information about these essential fat soluble vitamins.
In good health,
Debbie
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