If I was to ask someone, "What are your teeth for?", the most common response would be "to chew and masticate food!". This is correct.
We have teeth for a purpose, to chew and masticate.
Breaking up food throughly means our stomach and digestive system has less work to do.
However, teeth play a critical part during malnutrition.
When your diet is inadequate to satisfy your mineral needs, your body will often take minerals from your teeth and skeleton to fill the gap.
If you are starting to have problems with your teeth and bones/joints, you have to address the fact that your diet may be lacking in nutritional dense foods!
The good news is this is reversible, if your diet satisfies your needs with a little spare, your body will redeposit minerals back into your skeleton. Yes, your teeth and bones can become harder and more dense.
Some things you need to know
Vitamins A, D3, E, K2, K4 and K7 help drive calcium back into bones. (These are the fat soluble vitamins). They are the synergists or the keys that help you absorb minerals.
In fact, Weston Price a famous dentist once said "You can literally starve for minerals that are abundant in your diet" , simply because their aren't any fat soluble activators present at that meal. This is very important!
I have a post on fish oils that will explain this more.
We have to humble ourselves
If our teeth are breaking down, maybe our current diet needs some modification. There is so much information on the internet nowadays that we are all experts in nutrition. However, there is a lot of mis-information, and it comes at a cost.
Just as you have found a great mechanic, hairdresser, accountant, find yourself someone to help you with your health, remember your body is where you live. It can be a temple or a prison depending on how well you look after it.
It has been shown that people who have been brought up on farms, consuming food grown on the farm such as fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy and meat have greater bone density compared to city dwellers consuming store bought processed foods.
Fruits and vegetables once picked start losing their nutrition very quickly so consuming them soon after being picked will have obvious benefits.
Which foods are high in minerals?
Grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, pulses, dairy, eggs, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables.
What is missing from this list is processed, adulterated and fractionated foods.
Human's are the only animals smart enough to change their food and also the only animals then stupid enough to eat it.
Time to look in the mirror, humble yourself, smile or take action.
There are 5 keys to look for when choosing foods in your daily plan.
- Freshness- Choose items that are the freshest, do not try to save money by buying the marked down, reduced items that have had their day.
- Natural - This means food that is grown naturally, for example chickens running around eating grass and insects, not cooped up eating synthetic formulas in cages.
- Whole- Try to aim for foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, a good example may be to eat the fruit instead drinking the juice. Most of us do not go to the toilet anywhere as often as we should and suffer from constipation. Then we take laxatives to compensate for us removing the valuable fibre, this valuable fibre we remove is our gut flora's sustenance to keep them thriving and strong.
- 50-70% Raw- Thousand of phytochemical and antioxidants have been discovered in food. When we cook above 55 degrees celsius we kill a lot of these. If your diet is great but you cook a lot of your food you may be missing out on these.
- Poison free- This is a big one. Try to buy food that does not contain artificial chemicals and additives, dyes, fillers, preservatives, gums, ..... If you read the ingredients and you don't know what it is, don't buy it.
Whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, pulses, dairy, eggs, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables do not need an ingredient list.
Get the picture??
You do not have to be too extreme, we all like our chocolate.
It is better to eat 75-80% healthy all the time than 100% perfect a few weeks of the year.
My name is Blair Harvey and I have had the pleasure of working at one of Australia's best Health Retreat's for the past fourteen wonderful years. Over those years I have had the delight of working with a spectacular kitchen team, we all have an immense passion for cooking good healthy food that is unique and tantalizing to your taste buds. Together we have not only developed our skills in cooking wholesome, nourishing and out right delicious foods, but we have been committed to broadening our knowledge of healing with whole foods and exploring the beauty of healthy living. Because of our enthusiasm in the benefits of foods and there healing properties I developed a blog to help us SHARE what we have learnt with the rest of the world.
You will find tasty gems of wisdom on health, food and healing, helping to expand your mind and revitalize your knowledge of healthy eating.