In less then a year I have had 3 cavities. Any ideas as to why this is happening. I take very good care of me teeth....I floss and brush several times a day. It's disheartening to be eating the 'best food' yet have my teeth deteriorating. I love raw food and feel wonderful eating this way but am concerned that it is not the best thing for my body.
You might want to make sure you are getting enough minerals. Are you doing a lot of blending? Maybe mix in a good amount of dulse and other such sea vegetables.
Cavities come from acids excreted by bacteria feeding on sugars. Fruit has sugar, so if you are leaving it on your teeth, especially without eating enough greens to counterbalance it (or if they were in bad shape to begin with), you still can get cavities. Acid foods like nuts are also hard on the enamel. If your teeth are sensitive, be sure you brush/rinse/floss immediately after eating the fruit/nuts or finish the meal with greens which will largely do the same thing. Dried fruit is probably the worst. The kind of toothpaste you use can be abrasive and/or coating the teeth with glycerin which will hinder the teeth from re-enameling. I'd recommend using just water, salt water, or water with cloves . . .
Our saliva contains minerals which will naturally build the teeth back up, assuming we are getting them in our diet. So chewing your food very thoroughly will help, but you can actually accelerate the process by just swishing saliva in your mouth. Sometimes a teaspoon of sesame or sunflower oil swished with the saliva can help as well. I filled a cavity in two weeks doing this (hard to believe, I know, I wish I took pictures . . .)
Victoria Boutenko said that saliva is the key to maintaining healthy teeth. In that you must have highly mineralized saliva to counteract the waste products from the bacteria that feed off sugar. David Wolfe once said that a lot of raw foodists in the early days were having their teeth fall out in droves, until they started going more green. Big problem for fruit centric eaters. Steve Meyerowitz believes that greens are the key to healthy teeth, chewing on a few blades of grass help immensely.
I have also heard saliva is important. Some people have a reduced production of it due to carbs\sugars, dehydration, taking anti-hstamines or drinking caffienated drinks.
Drink more water! Pistacios can help with dehydration, cucumbers with the skin, celery and spices like thyme. Also sesame seeds are high in calcium so maybe eat more of those in tahini and hummus's.
maybe fully raw isn't for you. yes, seriously! maybe not everyone should be going raw. or maybe you need to transition slower. maybe 40, 60 or 80% raw is good enough for your body.
Hi! Besides all the wonderful info above, oil pulling might support your teeth too. You can read about it here: http://roshis.com/kavala-graha/
Good luck! Having teeth problems is no fun...
The smoke points are important for those people who are cooking with oils, but not those that are 100% raw foodists. Because I get many questions from those that are transtioning, I feel that it's important to answer some ot those questions also. ...
Thank you. :)
How'd you come up with the 6 weeks? I know that Lukas had an amazing experience at your center and looks amazing.
When are you gonna write a book?
After I tried (three days in a row), the Raw Spaghettis at GRO, (my favorite local place in Portland ME), I ran home and ordered the tool that would allow me to make raw pasta and so many other dishes! The blades are very sharp, so be careful if y...
Hi Michele,
I recently posted much or my story here somewhere...maybe it was in a note to someone who had asked...
In any case, I started studying nutrition in 1977 out of personal interest. I was primarily interest in gaining muscle weight and ...
wheee no havent tasted em,but nuts from the shell(raw OF COURSE te he) are fabulous...im a raw nut ...squeak squeak....
im mad keen for really raw cashews that i buy from rawpleasure.com in Oz,they are incredible...