For today’s Real Food Quote Monday (RFQM), I’m going to dig into a book I got last week – “Cure Tooth Decay” by Ramiel Nagel. The reason I got this book is not because of decay, but rather because of braces – crowding. One of our daughters is already in braces, another will be in a year, and who knows what will happen with our son. I just hate the fact that we didn’t give them the start in life that they’re enjoying now. I got this book to find out if we have any hope of avoiding braces for the next two. We’ll see… I’ll keep you posted. I haven’t gotten to that part yet.
The quote(s) I want to share today reveals a fallacy in the modern theory of cavities. There’s not much for me to interject as Ramiel’s words are direct and clear.
“On the website of the American Dental Association (ADA), the common theory of tooth decay is illustrated. This is the exact quote:
‘[Tooth decay] occurs when foods containing carbohydrates (sugars and starches) such as milk, pop, raisins, cakes or candy are frequently left on the teeth. Bacteria that live in the mouth thrive on these foods, producing acids as a result. Over a period of time, these acids destroy tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay.’
What is undisputed and agreed upon by many sources is that sweet foods with sugar cause tooth decay. What is questionable is the theory that cakes, candies and other sticky foods being left on the teeth, which then become food for bacteria, determine a decline in dental health.
The theory that bacteria thrive on sucrose, and then produce acids that eat away our tooth enamel, seems to be convincing. But it defies both science and logic.
The reason the bacterial theory of tooth decay is false is that sugar, and particularly refined white sugar, disables bacterial growth. This is from the Sugar Association’s website:
‘Sugar incapacitates any microorganisms by its ability to attract water … The microorganisms become dehydrated and incapacitated, and are unable to multiply and bring about foods spoilage.’
White flour is produced by the removal of the wheat germ, for the purpose of inhibiting and reducing bacterial growth.
This leaves us with a conundrum. The two foods that are supposed to be the primary causes of tooth decay are white flour and sugar. These denatured foods have been specifically designed by industry and commerce to have a long shelf life. They are refined for the purpose of being made impervious to bacteria through the removal of most or all of the nutrients that bacteria like to eat.”
So what is the cause of tooth decay?
Tooth decay for two reasons: We are not consuming enough nutrients to build new tooth enamel, and the old enamel gradually wears away; and the body may transform the calcium and phosphorous elements within the tooth into nutrients that are taken to other more important parts of the body, such as the brain or heart.
In short, tooth decay is a result of physical degeneration.
Physical degeneration, over time, explains why the incidence of tooth decay in the United States is largely proportional to age. … The older you get, the more decay you accumulate. Tooth decay is the result of our environment, not genetics. Rather than it being a constant, consistent factor, it changes with age. People have frequently given me feedback, voicing their opinion that improper nutrition may not be the only factor in tooth decay. This is true. You can expand beyond nutrition and examine body chemistry, which is a factor of many variables. … healthy body chemistry creates healthy teeth, but poor body chemistry can result in tooth decay. Usually the cause of unhealthy body chemistry is a lifetime of assaulting the body with toxic food and drink. Other significant factors in tooth decay are the use of drugs, including vaccinations, birth control pills, intrauretine devices (IUD), exposure to environmental pollutants, and emotional stress. In general, people who eat a good diet, while listening to and observing how their body responds to different foods, will have an increased immunity to tooth decay.”
If you’re curious what kind of diet Mr. Nagel recommends to cure tooth decay, see this post from AnnMarie – she put it up a day after I ordered this book. I’m warning you, the diet revealed in the post may overwhelm you – you might feel stunned as I did. The comments reveal that many were taken aback by the total elimination of phytic acid in the diet (because even though we soak, sprout and ferment, some phytic acid may still get through). However, what I took away from it was that if one has severe tooth decay, one has good reason to take serious action with the diet. If one does not have severe tooth decay, one’s diet can be less extreme and still very healthy.
So what do you think? Are you shocked, like I was, to see that white sugar and white flour can’t cause tooth decay because they’re impervious to bacteria? Feel free to share your thoughts about this, or anything else YOU’RE reading, in the comments.
Haha, I’m going to the dentist today!
I linked over and read the post and some of the comments. It makes sense that phytic acid blocking essential nutrients makes a bigger impact on teeth than sugar and white flour.
I don’t understand the aging/degrading the teeth part. Why did my 6 year old have so many cavities? Would Dr. Weston A. Price say that the poor diets of generations past contribute to the genetic strength of her teeth? Certainly the crowded teeth must be genetic.
As always, its food for thought … and now something to think about while I’m in the dentist chair today!
Mr. Nagel’s daughter’s teeth started rapidly decaying – totally crumbling – at the age of 1 and that’s why he studied this topic and wrote the book. It is not that only if you’re old teeth start decaying, but that if you’re young and experience physical degeneration, this will affect your teeth and other things. There’s a chart in the book that shows that generally, there is more tooth decay in older segments of our society – but there are exceptions due to body chemistry that make some start earlier on this path. I hope that makes sense.
Mr. Nagel studied the work of two dentists – Dr. Price and Dr. Page. Dr. Price showed that tooth decay (nor crowding) was not genetic in his work that became the book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” – one example was a pair of brothers – one with cavities and one immune to cavities. (The brother without cavities had a wholesome diet and the one with cavities ate poorly.) Another example is a older man with healthy cavity free teeth who ate well, while his granddaughter with a modern diet does not have healthy, cavity free teeth. There are other examples, too, examples that demonstrate that crowding in not hereditary either.
Dr. Page showed that disturbances in body chemistry – blood sugar levels and the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the blood causes tooth decay. People with a high level of dietary phosphorous are almost totally immune to tooth decay. This confirmed what Dr. Price speculated – “All groups having a liberal supply of minerals particularly phosphorus, and a liberal supply of fat-soluble activators, had 100 percent immunity to dental caries.”
Mr. Nagel has a website with 100s of free pages of information on this topic and others:
http://www.curetoothdecay.com/Tooth_Decay/toothache_remedies.htm
I haven’t done all the research that any of you have done on these things, but my initial thoughts on this are to continue eating seeds, nuts and grains. My feeling is that if a food is something that God created for us to eat, then we can eat it. In the Old Testament, God recommends eating seeds and herbs (and I don’t think He specifies which ones). I also believe that people in those days mostly ground their grains and then baked them, but again, I could be wrong since I haven’t studied this.
This is only my opinion, so please don’t take offense! I could definitely be wrong! But this is how I feel at this point. =)
I have found that there are so many new ideas springing up about what is healthy and what is not and how to cook this and that and it can drive a person crazy trying to do everything right, so I’ve adopted the philosophy to eat all of the things that God created for us to eat, (especially if they are talked about in the Bible), and to eat these foods as close to their natural form as possible (not prepared foods or boxed foods and organic if it can be) and to eat a balanced diet in moderation. Both financially and with the amount of time that I have in my day I simply can’t afford to go to extremes and this seems to be very extreme. Also, a 1 year old having such severe tooth decay seems to be an extreme case. I have 5 children and only 1 of them has been to the dentist for cavities and my oldest is nearly 17.
I am curious to see what others have to say =)
Karilee
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Kare – I agree with you wholeheartedly. Because God made the seeds (which includes grains, nuts, beans, and what we usually consider seeds) and commanded us to eat them – I don’t see why we should avoid them. I do see that people with severe tooth decay might consider it.
I believe that people in the Bible people mostly slow cooked their grains/porridges/stew or turned them into sourdough bread – except during the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was just 7 days. According to Ramiel Nagel (on AnnMarie’s post), sourdough bread accomplishes 100% neutralization of phytic acid. That, to me, is a great confirmation that the bread of the Bible is truly a gift from God and a wonderful food! With regard to the phytic acid that does get through, in AnnMarie’s post an email from Sally Fallon was shared in which she wrote that a healthy gut produces phytase (the enzyme required to break down phytates) – again a wonderful confirmation of God’s design.
I hope everyone realizes that in this post, I wasn’t saying THIS is the next new diet we should follow. In the context of the book – to “Cure Tooth Decay” – a special diet might be warranted. But for most of us, simply doing what you’ve said and what I write about every day is a wonderful, healthy diet.
Well, at least we are on the road. We take cod liver oil, and soak. Hopefully I can add more fermenting, and remove more grains. I’ll ready knew about these.
I was sad to read about chocolate, but tea and coffee were no surprise.
I don’t foresee us eating perfectly, but striving toward the mark is doable.
The only part I find hard is the same no matter what material you read…. a lot of don’t, don’t, don’t and nothing telling you how to replace one’s current eating patterns. It’s easy to say cut out grains, nuts/seeds, un-fermented veggies, etc. but we will not get full and be satisfied on fruit, meant and legumes (or are these consider beans too).
So the more I can grow and soak/ferment the better what we do eat will be….
Thanks for sharing about the book Wardeh, let us know when you have finished it.
What an interesting topic! I’m curious to hear how the braces-prevention turns out.
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This is fascinating, and a confirmation of what we’ve believed for a long time. At nine months of age, our otherwise healthy youngest son received two vaccines (Hep B and a flu shot), and immediately (that night!) developed global food allergies and began to display autistic behaviors. At 11 months of age, we began a dietary intervention, and he began to recover (a slow process that continues to this day, but I’m happy to report he’s doing beautifully). However, what was interesting is that his baby teeth were horrible! The teeth in his mouth and that came in from that point for the next nine months came in with holes in the enamel and decay that surprised the pediatric dentist. At 2 years old, he had to be sedated; 3 teeth had to be pulled and caps put on all his molars, with lots and lots of fillings. However, the next set of molars that came in were fine, and he’s continued to enjoy good oral health. We always thought the tooth damage was from the vaccine injury, but didn’t have a solid explanation for why until now.
Jami – I think the key is not removal of grains, but proper preparation of them.
Rebecca – I’ll be sure to share if anything sounds promising!
Angela – Thanks for sharing your story. It is amazing! Sad though that those immunizations disrupted his body chemistry so severely. I’m glad that your dietary changes have helped him recover.
Hey, everybody.
The author of the book, Ramiel Nagel, wrote to me and this is what he said:
Wardeh,
Our son has crowding, too. He already had two baby teeth pulled and will probably need to have more removed to make room for adult teeth. No cavities, but I worry about the crowding. Both my husband and I have crowded lower jaws. I wonder if any of it is hereditary?? Or, is that just guilt talking…
We’re going to work on reducing the phytic acid while his jaw is still developing.
Ellen – I’m sorry to hear your son is having teeth pulled. I think you better start feeding him liver. Seriously, I am getting some out of the freezer for tonight!
After reading this book and Weston A. Price’s book I find it hard to believe that crowding is hereditary. So don’t feel guilty in that sense.
Yes, I think you are right. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to steel myself to eat liver, first. I just started eating beef again, after 7 years. While I can enjoy some nice grass-fed beef, I’m really going to have to disguise that liver! Thanks for your thoughts.
Ellen – Did you see Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s liver post of today?
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/02/i-ate-liver-loved-it-oh-yes-i-did-so-did-our-teenager-he-hadnt-a-clue.html
Although AnnMarie pointed out that each person in her family likely only got 1 Tablespoon of liver eating it that way, it seems like a good start for any of us who don’t like liver to begin with. I’m not sure how I’m going to cook mine. I don’t have the peppers to make poppers like she did.
We usually like beef heart as is, could we like liver the same way? Should I just do the usual liver and onions? Or try a pate and make some sprouted crackers, too? I’m thinking out loud….
Was it hard for you to adjust to eating beef again? After we were vegan, we all loved eating meat again – the taste was amazing and satisfying – we couldn’t get enough of it.
I *did* see Kelly’s post today and it inspired me to find a way to hide liver! I’m wondering if I might be able to handle liverwurst.
We eat a lot of chicken, turkey and some pork. We really don’t get the good organ meats that we should. But we eat TONS of butter:-)
About the beef: Actually, it was pretty hard to start eating it again for me. My husband still has a hard time. My son LOVES it. I had gone for so long without it that now it tastes very strong to me. I used to adore beef. Maybe if I keep eating it I’ll get used to it
It sounds as if you’ve made a huge change after being vegan!
I also like your pate idea…
thank you for posting this. i am seriously considering getting his book.
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Wardeh, I started learning about how nutrition affects tooth health several years ago and I was also startled to realize that what I had always assumed was fact about teeth wasn’t. More recently I was researching how that affects braces; my oldest two need them (they were raised vegetarian
), my sixth will need them (went on a low fat vegetarian way of eating when I was pg with him 
). The three kids in between don’t have perfect teeth but they won’t need braces. I’m waiting to see how the youngest three children develop since I learned about WAPF before they were born.
My conclusion is that there’s not much you can do once their permanent teeth are in as far as reshaping their faces. But in the early years I think you can actually widen their jaw bones with very, very good nutrition. I no longer believe that jaw structure is hereditary (I also have a crowded lower jar and dh had braces). If your young kids are already showing signs of a narrow jar, I think it would mean cutting out just about all phytic acid and seriously beefing up the cod liver oil. That’s my personal conclusion, anyway. We’ve been moving towards grain free for several months but I can’t see totally eliminating all grains and nuts (assuming they’re properly prepared).
You can buy a lot of cod liver oil and high quality foods for the $5000 you’d spend on braces for one child!
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OK, since I have a background in microbiology, I have to weigh in. I’m not a dentist and I’m sure that the issue of tooth decay is multi-faceted. But some bacteria DO eat sugars, carbohydrates, and thrive (and protein and…the list is infinite!) And some bacteria do produce acids as a results of eating these things. Yes, if you take a few bacteria and toss them into a bag of sugar or wheat flour, they’re not going to thrive. What is missing from that environment? Moisture, mainly (and the correct temperature and oxygen level if they’re smothered). So if you’re walking around devoid of moisture and oxygen, with a mouth crammed full of wheat flour or sugar so you can’t breathe, perhaps you will inhibit mouth bateria from doing their thing. A corollary would be that many of us culture bacteria (whcih digest the sugar/carb sources we feed them) to help them make acid to create yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, etc… Not saying that the level or kinds of bacteria present in a situation of rampant tooth decay are healthy or even ‘normal’–they would definitely be an imbalance to a healthy body!
Regardless of our background, we’re all scientists at heart and are trying to educate ourselves about traditional foods, etc. Just as we research and learn more about traditional foods, we need to question all of the information we receive, be that information from a USFDA representative or a naturopath or a traditional foods writer, etc.
I agree that without proper nutrition, our dental health could be in jeopardy. I see nothing wrong with trying to improve our nutrition–that’s my goal at least! It’s pretty well accepted (right? maybe that’s just my assumption) that by improving the balance of bacteria in the gut, often other seemingly unrelated areas that don’t ‘touch’ our gut are improved. So perhaps by improving our nutrition, and thus the balance of ‘healthy’ symbiotic bacteria in our bodies, we can improve our dental health and the balance of bacteria in our mouths, preventing dental decay.
this is fascinating. thanks for the post.
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Avivah – That’s what I’ve been telling myself when I think about ordering liver online for who knows how much (but maybe it is less than I think) – that it will be less expensive and less painful than braces. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Kristi – Interesting! So your point is that because our mouths are warm and moist that perhaps the bacteria ARE feeding on the sugar and flour? I sent your comment to Rami to see what he would say about this.
according to the introduction of nourishing traditions, the sugar and white flour contribute to tooth decay because they cause imbalances that set your body to actually pull calcium from teeth and bones, thus depleting your enamel.
i know for our family, we all had marked improvements in our teeth (even small cavities disappearing before they could be treated by the dentist) when we spent 12-18 months eating mostly raw foods. lots of raw veggies and seeds (mostly soaked on the seeds) and some sprouted grains. our dentists commented each time they saw one of us during this time and were amazed at our improved teeth. just anecdotal evidence, i know, but im pretty skeptical of the article which says raw seeds and vegetables, rather than sugar and flour, cause tooth decay! (i know there was more to his argument than that, but i cant get past the outrageousness of those claims.)
it can be so confusing to try and keep up with every new claim out there. i like to read about them, mull them over, do a little simple research, pray about it if there is any real confusion, and then let my own experience, and good old fashioned common sense guide me.
i have heard that one cause of crowding is that we (especially children) eat too many soft foods and/or do not chew properly (or enough) which means our jaws are not excercised properly. but i do think that genetics are involved to a certain extent as well. we already know our DNA accounts for how we look, including the shapes of our faces and the size of our teeth…
Gabrielle – Of course I agree with you that we should do simple research of our own before coming to conclusions.
I gather that the reason the raw seeds cause tooth decay is because the phytic acid blocks mineral absorption, causing our bodies to lack minerals or have a mineral imbalance that affects body chemistry. And the claim is made that not all phytic acid can be neutralized, even with pretty slow and thorough preparation methods. A healthy gut produces phytase to help with this and also Vitamin D helps with this. (according to Sally Fallon)
This makes sense to me. Nuts and seeds need special treatment just like grains is because they are ALL seeds. God put protective barriers in the seeds to preserve them until the time of germination. Those protective barriers can wreak havoc if we don’t do our best to work around them. I’m not sure if this is what you think is outrageous – or the claim that severe tooth decay warrants avoiding all nuts and seeds?
Kristi – Here is what Rami said in response to your comment.
I have worked in the dental field for over 15 years. The #1 reason why people get cavities is not enough prevention and poor diet. We live in a time where parents work all the time and load up the house with sugary drinks including cola,chips and fruit roll ups. Parents send their kids to brush their own teeth and don’t double check their work. Sealants are one of the first steps to cut down on the cavity rate. You need to have your kids on a exact six month professional cleaning schedule. This will allow you to seal the grooves of their teeth before they get cavities. This will in turn cut down on the bacteria in their mouth. No matter how hard you try, you CAN NOT clean out the grooves of your teeth. When kids get braces, most of the parents don’t take the time to make sure they cleaned their teeth properly or flossed. When kids get braces off, they usually have a bunch of decalcified areas or already have cavities. Waterpiks are great to help kids with braces to clean better. But braces are 100% worth it, not only for crowding but for function. Malocclusion will result in worn down teeth and notches at the gumline. We need to keep our mouths at a good PH. Cutting back on sugary and acidic things helps a lot. In our office we recommended a calcium phosphate paste and xylitol rinses. Another thing is that most of us don’t brush and floss as much as we should. Here is a good link: http://carifree.com/patients/solutions/prevent_cavities.html
I won’t have time to say everything I could here in response to Mr. Nagel’s response. I’m not sure it’s pertinent to my time to try to address the statements by someone who doesn’t accept the germ theory of disease. So I won’t. I’m just addressing the readers of your blog in general. There are SO MANY TYPES of bacteria, folks. And they’re just doing their thing–living, reproducing–and in the process of living, eating, respiring, excreting, sometimes things happen (cells get destroyed, acids get produced which wear away enamel, oh so many more things) which CAN make us sick. We don’t need to take it personally and start spreading lies about them. If we’re nutritionally depleted, we may not have the ability to effectively fight off an infection. So why NOT try and improve our bodies defenses by eating as nutritionally as possible (in addition to many other healthy things) so we can better protect ourselves? I’m not quite sure why this is even an issue–I keep wondering it this is just a way to spread fear of science, dentists, research (or perhaps an effect of being afraid of science, dentists, research)? We’re all talking about the same thing here–improving our nutrition–which will improve our bodies and their ability to thrive and not be damaged by the naturally occurring factors we face every day. Sometimes what ‘we’ (the collective we) face is not optimal–the abundance of refined sugar present in the SAD, for example. This sets the stage for bacteria to proliferate in an environment where it would perhaps otherwise, not be hospitable. So, did bacteria cause the cavity or did eating so much sugar which allowed the bacteria to grow cause the cavity or did the government cause the cavities by providing subsidies to sugar refiners or what? You know, I think it’s up to each of us to process these questions on a personal level and address the issues where we can–if we KNOW that too much crap food can cause a proliferation of cavity-causing bacteria in our mouths, are we not empowered then, to find a way to eat better? Well, I think WE (the type of ‘we’ reading this type of blog) are…perhaps some people will run out and try to take a pill to make it better…perhaps other people will try to make sure the government doesn’t subsidize the HFCS industry, etc. ‘We’ have to do what ‘we’ know to be best but the easiest way to do that is to empower ourselves with knowledge.
“Bacteria don’t cause cavities. If they did, then why bother to eat healthy? If bacteria caused disease, why eat healthy? It is obvious that a poor diet causes disease.” (From Ramiel Nagel’s response)
I agree that a poor diet can contribute to disease. How does a poor diet cause disease? In many ways. One of those ways is that it sets up the environment for pathogenic bacteria to wreck havoc in our bodies, including our teeth.
“If bacteria make plants sick, why use fertilizer, or compost to make the soil healthy?” (From Ramiel Nagel’s response)
I wasn’t talking about plants (was I?). I thought we were talking about teeth. But if you want to talk about plants, there ARE some species of bacteria that do make some plants sick.
“And yes, we do have a lot of bacteria in our body, but they are necessary for life. They don’t make us sick. Here is a quote from 1922 American Dental Association. Percy Howe, DDS “In previous reports we have stated that after a study of the microorganisms found in caries and in pyorrhea we attempted to reproduce dental lesions both by feeding and by inoculation with these various bacteria. In no case did we succeed in establishing dental disease by these means. It was only when we took up the study of foods that we obtained results.”” (From Ramiel Nagel’s response)
Like I said above, there are MANY types of bacteria…some are beneficial to us, some are not. I don’t see many people benefitting from having E. coli 0157:H7 happily entrenched in their gut. I’m sure that there has been a LOT MORE research performed in the dental field since 1922. I think anyone questioning basic science should know to do a thorough lit search on http://www.pubmed.com for starters.
Kristi – Thanks for answering with your perspective. I truly don’t know what to say.
My husband comes from a scientific background, so I’ll ask him to read through these comments and see what he thinks. He is reading Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A Price right now, and finds the studies absolutely convincing, without holes. Through diet, regardless of brushing and flossing habits, certain people groups have exhibited 100% immunity to tooth decay. So yes, I think you’re right that bacteria can flourish, but it also seems that an ideal body chemistry can prevent this. Like you said, “I agree that a poor diet can contribute to disease. How does a poor diet cause disease? In many ways. One of those ways is that it sets up the environment for pathogenic bacteria to wreck havoc in our bodies, including our teeth.” I’m not a scientist, but it seems like on this level, there is agreement.
I don’t know if it’s coming across, but I wholeheartedly think that if we were meant to brush our teeth with toothbrushes and fancy toothpastes and use dental floss every day, we would have been born with them in our mouthes, so to speak. If we were perfectly nourished, whatever that means, hopefully we wouldn’t need all those things. But most of us aren’t perfectly nourished (yet!), have started off life with deficiencies and have ‘acquired’ more deficiencies until we came to traditional foods so perhaps that is why it’s nice to have things like toothbrushes, etc., and a knowledge of why we’re using them, in our arsenal.
Let me suggest that knowledge that leads to truth does not come from advanced degrees, research studies or scientific theories. And while they each have value, the credential alone is neither necessary nor sufficient for finding truth. In other words, it doesn’t take a scientist to discern the truth. You can too! All it takes is keen observation, persistent seeking and an open mind. I encourage all of us to challenge our own thinking and that of others, but let’s do so in a spirit of cooperation.
On the salient question, it is my belief that dental cavities/caries are nothing more than the physical degeneration of the tooth caused by mineral deficiencies in the diet. We can talk about the chemistry of the saliva or good/bad bacteria, but the overwhelming conclusion is that proper diet prevents cavities and even arrests them if the mineral deficiency is corrected by diet. See the works of Dr. Weston A. Price for the details.
This same link between disease-resistance and a healthy diet was studied by Sir Albert Howard, who demonstrated that organic soils of microorganisms, fungi and invertebrates are directly related to the nutritional value of plants and conferred disease-resistance in the animals that ate them.
And finally, this all makes sense if a loving God created man in perfect form and function within a natural world designed to support his healthy development. When confronted with the pain and suffering of this world, I challenge myself to “live within the limits of God’s perfect design.” To me that means going back to the simple truths revealed to us in scripture. If its contrary to God, His Creation, or its natural laws, then I don’t waste a second thought on it. It is only then that I begin to experience his loving kindness, abounding grace, and overflowing blessings. I encourage you all to do the same.
Thank you all for contributing, and may God bless you in your search for truth. I pray the we may continue to do so together.
Very insightful response, Jeff.
Wardee, thank you for this site. I am thoroughly enjoying the eCourse!!
I have a longstanding interest in this subject on dental health. My youngest had the first cavities of any of my children (15, 7 and 3) and at only two years of age – being still frequently breastfed and never having had sodas, etc. She had to have two stainless steel crowns. Thankfully, she got a clean bill of health after six months and again after one year. We started using Vita-Myr toothpaste (full of good things like zinc, myrrh, cloves, folic acid and xylitol. I also read about a dentist that found better success with his pediatric patients by having them eat copious amounts of butter and cod liver oil as opposed to fluoride treatments. I knew fluoride was not an option. So what did we have to lose?
I continued to nurse her (even at night) against the dentist’s recommendation. I would brush her teeth and then nurse her to sleep. I still only brush her teeth once a day, in the evening. Her teeth are very healthy. I think her nutrition has made all the difference.
I have not fared as well as my children. I did not have the nourishing diet that they have had. I have hypothyroidism and am still fighting to bring my body into its best condition.
I am only too happy to hear that the new methods of food preparation which I am enjoying learning and incorporating will aid in this goal.
I do have a question… a past comment made reference to coffee (and I saw it listed among the foods to avoid – but with no explanation). Could you please tell me what he says about that in the book?
My husband, a coffee drinker, was very interested in what I was sharing about this post and he wanted to know – aside from the usual “for good nutrition, coffee should be avoided” with no persuasive argument to convince him. : )
For me, I have actually only recently developed a coffee “habit” by choice. The caffeine does nothing for me, so I’ll never be a “gotta have it to function in the morning” type. I actually started drinking it because I had read an article that said a regular, moderate amount of coffee has been proven to prevent Alzheimer’s. Hmmm… But I also recently read that it contributes to miscarriage. And then, today, when I was looking up information on galactorrhea, with which I am dealing, Marilyn Shannon in the book “Fertility, Cylces & Nutrition” said that caffeine irritates the breast tissue.
Combined with deleterious effects on dental health, I’d say my new coffee routine will be worth foregoing. And I would appreciate the information so that my husband will have the knowledge to decide if he wants to do likewise.
Thanks again! And God’s blessings on your sweet family!