The safest, most effective therapies for optimal health!

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by Ellen Landauer

Foods that Destroy Teeth

Foods that destroy teeth: the list is longer than you think and includes a wide variety of what most think of as very 'healthy' foods!

Conventional media does not come anywhere close to exposing what you are about to read...

PHOTO: Living in the Andean mountains, these Peruvian Indians are nowhere near a dentist. Do they look worried about that...?? (from Dr. Weston A. Price's classic, 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration')

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In virtually all these conventional (and holistic) articles, you get the list of the obvious foods that destroy teeth: soft drinks, sugar, candy, lemons, pickled foods, maybe even tomatoes, etc.

AND they don't tell you NOT to eat them - they gently suggest 'eating less' and 'rinsing and/or brushing after eating them.'

How's THAT for being sincerely concerned about your health!? AND they express these ideas in the most caring, solicitous tone!

Just how dumb do they think we are??!!

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Foods that Destroy Teeth:
What About the 'Control Group?'

In all the talk about foods that destroy teeth, little to no attention is given either to the kind of diet that does NOT destroy dental health - or to WHO are the people that eat this secret diet!

To gain insight on how to maximize dental health, it is vital to ask - which humans over the ages are the superbly healthy 'control group,' and what did (or do) they eat?

What could be the motivation to omit that info? WHY are the vast majority of websites, MD's, popular media, etc. NOT telling us we will be MUCH healthier when we eat what that 'control group' eats/ate?? (I know you can easily fill in the blanks on that  ;-).

Who are the people who would not even be having this discussion?

AND even worse - WHY are we being told that the foods eaten by the humans with outstanding dental (and overall) health are BAD for US?

If you are like most of my savvy readers, you know the answer to that one, too!

BELOW: Members of one group who would not have to talk about foods that destroy teeth. (Alaskan Eskimo mothers and babies from 'Nutrition and Physical Degeneration,' by Dr. Weston A. Price  

Oh - and when was the last time you saw babies like these?

Below, your list of foods to avoid to protect your dental health...

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Foods That Destroy Teeth:  ACIDIC CORROSIVE FOODS

First on the list of foods that destroy teeth are acidic foods. They are corrosive to tooth enamel and even more so to any exposed dentin (the layer below enamel). As people age exposed dentin is common. Likely you know about acidic foods. HOWEVER - what you probably never heard is that most plant foods have some degree of acidity.

A holistic dentist I went to many years ago surprised me by saying that ALL plant foods, including such seemingly innocuous ones as salad vegetables, have acids and other compounds that erode teeth! Back then, I considered virtually all plant-based foods healthy - and ate lots of them, so was resistant to such an idea. (I ALSO believed the propaganda that fruits like apples, which are moderately acidic, 'clean' the teeth)!

The obvious acidic foods that come to mind are citrus - lemon, orange, grapefruit. However apples, grapes, pears, peaches and pomegranates plus most other fruits contain a considerable amount of acids.

Add to that, the sugar. Even if you rinse your mouth or brush your teeth right after - some damage has already been done! AND any acids and sugar that remain in cracks and crevices after rinsing not only will continue to corrode teeth, but are likely to undergo fermentation, contributing MORE acidity. This is a common beginning of cavities.

"Hard as tooth enamel is, the high acid content in many fruits and fruit juices can cause it to weaken and demineralise over time. These softened areas of enamel may then become porous, allowing debris to work its way into the enamel. This also leads to discoloured, sensitive to extreme temperatures or even sweet foods, and eventually decay and need for special types of repair. The calcium in saliva can help strengthen enamel, according to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), but when the environment in your mouth is too acidic, remineralisation will not occur." (1)

You may stop and ask, "But fruits, especially citrus - and even many vegetables - contain large amounts of Vitamin C. High amounts of Vitamin C are needed to protect our health, are good for connective tissues, etc. - right?"

"How can we be healthy without large amounts of Vitamin C?"

ANSWER: The more carbs you eat, the more C you need. The less carbs you eat, the LESS Vitamin C you need! This is because glucose occupies the same receptors in our bodies as Vitamin C, obstructing availability of C. So large amounts of Vitamin C are needed to overcome that.  

NOTE: Vitamin C is found in meats and other animal foods. It is just one example of many nutrients that are more abundant in these foods than commonly recognized.

Do you know that animal-based foods contain notable amounts of Vitamin C? This is especially true of pasture-raised animal foods.

Think about it...

Nutrition from all that grass, weeds and other forage eaten by cows, sheep and fowl - builds up in their bodies and becomes concentrated in their tissues. Grass and weeds contain a good amount of vitamin C!! 

**NOTE: Raw or rare meats and other animal foods are needed as part of the diet as Vitamin C is destroyed by heat.

Our farm animals do us an amazing service; they turn plants - many of which WE could not even chew - into delicious, easy to metabolize foods that provide us concentrated nutrition. Every nutrient you get from plants can be obtained in concentrated form from animal foods!

ANOTHER side benefit is that all the animals that are our ancestral food source do us another mostly unsung favor...

If we were to eat foods that destroy teeth, like grass and weeds, the abundance of plant toxins would do us much harm.

However - cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, etc.  transform all those harmful plant toxins into safe, tasty, nourishing, easy to digest food for us. No enzyme inhibitors, oxalates, tannins and other phytochemicals, etc. make it into the finished product.

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PHOTO: Concentrated plant nutrients, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

So forget about spending $100.00 on that canister of nutritional / 'medical food' instant powder (ground up plants) to make a 'smoothie' - just fire up the grill for a thick, juicy pasture-grown T-bone steak!

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Foods that Destroy Your Teeth:
ALL CARBS

ALL sugars (carbs) create an acidic environment in your mouth and in your body.

It doesn't much matter whether these sugars are from brown rice, carrots or candy - they all do the same thing.

Dr. Frank Shallenberger, well-known Nevada holistic MD says, 'Eating ANY carb food is like eating chocolate cake!'

Carbs also rob you of nutrients: All carbs require your body to give up vitamns, minerals and amino acids to metabolize them. Therefore, carbs rob your whole body of minerals and many other nutrients, leading to weak bones, mood disorders and a long list of chronic diseases. Knowledgeable holistic MD's consider carbs the leading cause of cancer.

All carbs create inflammation in the body. And as you know, when sugar from fruits, grains - and ANY carb food is in contact with your teeth, it is directly breaking them down.

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Foods that Destroy Your Teeth: FIBROUS FOODS HIGH IN
CELLULOSE 

Fibrous plant foods are especially damaging, because chewing cellulose puts mechanical wear on the chewing surfaces of teeth (i.e. it grinds them down). Nuts like almonds are an obvious one, but anything with cellulose - even something like lettuce -does more or less the same.

We take it for granted that you can examine a horse's teeth and have a pretty good idea how old they are. Yet we remain clueless that this same wear and tear happens to our own teeth when we chew lots of nuts, seeds, celery, carrots and so on.

'Chew your food well,' they say. The better we chew our plant foods, and the more of them we eat, the faster our teeth grind down. Even horses, sheep and other animals whose teeth are designed to grind large amounts of roughage wear down their teeth over time.

So leave the 'rabbit food' for the rabbits!

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STICKY, PASTY FOODS

Foods that destroy teeth: 'You mean nut butters are BAD for me??'

Some years ago, a holistic dentist I visited made an interesting comment. 

He said, 'Often my patients embark on a plant-based diet because they believe it is healthier. I originally was surprised to consistently see their dental health getting much worse. Over time, I figured it out by asking a lot of questions of my patients.'

He added, 'What ends up happening is they substitute pasta, grains, nuts and nut butters for the meat, fish, dairy and eggs they were previously eating. I found that the new foods were the culprit - especially pasta and nut butters. All those foods are pasty and stick to teeth. When patients clean their teeth, any of that sticky material that remains creates conditions for decay.'

My personal experience affirms this. Once I eliminated nut butters, and other plant-based foods my teeth remained cleaner. Tartar build-up, which had been an issue on a mostly plant-based diet, was minimized.

NOW, I have virtually NO tartar on a 'carnivore diet' (raw dairy, eggs and meat).

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Foods that Destroy Teeth:
PHYTIC ACIDS

Foods that destroy teeth include phytic acids foods. Sunflower seeds are one popular example. These foods do damage in a variety of ways.

High phytic acids foods include all grains, nuts and legumes - basically anything that is a seed. Sprouted seeds also contain phytic acids in somewhat lower doses. Somewhat smaller amounts of phytic acids are also found in root vegetables. 

Phytic acid causes tooth decay by binding (capturing and sequestering / making unavailable) nutrient minerals from foods (and supplements) as they pass through your digestive tract. You don't get to absorb them!

These are minerals you need for bones, teeth and all body functions. Calcium, magnesium, phosphorous especially; also zinc, iron, copper and molybdenum, etc. Phytic acid binds these essential minerals in insoluble complexes that pass through the intestines and carry them right out of your body.

Phytic acid is ALSO known as an 'enzyme inhibitor.' That is, it significantly lowers the ability of our digestive enzymes to break down the foods we eat for absorption. Amylase, pepsin and all other digestive enzymes are disabled. So, besides binding minerals, phytic acid foods cause nutrient depletion by not allowing our enzymes to work so we can be nourished by our foods.

Besides causing tooth decay and gingivitis due to mineral deficiency, phytic acids foods can result in anemia and other health issues.

Despite propaganda to the contrary, recommended measures such as soaking, sprouting and cooking - even when cooking water is discarded - have little effect of reducing the dangers of phytic acids.

You might be interested to know that animal based foods have NO phytic acid!

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Foods That Destroy Teeth:
High Omega 6

Many studies have concluded that high omega-6 foods in the diet increase inflammation (2) (3) (4)

NOTE: Some sites state that fatty meats, chicken and other animal foods are high in omega-6. They are right if talking about CONVENTIONAL meats. Those animals are fed LOTS of grains which are high in omega-6. In conventionally raised meats, omega-6 concentrates over time in the animals' tissues.

However, pasture-raised organic meats, dairy and eggs, and wild-caught fish, contain a very healthy omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. So don't be misled by propaganda which implies ALL fatty meats are bad.

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REFERENCES

1) https://www.colgate.com/en-in/oral-health/nutrition-and-oral-health/acidic-fruits-and-teeth-effects-0216

2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29610056/

3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808858/

4) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/diagnosis-diet/201712/cooling-brain-inflammation-naturally-food

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Ellen Landauer is an expert with over 40 years in-depth study and experience of the safe and effective use of nutritional supplements, botanical extracts and detoxification methods.

She is Certified as an Advanced Practitioner of Structural Integration body therapy developed by Dr. Ida P. Rolf - also known as Rolfing. This hands-on therapy is the deepest, most comprehensive body alignment therapy. 

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Ellen Landauer is also a  PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

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To learn more about Ellen Landauer, see her detailed bio HERE

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