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Lifestyles for Healthy Living |
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Part One - Dietary and Other Complements
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Dr. Paul Gilbert
The purpose of this first section of a three part series is to introduce you to the kinds of foods, drinks and food ingredients that will help you keep your teeth, gums and whole body in a healthy state. Some non-food activities that also contribute to a healthy lifestyle are discussed further down the page.
You may find that some of the holistic advice on this page contradicts conventional wisdom about health and disease. It is hoped that you will recognize the value of this information and apply it to your life.
You may find that some of the holistic advice on this page contradicts conventional wisdom about health and disease. It is hoped that you will recognize the value of this information and apply it to your life.
Do you want to have healthy teeth and gums, because you believe that this will eliminate costly dental treatments? What you may not realize is that to have healthy teeth and gums you must focus on taking better care of yourself, and not necessarily better care of your teeth or gums.
To accomplish this, you must follow a simple principle. This guiding principle will make it easy for you to know when you are on track to keeping your teeth, gums and body as healthy as possible - or when you are not.
So here is the principle:
EVERYTHING THAT GETS INTO YOUR BODY IS EITHER A COMPLEMENT OR AN INSULT TO YOUR WELL-BEING!
To accomplish this, you must follow a simple principle. This guiding principle will make it easy for you to know when you are on track to keeping your teeth, gums and body as healthy as possible - or when you are not.
So here is the principle:
EVERYTHING THAT GETS INTO YOUR BODY IS EITHER A COMPLEMENT OR AN INSULT TO YOUR WELL-BEING!
Below is a comprehensive list of complements to your health, and the health of your teeth and gums. Start with just one or two items from this list of basic, essential complements, incorporate them into your diet, and then slowly make additional changes that will make your lifestyle healthier. Limiting the foods that you eat to organic will automatically exclude all the insults to your well-being from non-organic, conventional foods.
To make your teeth, gums and whole body healthy you must increase your intake of complements to your well-being by:
To make your teeth, gums and whole body healthy you must increase your intake of complements to your well-being by:
- Consuming foods and drinks, including fruits and vegetables that are organic, whole grain, unprocessed, unpasteurized, and preferably raw. Whole grain foods provide you with essential amounts of insoluble and soluble fiber, necessary for the health of your gut and protection against colon cancer. Organic plant foods are more nutrient rich, especially with minerals and vitamins, than their non organic counterparts, and they generally taste much better. To obtain the maximum nutritional advantage of these foods, chew each mouthful completely before swallowing.†
It may be helpful to know that foods along the walls of a supermarket, are generally healthier than the packaged, processed foods you pass on shelves on the inside aisles. However, the safest way to buy is to learn from this website how to be selective, regardless of where the food is located.
Organic crops are generally much better and healthier for you than conventional crops. They must be grown with no chemical or synthetic pesticides and herbicides, without genetically modified or bioengineered genes, and in soil that has not been contaminated with petroleum based or sewage sludge based fertilizers. Organic products cannot be irradiated and they cannot contain preservatives, flavor enhancing chemicals or traces of heavy metals and other contaminants beyond tolerances set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Organic livestock must have access to the outdoors and cannot be given antibiotics or growth hormones.
You can distinguish organic produce from conventional fruits and vegetables because organic produce will have an identifying label or tag which has five numbers, always starting with the number 9. Organic packaged foods are identified by an organic label from one of several reputable certifying agencies or organizations. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has a reputation for its high organic standards, and Quality Assurance International (QAI), a private corporation, are two such certifying agencies.
It’s also helpful to know that:
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If you want more information about organic farming, go to the website of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group at www.ewg.org.
Fermented foods and cultured vegetables provide an abundance of probiotic, or friendly, beneficial, good bacteria, which not only make vitamins for you, they also kill unfriendly organisms and keep them out of your gut. So probiotic bacteria contribute to your digestive and intestinal health. Of even greater importance, probiotic bacteria improve your immune function because they have specific, healthy, beneficial effects on your immune system, such as increasing the number of natural killer cells.
Did you know that approximately eighty percent or your immune system is in your gut? That’s why an abundance of probiotic bacteria from fermented and cultured foods are needed there for your immune system to function optimally. One way you can be sure that you are getting an abundance of healthy probiotic bacteria is to take an organic probiotic supplement with a high probiotic count.
- Eating one third of your daily food consumption raw, or at least a good portion of it, because raw plant foods contain live digestive enzymes. Cooking breaks down and destroys the naturally occurring digestive enzymes in foods.
Digestive enzymes are critical for properly starting the digestive process, which requires a lot of energy. The more energy it takes to digest food, the less that is available for other physical and mental activities. The end result is that digestion of enzyme deficient food is hard on your body, draining it of its natural vitality, which you experience as not feeling well. So, the energy efficient digestion which you get from raw foods is essential for achieving and maintaining vibrant health.
Please be aware that organic milk is not the same as raw milk, because organic milk is pasteurized, and the pasteurization process literally cooks and destroys the live digestive enzymes found in raw milk. Furthermore, the cows that produce organic milk may have been raised under the regimented conditions of a factory type large scale farm, which negatively affects the quality of the fats in the milk, rather than being exercised under free range conditions. If you want milk that is really organic and healthy for you, it must be raw, not pasteurized. Raw milk from cows that have been raised and milked under modern sanitary conditions is safe to drink.
- Whenever possible, eating foods that are locally grown or raised on small farms. Why? Because foods that are locally grown and in season, meaning they are picked, loaded, shipped by ground and unloaded at the food market in one day are much less likely to lose nutrient value from the farm to the market than are foods shipped from greater distances or from foreign markets. Small farms are much more likely to be family run by farmers who still care for the earth, than industrial type mega sized farms that are operated primarily as businesses. In addition, your food market can maintain significantly greater oversight over small local farms and orchards.
- Eating and enjoying fermented foods and cultured vegetables. Some examples are yogurt, natto and miso, (fermented soy beans), kefir (fermented milk from mammals), and sauerkraut.
Fermented foods and cultured vegetables provide an abundance of probiotic, or friendly, beneficial, good bacteria, which not only make vitamins for you, they also kill unfriendly organisms and keep them out of your gut. So probiotic bacteria contribute to your digestive and intestinal health. Of even greater importance, probiotic bacteria improve your immune function because they have specific, healthy, beneficial effects on your immune system, such as increasing the number of natural killer cells.
Did you know that approximately eighty percent or your immune system is in your gut? That’s why an abundance of probiotic bacteria from fermented and cultured foods are needed there for your immune system to function optimally. One way you can be sure that you are getting an abundance of healthy probiotic bacteria is to take an organic probiotic supplement with a high probiotic count.
- Including in your diet food supplements, such as coenzyme Q10 which plays a significant and vital role in the health of your gums, and replacing food enzymes destroyed by the heat of cooking, by taking a live digestive enzyme supplement which will give your body the same nutritional advantage obtained from eating raw, uncooked foods.
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If you are vegan or vegetarian, please ignore the next two bulleted sections.
- Eating fish that live in a wild environment, and are not farmed. Farmed fish are treated with chemicals and fed non-organic processed foods that also contain chemicals. When you eat fish, you get everything that’s in the fish. Wild fish are rich in omega-3 fats that are just plain good for you and your heart. The best wild fish are fatty ones like salmon, herring, mackerel, trout and sardines which are rich in omega-3 fats containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
Wild fish are a great complement to your health, as long as you avoid fish that are often high in mercury, like tuna and swordfish. In general, the larger the fish, the more mercury it is likely to contain.
Some other foods, primarily plant seeds and their oils, contain the omega-3 fat alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Common flax (linseed) and canola (rapeseed), are examples. ALA does not provide the same health benefits as EPA and DHA, because ALA in your diet must first be converted in your body to EPA and the conversion is limited.
- Eating poultry, animals and livestock that have been raised under organic conditions and fed only organic foods. Eating poultry, animals and livestock that have been raised under natural, organic free range conditions and fed only organic foods has two distinct advantages for your health. First, you avoid chemical pesticides and herbicides, antibiotics and growth hormones that get into animals when they are raised under non-organic conditions, and second, the saturated fats in animals raised under organic, conditions are both essential and healthy for you.
Make sure that any organic beef you eat comes from cows that have been allowed to free range outside on grass, rather than having been fed grains such as corn. This is true even if the corn is organic. Cows are healthiest, and so is their meat, when they free range outside on grass.
- Using packaged foods that are either certified organic, or contain only all natural ingredients. If a product is labeled all natural, make sure it doesn’t contain ‘natural flavors’ and the manufacturer clearly states that their product contains no genetically modified ingredients. In part two of this series you will find an explanation of why natural flavors and genetically modified ingredients are unhealthy for you even though they are allowed by the Food and Drug Administration to be considered as natural. You can avoid this problem by buying organic foods.
- Drinking plenty of plain, non-fluoridated water. Adequate water is necessary for proper hydration of your body, which is essential for flushing out toxins. Water that has been filtered through a reverse osmosis filter is virtually free of all chemicals, including fluoride.
Fluoride is a poison, whether it is in the water naturally or it is added to the water in the misguided assumption that it will stop cavities in your teeth. It doesn’t prevent cavities. If your dentist tells you that fluoride in drinking water is beneficial because it prevents cavities, your dentist hasn’t read all the science, including a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association that clearly states that fluoride in drinking water has no systemic benefit. In other words, swallowing water with fluoride is useless as a means to control cavities.
In addition, you will need to:
- Wash your hands regularly using plain, all natural or preferably organic, soap and water. When your immune system is strong enough, it is capable of fighting off viruses or other germs, even if they enter your body. Washing your hands provides an extra barrier of protection. If you must use a hand sanitizer, make sure the only active ingredient is alcohol, because germs don’t become resistant to alcohol.
- Exercise regularly, and consistently. Besides the well known cardio vascular benefits of aerobic exercise, it will help you get rid of poisons already in your body by activating your lymph system, which will transport toxins in your body for excretion through your skin. Aerobic exercise also contributes to a slightly alkaline internal environment in your body that disease provoking germs cannot thrive in. Exercising outdoors when the sun is high in the sky will enable you to produce much needed vitamin D3 from sunshine on your exposed skin. Engaging in a combination of aerobic exercise and weight lifting exercise will make your whole body fit.
- Breathe clean air. While this may seem obvious, finding it is sometimes a challenge. Moving to a new location, changing jobs, and quitting smoking are some suggestions. Make breathing clean air a priority.
- Finally, get sufficient sleep and preferably avoid stressful situations as much as you can. If you can’t avoid stressful conditions in your life, then at least manage them.
There are numerous techniques for doing this. Chiropractic adjustment and yoga are two of them. Finding caring and fun relationships both at home and at work can work wonders. Transforming your work into something meaningful that you love doing is a fantastic stress breaker. So is belief in God.
By taking as many as possible of the actions described on this page, you will help create an internal, slightly alkaline, health promoting environment in your body which will make your immune system very strong and your teeth, gums and whole body as healthy as possible.
Are you concerned about your teeth or gums? Do you have specific concerns about mercury in your teeth, root canals, gum disease, or any other dentally related issue? If you answered yes, then let Dr. Gilbert help you address those concerns with a personal Dental Advice Consultation. To arrange for a consultation, go to the Dental Advice Consultation page on this website and complete the simple form on that page.
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†Some people believe that we should eat a low grain diet similar to the largely animal diet of early (Paleolithic) humans, before agriculture and farming were developed. This diet presumably was healthier than later human diets that contain a significant amount of grains. However, there is a good deal of controversy surrounding this belief. Humans are omnivorous, meaning they can eat and digest both grains and animal foods and evidence indicates that Paleolithic humans did, in fact, eat grains. Is today’s low grain Paleolithic diet actually healthier than other diets? That is up to you, the reader, to decide.