It’s one of the concerns of modern life: are we putting so many toxins in our body that we are actually making ourselves sick? One way that people have tried to tackle this problem is by using cleanses to help remove the toxins from the body and hopefully lead to healthier living.
Unfortunately, one of the most popular cleanses, the lemonade diet cleanse, is actually very damaging to your teeth, as it constantly bathes the teeth in damaging acid. Fortunately, Elle Magazine’s editors have assembled a way to get the cleanse benefits without doing a cleanse.
Start the Morning with a Glass of Lemon Water
You don’t have to cut lemons out entirely. There’s still some benefit to be had from getting the dose of antioxidants that come with the lemons, and drinking just one glass in the morning means you won’t be constantly exposing your teeth to the effects. Just remember to rinse your mouth with water and wait a while before having breakfast.
Use Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal has sometimes been proposed as a teeth whitening solution. It’s not really effective, but it’s not harmful for your teeth, either. It’s too soft to be really abrasive, and it does have the ability to absorb toxins in the body. Just mix some with some water and drink.
Drink Bone Broth
If you’re having a Cup O’ Noodles at lunch, cut it out. The saltwater broth doesn’t have much in the way of nutrients. Bone broth, on the other hand, is full of nutrients that can support healthy teeth and bones, which can even help you during recovery from dental implant surgery.
Cut out Processed Food
Cup O’ Noodles is probably just one of the many processed foods you have in your diet. You may not be able to completely eliminate them, but if you try to eat less, it will help. You’ll be eating less sugar, which can help your teeth, and as a side benefit you’ll probably be eating less MSG, which can exacerbate TMJ symptoms.
Eat Three Meals (No Snacking!)
We dentists love this principle because nothing is worse for your teeth than snacking all day, which feeds oral bacteria, letting them make acid to attack your teeth all day long. This is similar to a cleanse because it gives your body time to digest foods and move them through your digestive system.
Increase the Cacao Percentage on Your Chocolate
Chocolate isn’t just delicious. It doesn’t just improve your mood. It’s also rich in antioxidants that help your body fight disease and environmental toxins. But the amount of benefit you get from chocolate depends on the cacao level in the chocolate. That’s the amount of actual natural bean in the chocolate, and the higher the cacao level, the less milk and sugar.
As a side benefit, chocolate can help relieve TMJ symptoms.
Spice Up Your Diet
Spices also contain a lot of antioxidants. They can help you enjoy foods without having to rely on salt, sugar, and fat to make them taste good. And many of them have healing properties
End the Night with Chamomile Tea
Chamomile tea is great for sleeping because it relaxes the body, but that’s not all. It helps your body digest food and pass it through the system, which gives less time for toxins to migrate into your body. It’s also good for migraines.
The lesson of this list is that if you’re doing it right, healthy habits for your body are also healthy habits for your teeth.
If you would like to learn more healthy habits for your teeth, please call (610) 272-0828 for an appointment with a Philadelphia dentist at Dental Excellence of Blue Bell.
