How to whiten teeth naturally for a happy healthy smile.

Between my husband and I, we have had more then our fair share of "tooth issues" over the years. Knowing what I know now about how diet, specifically grains and other inflammatory foods, affects the body, and seeing how much our health has improved by removing almost all grains/legumes and vegetable oils from our diet, and consuming properly soaked nuts instead of un-soaked,  it's no wonder we have dealt with quite a few cavities in our time (before said new diet). Sugar is not the only villain in tooth decay, phytic acid (mostly found in grains, legumes and nuts) and gut imbalances play a huge role as well. We have been on a mission in the past few months to remineralize our teeth (that sounds weird at first, but your teeth are bones, and your bones remineralize- like when you break a bone and it heals, or you work on adding bone mass when you have osteoporosis). The remineralizing protocol is for another post, but introducing it is pertinent to this post- I also wanted to whiten my teeth, and after reading about some of the ingredients in my "super clean hippie" toothpaste (I was using Desert Essence SLS/Flouride free with tea tree oil and neem oil), I decided I was going rogue and getting rid of the toothpaste for good. Screw putting questionable ingredients into my mouth just to give me a false sense of protection from decay! Side note: Please don't use commercial toothpastes - Crest, Colgate, etc- they are full of plastics (yep), chemicals and sugar (seriously) and do more harm then good.

So then, what are we doing to naturally clean and whiten our teeth?

It's super simple. And I promise you, my mouth is just a clean and fresh and tingly as it was when I was using store bought toothpaste- more so, actually.

My tooth whitening/chemical free tooth care regiment:

MORNING:
1. Tongue scrape first thing in the morning. LITERALLY first thing. I wake up, go to the bathroom, and scrape my tongue. It is a key player in maintaining a healthy mouth- there are a lot of toxins and gross things that accumulate on your tongue in the night, and you want to clean it off first thing (before you eat or drink anything) so that you don't swallow them back into your body.

2. Oil pull. I am currently using sesame oil (helps to warm the sinuses and clear sinus congestion) but coconut oil is great for overall mouth health and whitening. I have dedicated a whole blog post to oil pulling, so if you want details check that post out. This step is a huge part of the whitening.

3. Floss and brush. I floss with silk floss (no plastic!) and then brush. Right now I am using my remineralizing tooth powder that I make at home (which I will follow up this post with info on that), but you can easily replace toothpaste with baking soda and peppermint essential oil. Take your clean toothbrush, wet it, dip it in a jar of baking soda (aluminum free) and then put one drop of essential oil (spearmint and clove oil work well too) on it and brush away. It will feel very different the first few times you do it, but I promise your mouth will feel nice and clean. The baking soda is a mild but enamel safe way to clean and lighten teeth, and the essential oil is antibacterial.

4. Rinse with homemade mouthwash: 3 parts water to one part hydrogen peroxide and 2-3 drops essential oil (I use peppermint, it is refreshing as hell). The peroxide naturally whitens, and the essential oil leaves you fresh and minty.

EVENING:
1. Brush with activated charcoal. Here is the real whitening superstar! Activated charcoal is something we should all have in our medicine cabinets. You can use it for poisoning situations (food poisoning, actual poisoning, etc), and it absorbs toxins from the body rapidly, then moves them out of your body without harming you. The same is true for your mouth- when you brush with activated charcoal, it binds to all the crap deep down inside your (porous) teeth and in your gums, and pulls it out. Who doesn't want that? The only funny thing is that you look kind of crazy, like a little kid who ate a bunch of oreos and it's all over their teeth. Brush brush brush, spit, rinse (be careful in your sink- porous material will soak it up and it can stain!) and then move to the next step...

2. Brush and floss and rinse as outlined above. I swear the charcoal will come out of your teeth entirely, and you won't look like a very scary person with black teeth. But you will look like a person with a fresh, white smile that was obtained without using really scary bleaching chemicals!

Simple as that. I have noticed a huge difference, and my mouth feels great. I feel better knowing I am not putting anything questionable into my mouth (therefore my body), and that I am not spending a bunch of money on scary chemicals to assuage my vanity. Let me know if you try it, and good luck not laughing at yourself in the mirror when you have black teeth!

How to be a wellness warrior this cold and flu season...

Cold and Flu season is upon us! My acupuncturist warned me of a nasty flu going around right now, and immediately I started my cold and flu season wellness routine. Throughout my childhood, and all of my adult life, I have gotten sick. Colds, flu, bronchitis, strep, chronic sinus infections... you name it, I get it. I mostly attribute this to my immune system being under attack from gluten ingestion, but after a particularly rough illness last winter/early spring (I swear I was sick for 5 months straight) when I had been off gluten for a few months already, I realized that I still wasn't taking care of myself enough (my therapist really helped me to see that one!) and I have seriously upped the ante on self care since I made it through my experience with the winter death plague of 2012-2013 (seriously, it was awful.)  I routinely go to yoga, acupuncture, chiropractor, and therapy all to help manage stress (I have some icky family issues that are unresolvable, but must be healthily managed in order for me to stay sane), because we all know that stress can be the tipping factor in getting sick or staying healthy. Aside from all that, I have a few key things that I do to ward off potential sickness when it seems like everyone around you is dropping like flies- if I could hole up in my house and just avoid all people (like that person standing behind you in the grocery store line, hacking up a lung), I would, but alas we cannot totally remove ourselves from the outside world... I am going to tell you the home remedies I use to ward off/treat sickness, and I am going to declare my goal of a sickness free fall and winter season this year! I am going to make self care my priority this winter, and I hope you do too, and for those of you who feel just too busy to take care of yourself because you must take care of others, remember that even a few minutes of self care a day will help you to stay sane and be better prepared to keep your family happy and healthy in the onslaught of flu season!

Wellness Arsenal:
-Black Elderberry Syrup: This stuff is the bomb! (sorry, I was a child of the 90's) I take a teaspoon every day, and it is super effective at warding off colds and flu's, especially of the viral origin. It tastes yummy, and is safe for pregnant women and children to take (in fact, I would encourage both of those groups to take it regularly!) I use it as a preventative measure, but you can also use it to decrease the duration of your sickness with a few extra doses a day if you are already sick.

-Probiotics: Woo-hoo for good bugs! I also take a probiotic supplement every day (right now I am doing a 100 billion culture pill) to make sure my gut is populated with happy healthy positive bugs that can help to knock out any bad bugs that come creeping in. We know now that your immune system is in your gut, so you must must must take care of it in order to not get sick. Diet plays a huge role in that, but almost everyone can benefit from a probiotic supplement. It is safe for pregnant women and kids as well. Side note: You can get probiotics from eating yogurt, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, etc... but you would have to eat a crap ton of those things to get anywhere near the amount you need to kick the flu's butt and keep your digestive system happy. Take a probiotic, and keep eating normal amounts of happy bug laden foods.

-Colloidal Silver/Oregano Oil: Both are potent anti-bacterials, and really work to knock out any bad bacteria that find their way into your body. I don't take either of these as preventatives, but they are very effective when you have that "tickle in your throat/might be starting to feel icky/been around a sick person" situation going on. Oregano oil does kill indiscriminately, so make sure you take your probiotics (not at the same time!) when you are taking oregano oil so that you don't kill off all your good bugs too. Both taste pretty horrible, but I have be able to find Oregano Oil in capsules so that makes it a bit easier to handle. You don't want to take these for too long, and if you are pregnant, don't take them. I am not sure about children taking them, you always want to check with your doctor/naturopath first. I have found if I hit them pretty hard right when I first start to get sick, they work like a charm and knock those bugs right out, especially for sinus infections.

-Garlic: I could wax poetic about garlic for hours. We LOVE garlic in this household. My husband and I eat a clove raw everyday (we always both smell like garlic-it's a good thing we found each other!) I know that sounds super intense, and I am not going to lie, it is, but I have found it to be one of the most powerful preventative measures to do in order to not get sick. Cooking gets rid of the compounds that fight infection, so in order to use it as medicine you must consume it raw. If you can't stand the taste/get it down, chop it up and put it in a tablespoon of honey and eat it- it totally helps take the intensity of the garlic down. It is safe for pregnant women (no more then one raw clove daily though)

-FERMENTED Cod Liver Oil: it sounds disgusting, and it tastes pretty horrible, but it is the BEST form of Omega 3's and vitamin D for your body (aside from getting vitamin D from the sun, which most of us don't). I am not going to get into the nitty gritty of this amazing supplement (it helps regulate hormones, helps your sleep, helps your immune system, provides readily available vital nutrients) because soon here I am going to give it it's own post, but suffice to say this stuff is the most important supplement I take. I have seen very tangible results from taking it daily, and would recommend it to everyone, especially women and children. (Emphasis on FERMENTED- it is made in a traditional method, as opposed to regular cod liver oil that is stripped of nutrients when processed).

-Hydrogen Peroxide:  A dropper full of drugstore bought hydrogen peroxide in each ear works wonders on knocking out an earache/sinus issue. I lay down with a towel on my pillow, and put a dropper full in one ear (ear up) and sit with it in there until it stops bubbling (it feels really weird at first, but then it's kind of cool), and then switch ears. We do this at any sign of cold, flu, sinus infection, ear ache. It works.

-ACV/Manuka/Ginger/Lemon Brew: At any hint of sickness, I brew up this concoction and drink it throughout the day. Apple Cider Vinegar is amazing for your body (it will also get it's own post soon) and will help any digestive upset that sickness causes, as well as boost the immune system (you must get raw unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar, with "the mother", in order for it to be effective). It contains good bugs in there to help your system, and really works at clearing out congestion. Manuka honey is a wonder food from New Zealand, a honey that is from bees who forage on Manuka trees (a Tea Tree species), and it is full of anti-viral/bacterial/fungal properties, much more so then normal raw honey. It is expensive, but totally worth it (side note: I use it as a face mask and it makes your skin glow!). Ginger and lemon are both sickness fighting superstars, and when you brew up fresh ginger root to make the tea and add lemon to it, with a dash of ACV and Manuka, you will be doing your immune system a huge favor.

My other must do things to fight a illness that has started to come on: remove dairy from your diet (it is mucus forming, and you want your mucus membranes to be nice and slippery and healthy, not all gunky, so that the bacteria/virus can't stick to it), use the neti pot daily to wash nasal passages to clear any funk that might have made it's way up there, and refrain from drinking any juice/eating most fruits (these things increase mucus and are very cooling to the body, which is really bad for you when you are getting sick- if you want vitamin C, eat cooked peppers and other vitamin C rich, warming foods, or take a supplement).

That's everything! I am wishing you a warm, sickness free fall! Stay healthy so you can get outside and enjoy this beautiful season- I know that is my goal! Cheers!
Disclaimer: I AM NOT A DOCTOR- always check with yours when you are sick, and before you use home remedies, especially if you are on prescription drugs or have other illnesses. These are just personal things I do to stay well, and you should always do your own homework about any remedy before you take it.