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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Diet and the Genetics of Decay


Sitting on my couch I simultaneously rest and blog. I have for 3 days chosen to only ingest a liquid diet. An experiment of sorts on myself. I am juicing vegetables and fruits and "drinking" my meals. I have gone without solid food for 2 days now. I must say I feel fine. I am drinking alot of water, and I am having soup for dinner. Breakfast and lunch I had fruit juices. Interestingly enough (and those who know me will be amazed) I am not hungry. This is due to multiple things: first I have some extra weight that can support my metabolism, and I am getting nutrition. In our society we eat many foods, however are they nutrient rich foods? I can eat fast food all day and still be hungry...my body is trying to eat enough junk till it gets the proper nutrition. I can consume only fluids containing proper nutrition and my brain is satisfied. My real life lies someplace in between those 2 extremes. It does show me though that provided with the right fuel the body does not need the AMERICAN sized caloric intake. Interesting.
I of course must relate this to dentistry, as therein rests my purpose for blogging.
Our diet also impacts our teeth. While still forming our mothers' health and nutrition has been shown to prevent birth defects. While we are young our diet can start the clock of our lifespan. Yes the length of our lives have been shown (read TIME magazine "Epigenetics" Jan 18 2010) to be altered for better or worse by our young diet.
In the presence of sugar the bacteria in the mouth can live and thrive. Their metabolic by products will produce lactic acid. The more they eat the more acid they make and the faster our teeth will dissolve. On the contrary when we do not eat sugar at all bacteria that eat protein will thrive by default. These same bacteria can actually harm our gum tissue. Ps they are the same bacteria that make our breath smell when we have not eaten anything or brushed our teeth before talking to someone in the morning. There is much changed by eating right. Your teeth are just as affected by diet as the rest of your body.

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