Healthy eating is simple. Michael Pollan put it most famously: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Healthy eating can also be hard - at least if it involves pivoting from the standard American diet to real food. After all, the ultra-processed products that...
Originally posted April 14, 2021 “Avoid nitrates,” we’re told, as if all nitrates were alike. But plenty of perfectly healthy foods contain them naturally: beets, radishes, turnips, leafy green vegetables, onion, garlic, apples, watermelon, grapes, and more. No,...
Early on in the pandemic, we saw a good amount of research on how certain oral hygiene practices, such as tongue cleaning and the use of various rinses, might slow the spread of COVID or offer some protection from the virus. Since then, science has offered...
“Avoid nitrates,” we’re told, as if all nitrates were alike. But plenty of perfectly healthy foods contain them naturally: beets, radishes, turnips, leafy green vegetables, onion, garlic, apples, watermelon, grapes, and more. No, what the infamous “they” are...
When a study has yet to be peer reviewed, you should take it with a proverbial grain of salt. But if new research out of U Mass proves to be correct, it offers another nice reminder of how the mouth is a window to the body. Our earlier post about COVID severity and...
One of the oft-mentioned upsides of stevia is that it has no apparent downsides. But now a new study in Molecules has called that into question. Like your mouth, your gut is home to trillions of bacteria. Some are helpful; others, not so much. And just as with your...
Oxygen. Food. Water. Sleep. These are non-negotiable. Sure, we can exist for a certain amount of time without them, but after a point, you run into trouble. Stop breathing, say, for more than a few minutes, and brain damage starts to occur. Similarly, you need...
Depending on how much online surfing you allow yourself during the pandemic, you may have seen a bit of mouthwash click-bait recently. Here are just a few of the headlines we’ve seen: So which is it? Does it help or not? Inspiring those headlines was a new paper...
One of the things we stress in biological dentistry is prevention. After all, even the most beautiful dental restorations are no match for living, natural tooth structure. So we stress optimal nutrition, great home hygiene, and other aspects of a healthy lifestyle...
In the interest of health and safety, many folks are staying home a whole lot more than they’re used to right now. Even if you’re busy working or schooling from home, you’re probably still going a little stir crazy. Sure it’s tempting to cocoon yourself on the...
If you’re looking to lower your risk of disease, exercise is some of the best medicine there is - not just for systemic health but oral, too. It reduces inflammation. It reduces chronic stress. Do those, and you’re doing your body, brain, teeth, and gums a big old...
Whether sipping drive-thru, at-home automatic drip, or java from that single-serve maker in the break room at work, most adults in North American sure love their coffee, which could be one reason scientists regularly study the health benefits of this ever-popular...
With the whirlwind of the season in full swing, it’s easy to get caught up in the holiday hustle, especially when it comes to presents. Stores are open late, and you’re inundated with ads promising the perfect holiday gifts for each and every loved one. Your...
Many major cities are facing a new transportation challenge - those rentable dockless electric scooters that popped up here in St. Louis early last year. They’re certainly popular, and for plenty of reasons. All you need to do is download an app, find the nearest...
If your teeth hurt, it usually means that you have a dental issue; but “usually” isn’t always. Sometimes tooth pain can have nothing to do with the teeth at all. One of the most common causes of non-dental toothache is pain from the muscles involved in chewing....
We know it hasn’t been long since we raved about the wonders of vitamin D - for your bones, gums, teeth, immune system, mental health, and more - but what can we say? The good news just keeps on coming! Earlier this month, JAMA Pediatrics published a 6-year study...
When you get right down to it, you don’t really need toothpaste to clean your teeth. It’s the mechanical action of brushing – and flossing – that breaks up the bacterial biofilm (plaque) that forms on your teeth between cleanings. Oh, toothpaste can make the job a...
There’s much we look forward to in this new year – not the least of which is this blog’s 10 year anniversary, hard as it is to believe. Yet in just a few weeks, the Tooth/Body Blog will be a decade old – a decade through which we’ve covered everything from dental...
Feeling a little stressed this holiday season, or are you as relaxed as you can be? If it’s the latter, count yourself lucky – and in the minority. According to a Healthline survey, most of us experience this as a stressful time of year. That includes 65% of...
Sometimes, a person can develop a raging bacterial infection that can only be controlled with antibiotics. When this happens, it makes good sense to use them. Unfortunately, we live in an age in which antibiotics have been severely overused. Sometimes, they’re...