Hello, my friend! How are you?
With the cooler weather and the return of cold and flu season, I'd like to share a simple (but powerful) "health hack" that can keep you healthy over the coming months and years beyond: optimizing your oral microbiome. I'm sure you'll learn a lot from this newsletter so be sure to read to the end!
But first: As a reminder, fall is a perfect time to shift away from raw cool foods into warm cooked foods. Due to my recent hospital procedure and subsequent cold virus, I've been so enjoying a variety of delicious soups lately including this delicious (and easy) tomato soup! By the way, thank you to everyone who reached out after last month's newsletter with condolences and well wishes. Your support means a lot to me.
But first: an admin task:
As a reminder, I have changed up how I do newsletters. The purpose of this newsletter is to bring you health tips, information, special offers, and personal stories I don't share anywhere else. This is intended to enhance the experience for patients working with me + provide plenty of value for non-patients too.
**For clinic updates (price updates, move notifications, etc), I have a separate mailing list. To be added to this list, simply reply to this email requesting to be added.
Hack your health through your... mouth?
Do you ever think about your mouth? Most people focus on their gut, hormones, or nervous system, but your mouth has its own microbiome—and it plays a big role in your gut and inflammation levels. Digestion starts in the mouth, and every time you swallow, oral microbes travel to your stomach and intestines. In Chinese medicine, tongue assessment has long been used for diagnosis—something the Western world is only beginning to catch up on.
Just like a healthy gut, a healthy mouth contains a variety of beneficial bacteria. Most people's mouths are also home to a variety of bad bacteria, which can grow out of control in response to several things:
- high sugar diet
- alcohol or tobacco use
- consumption of acidic foods and drinks (think animal products, grains, soda, fruit juice, sparkling water)
- infrequent brushing and flossing
- eating and drinking too frequently
Problems associated with an unhealthy oral microbiome
A less-than-optimal oral microbiome can not only contribute to gum disease and dental problems, but has also been proven to contribute to a wide variety of other health issues including:
- inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, etc)
- dysbiosis (imbalance of bacteria) in the digestive tract (SIBO, fungal overgrowth, etc)
- systemic inflammation, which can cause muscle and joint pain
- cancer
- cardiovascular disease
- respiratory problems
- kidney problems
- Alzheimer's disease
- diabetes
- rheumatoid arthritis
- fertility issues
- preterm birth
More and more oral health experts are recognizing the importance of the oral microbiome for overall health. Some are even linking "leaky gut" and "leaky gums." (Pro tip: if your gums bleed from brushing or flossing, you have leaky gums.)
The significance of oral health in chronic disease is commonly overlooked. Even if you get regular dental checkups and don't frequently experience problems with your oral health, it's possible your oral microbiome could still be improved.
If you struggle with any of the health issues listed here, an assessment of your oral microbiome might help identify a significant root cause (see below for more on this).
How to improve your oral health:
1) Book regular dental cleanings - ideally every 6 months.
If you can't afford to see a dentist twice per year, you can instead book an appointment just for dental cleaning. Dental hygienists in BC are allowed to operate their own businesses. While it is recommended to see a dentist and have a professional teeth cleaning every 6 months, if budget or fear of the dentist is preventing you from going at all, going for a dental cleaning is a nice option to be aware of. If fear of the dentist is holding you back, look for a dentist who offers soothing supportive treatments like massage as part of their services.
2) Avoid eating and drinking all day long
For most of us, when we eat and drink it's often something that is acidic. Unless you brush and floss after every bite, consuming food and drinks all day long means that your mouth stays in an acidic state most of the day. This allows bad bacteria (and fungus) to grow out of control. Best practice is to stick to 3 meals per day, brushing the teeth after every meal and drinking only water or alkaline drinks like herbal tea between meals.
3) Protect your good oral bacteria
Using alcohol-based mouth-wash (the kind that "kills 99.9% of germs") might seem like a good idea but it acts like a high-potency antibiotic in the mouth, meaning it wipes out all the good along with the bad. More and more dental experts are recognizing the importance of protecting the good bacteria in the mouth, which is critical for supporting healthy dental enamel and preventing bad breath. Instead of using these harsh mouthwashes, some dental experts now recommend a homemade mouth wash that alkalinizes the mouth, which makes the mouth inhospitable for bad bacteria and protects the good bacteria. You can make your own alkaline mouthwash using the following recipe. You'll need just 3 ingredients:
- 1 cup of warm water
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
Instructions:
- Combine the ingredients in a cup or bottle.
- Stir until the salt and baking soda are completely dissolved.
- Swish for 30 to 60 seconds and then spit out.
- Follow with a plain water rinse if desired.
As an alternative strategy, some people have found benefit from oil pulling––an Ayurvedic practice proven to reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth. In this practice, you would swish a tablespoon of oil (often coconut oil, sesame oil or sunflower oil) in the mouth for 10-20 minutes before spitting it out. Done regularly, this can help maintain oral health.
4) Floss your teeth
We all know we should floss but very few people actually floss every day. If you brush your teeth but do not floss you are only cleaning 3 out of 5 surfaces of each tooth. Don't all the surfaces of your teeth deserve to be clean? Some ways to make flossing easier: use floss picks, store your dental floss in the shower and floss during a shower, or keep your dental floss next to your toothbrush. Most dental experts agree that between brushing and flossing, flossing is far more important. Nowadays, using a Waterpik water flosser is another option that can be used instead of flossing.
5) Keep a healthy alkaline-acid balance in your food
Your body is equipped to regulate its pH no matter what you eat, but it is known that a diet rich in foods that increase acidity in the body is associated with a host of health problems. When in doubt, eat your veggies! A vegetable-rich plant-based diet is generally much more alkaline. If you're not sure how to tell whether foods are more acidic or alkaline, you can look at this page as a reference. The general recommendation is to limit acidic foods to just 20% of your diet, with alkaline foods making up the remaining 80%.
What about charcoal toothpaste?
Most dentists discourage the use of activated charcoal products in the mouth due to it being too abrasive on dental enamel.
Is there a test that assesses my oral microbiome?
Yes! Several labs offer this, and many more are popping up due to a growing awareness of the importance of oral health.
US Biotek (a lab I frequently work with) offers an oral microbiome profile. Through my office, this test is $325 CAD (test kits can be drop-shipped directly to patients). A sample report of this test can be found here.
Viome is a lab people can order from directly. They offer a test called the Oral health intelligence test. Cost is around $394 CAD for the test + cost of shipping back to the lab. They also offer a care plan option with personalized products specific to your oral health for an extra cost.
If you are an existing patient and would like me to order the US Biotek oral microbiome test for you, please contact me. You are always welcome to book an appointment to discuss your health and explore whether your oral health may be contributing to your health problems.
That's all for this month!
Wishing you a very healthy oral microbiome!
Comments? Questions? Just reply to this email! I'd love to hear what you think!
Psst!!
If you're in BC and looking for a personal health detective, I'd be happy to do my utmost to support you. Simply click below to book an appointment or a discovery call.
www.okanagannaturopath.com
hello@drericavolk.com
Tel: 778.760.3400 Fax: 844.991.3601
1025 Tamarack Drive | Kelowna, BC | V1X 1E3
