It’s been my experience that even the most diligent dental care and acidic-food avoidance won’t save your teeth if the right nutritional factors aren’t in place. Your teeth are alive—and they need some tender lovin’ care from the inside out. Here’s the lowdown on the internal factors that help your pearly whites stay pearly and white.
Calcium/phosphorus ratio
We all know that calcium plays a vital role in bone development and tooth health—but that’s really only half the story.
Phosphorus, another critical mineral, is calcium’s bone-building partner in crime. When these nutrients are consumed in a proper ratio—approximately 2:1, favoring calcium—your mineral balance stays in equilibrium, and your body can properly function. If that ratio starts tipping lower, typically by consuming either less calcium or more phosphorus, your body has to draw on its own calcium reserves (chiefly from your bones) in order to maintain homeostasis. This is why populations with a high calcium intake still suffer from widespread osteoporosis: their main source of calcium is usually milk, which has a 1.3:1 calcium/phosphorus ratio—not enough to keep your bones happy. For the record, human milk has a ratio of 2.3:1, perfectly suited for bone development. Nature knows how to do it right.
Depending on your age, health, dietary history, and a laundry list of other factors, it can take a while of eating a calcium/phosphorus imbalanced diet before you see the repercussions. Decrease in bone density is the biggie. And when it comes to your teeth, that means a loss of the underlying bone tissue that supports your teeth, resulting in these types of problems: Read the rest of this entry »
