Nutrition and Oral Health

"Where you get  calories (from fat or protein or carbohydrate) is not as important as how many you take in, as long as you get all the nutrients you need and take in enough energy to sustain a health life. Pasta and white bread that aren't "vitamin enriched" at the factory deliver lots of energy, but very little in the way of nutritional value.  Calories from fat, protein, and fruits and vegetables (these actually qualify as carbohydrates) have the other nutrients you need for health."

Several years ago, I wrote an article on nutrition.  Most of it was accurate, except for the paragraph above.  Today's research indicates that there are foods that raise or lower the acidity (pH) of the blood.  Foods that lower the "pH", which is to say make the body and the blood and the saliva, more acidic, contribute to inflammatory disease in the body.  Fat loss is significantly more difficult when the body is more acidic.  This inflammatory condition is often accompanied by generalized aches and pains, and fuzzy-headedness, cario-vascular problems and strokes.  In the mouth, there's a predisposition to tooth decay and gum disease.

Another paragraph from that earlier article actually agrees with the more recent findings on nutrition, although unknowingly.  "...Dr. Roy Vartabedian, a Chronic Disease Specialist in Carlsbad, with the help of a computer, has rated something like three thousand foods according to their nutritional value relative to calories and fat.  Two interesting findings are that two cups of raw spinach have half again as much value as two cups of romaine lettuce, and that one/fourth of a cantaloupe has six times the food value of one medium apple."  His food chart tells how much of which foods you need to eat in a day to get all the nutrients you need to be healthy. His work is consistent with the current thinking regarding acidifying or alkalizing foods.

Generally, vegetables and fruits are alkalizing (good) while foods like meat, dairy, simple carbohydrate stuff like pasta and bread, soft drinks, junk food, manufactured fats and oils, and some nuts are acidifying (not so good).  A balance can be reached if one, say, has a steak, then a really big salad to go with it. 80% or 90% of our diets should be made up of alkalizers.

For a more complete list of what you should and shouldn't eat, go to "Energize for Life" or "Nutripoints.com" on the computer.  Or, call my office at 949-459-7212 for even more information.