Re: new here & question about children's dental health

[Guest guest]

I have read plenty of stories on this list of people strengthening tooth

enamel by following a Nourishing Traditions diet and supplementing with cod

liver oil and x-factor butter oil. See westonaprice.org for more info.

Elaine

> I just joined this list (I'm summed up in my signature line! LOL!) and

> would like to ask a question. We have been dealing with dental health

> issues and decay in our children's mouths for some time. We moved to

> the Richmond area of Virginia just at one year ago. A ped dentist here

> said the decay in our oldest daughter's mouth is due to " weak enamel " .

[Guest guest]

>My question is has anyone heard of this? I am not finding a whole lot

>about it on the web. If this is true, then I would like to know how to

>strengthen the enamel. Any input or suggestions?

>

>Kind regards,

>Crickett

Weak enamel is one of the things Price talked about a lot. It's also

a known side-effect of gluten intolerance (incl. in the mother) ...

maybe because of low nutrient absorption (Google on " teeth gluten " ).

So testing for gluten intolerance would be a good first step. If that

is the problem, a change in diet will help (and also fix a lot of other

problems). Adding CLO etc. will help as others suggest. Anyway, both

my kids had the same problem, but it's getting better now.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

> Weak enamel is one of the things Price talked about a lot. It's also

> a known side-effect of gluten intolerance (incl. in the mother) ...

**************

Wow, I have never heard of this and I thought I was pretty well read!!

Interesting. I have always thought my first child was allergic to

wheat and possibly my husband but I never considered it for myself or

any of my other child. I'll do a search on the web. If you know of any

good sources for information on this, feel free to e-mail me directly.

And, Heidi Hean, what have you done for your children's teeth?

Crickett

[Guest guest]

:

>Wow, I have never heard of this and I thought I was pretty well read!!

>Interesting. I have always thought my first child was allergic to

>wheat and possibly my husband but I never considered it for myself or

>any of my other child. I'll do a search on the web. If you know of any

>good sources for information on this, feel free to e-mail me directly.

Most of the good research has been done in reference to celiac disease, which is

really a subset of " gluten intolerance " which is an IgA allergic reaction to

wheat/barley/rye

(WBR grains in my terminology!). Celiac is an autoimmune disease triggered by

gluten intolerance,

but it isn't the only one ... there are 196 at last count. But celiac has been

studied for 50

years or so, so to get the research, go to www.celiac.com (lots of good

references). Also

the paleo diet folks have picked up on the issues ...

www.beyondvegetarianism.com is good.

The book " Dangerous Grains " is THE best reference published to date. The best

handout

for doctors is http://www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html

and http://www.celiac.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_prod.html?p_prodid=946

And of course you can look up my own tirades over the years in the achives on

this

list!

Gluten intolerant folks do NOT handle calcium correctly ... they get calcium

deposits

in places like their brains (causing seizures) while at the same time getting

osteoporosis

and weak teeth. Also migraines are a problem, which are related to calcium

channel

issues. This may be due to handling Vit D incorrectly, I don't know. What I do

know is that

the problems tend to go away when the diet changes. Usually all that is needed

is to

remove gluten, but some folks react to other foods too.

Anyway, " wheat allergy " is really, really, genetic, so if one of your kids have

it, either you

or your hubby does also, and the other kids are likely at risk too. Actually

anyone with

Northern European heritage is at risk, esp. with Irish, ish or English

blood. The genes

in question die out in wheat-eating populations (they are pretty fatal genes to

have

in connection with eating wheat). Irish Setters are at risk too, FWIW. The

reaction is

very sensitive to very small amounts of gluten, so to actually cure it requires

a kind of

revamping of one's eating habits. I have to say though, that it is WORTH IT. I

feel 10 years

younger, and my kids act like they've gone through a brain transplant with some

ancient

wise calm being.

>And, Heidi Hean, what have you done for your children's teeth?

They don't get gluten, ever, in any amount. They do get good food ... I cook

pretty much

like my grandma did, good meat, vegies, plus kimchi (ok, grannie didn't do that,

but she

did make " pickles " and kraut there were lactofermented), and homegrown chickens

and eggs.

No canola or soy, and I fry in coconut oil. We do have lots of fried food

lately, and garden vegies.

They have free access to junk food ... they collect candy in big jars, though

they don't actually

EAT it and we have to toss it when the jar gets full (I don't want them to have

the " forbidden fruit "

syndrome about candy). Their teeth are getting better ... I tend to think that

once the gluten issue

was fixed, the teeth fix themselves. It may be that added Vit D and calcium

might help faster, and

I'm experimenting with Cod Liver oil (partly because of my Mom, who has bad

arthritis, probably

because she has a gluten issue too but won't give it up). Anyway, the younger

child who never

DID get gluten has no cavities, and the oldest hasn't had any in 2 years, so I

think we are on the

right track.

I think eating whole wheat, cod liver oil, red wine, olive oil and smoking

cigarettes all " undo "

some of the damage gluten does ... it's easier for me to just give up the

gluten. Bread and pasta

are both easily replacable nowadays with non-gluten versions, and processed food

has

a lot of other issues that make it non-desirable.

Anyway, feel free to contact me offline, though I think a lot of people tend to

get interested

in this stuff and it is definitely related to health and food! What good are

nutrients if you

don't handle them right?

>

Heidi Jean