John Erb, author of The Slow Poisoning of America and a research assistant at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals. In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies.

No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them. In hundreds of studies presented in medical journals, researchers routinely administer MSG to newborn rats and mice to induce obesity. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing them to become obese. They then use these animals as experimental subjects for research on anything from diabetes to weight loss.

MSG-laced food products are found in any kitchen: Campbell’s soups, Hostess Doritos, Lays flavored potato
chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the ‘healthy low fat’ ones.

According to The Glutamate Association, a lobby group sponsored by food manufacturers’ (http://www.msgfacts.com/facts/msgfact12.html), the reason MSG is added to food is to encourage people to eat more. Their home page singles out the elderly as most benefited by MSG-laced food, since taste diminishes in the elderly and MSG causes them to eat more.

Interestingly, several attempts have been made to pass a bill in Congress that would prevent lawsuits from obese people against food manufacturers or retailers like McDonalds. Called the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act” also known as the “Cheeseburger Bill” it has twice been passed by the House and turned down by the Senate. Opponents make the analogy to the tobacco industry, which eventually was held accountable for creating disease in its customers.

Are Today’s Kids Overstimulated? MSG is also considered an “excitotoxin,” which is a substance added to food and beverages that stimulates neurons. Glutamate is the active ingredient in MSG. It is a neurotransmitter found mainly in the brain and spinal cord. Glutamate can cause neurons to become extremely excited and, if the dose is large enough, the cells will die.

In his book, Excitotoxins: the Taste that Kills, author Russell Blaylock relays the discoveries of neuroscientist Dr. John Olney. In 1948, Dr. Olney was working out of the Dept of Psychiatry at Washington University here in St Louis. He discovered that MSG caused widespread destruction of neurons. At the time of his report of findings, baby foods contained high levels of msg. His reports were ignored by medical journals, but after he and other doctors testified before congress as to their findings, MSG was voluntarily removed from baby foods in 1969.

While one can argue if an obese individual can blame his condition on McDonalds, it is interesting to note the
rise in childhood obesity with the prevalence of msg in our foods and the shift from home cooked meals to
fast food meals.

Interested in saving on dental costs in the long run? Simplify your lifestyle by eating more meals prepared with unprocessed ingredients. It will have a profound effect on your overall health as well.

Americans today consume far more of their daily calories from carbohydrates than they did 30 years ago. In fact, soft drinks have now replaced white bread as the leading source of calorie consumption in America.

A 64 oz “Big Gulp” has an average of 800 calories and zero, none, nada nutritional value. That’s right…empty calories. The average adult requires 1600 to 2400 calories a day and a large soda averages 800 of these…supplying nothing to the body that it needs.

Your consumption of carbohydrates, whether in the form of high fructose corn syrup, grain or sugars, will determine whether or not you’re able to manage your weight and maintain optimal health.

If you’re overweight or your health is suffering, make a U-turn in your health by eliminating grains, sugars and foods containing high fructose corn syrup. If you rely on restaurant food for most of your meals, you’re likely slashing decades from your lifespan and increasing the likelihood of having to rely on expensive and potentially toxic drugs to treat the symptoms that will result from not eating healthy.

What to do?

Return to your kitchen and embrace good old-fashioned home cooking.

Return to a diet of simple foods. Restrict your grocery shopping to the perimeter of the grocery store, which gives you produce, dairy and meats. The processed foods are in the middle.

Restrict your intake of processed food to only 10% and get the rest from simple ingredients.

Purchase only meats and fowl raised without hormones, or antibiotics. These additives get into your system and affect your overall health. When you select your own ingredients, you control the calories.

The benefits of making the changes mentioned above include:

• More energy
• Added years to your lifespan
• Reducing risks of cancer, heart disease and arthritis.

Much of the information for this articles was taken from Dr. Mercola’s site.

A typical dental exam checks your teeth for cavities and your gums for disease and stops there. It doesn’t include examining your jaw joints and their impact on your dental health and your overall health. This more comprehensive dental exam is important in “orthopedic dentistry,” which ensures your jaw joints are balanced.

An “orthopedic dentistry” exam notes the teeth position and function of your teeth and their supporting structures; an analysis of how your teeth fit together when you bite down; an examination of your chewing and speech — and the movement of your jaws and joints and how they impact all of the above.

Taking the exam even further, the experience of the practitioner determines how much he/she is able to detect. Usually, a dentist doesn’t see much beyond what he or she can treat. At Artistic Dentistry, we treat nearly any dental situation — from root canals to orthodontics to cosmetics to identifying the “mysterious” reason for a tooth problem. In short, the scope of responsibility your practitioner is willing to take depends upon his/her knowledge.

Your teeth and mouth tell a story. Your mouth, gums and jaws indicate much about your overall health. Aside from your dental condition — I can sometimes detect conditions like osteoporosis, leukemia, cancer and even bulimia.

A young woman came to me with tonsils that had been swollen for fifteen years. She had regular dental care while growing up and five years of orthodontics. Neither her dentist or her orthodontist had suggested she see a specialist about the swollen tonsils. I queried her about a list of symptoms I suspected she was suffering from, including chronic fatigue. Wide-eyed, she sat up in my chair and asked “how do you know all this about me?” I immediately referred her to a surgeon who diagnosed that her condition as life-threatening.

A man came to me after spending $50,000 on cosmetic dental treatment. The doctor overseeing the case only performed cosmetic procedures and had referred him to several specialists to perform various phases, such as root canals, extractions, etc. After two years of treatment and expense, the patient still had lower crooked teeth. Why? The specialist overseeing his case didn’t perform orthodontics and told this patient he didn’t need it. After spending $50,000 to rehab your mouth, wouldn’t you want straight teeth? In our office, the steps of his treatment program would have been put in a sequential order that would have included orthodontics at the correct stage.

A dentist with multi-disciplinary skills sees beyond a limited set of procedures. So, the next time my staff in St Louis calls to get you scheduled for your cleaning and exam, you should know that this is one of the most important visits to the dentist you can make. If you value the health of your mouth and plan to keep your teeth for a lifetime, then we’re both on the same page.

Here’s a simplistic description of “brush border” that will probably make any medical person who is intimately familiar with this cringe, but I’m more interested in being understood than in being absolutely technically accurate.

Your brush border aids in the absorption of nutrients by increasing the surface area inside your gut wall. When this surface area is reduced from long term antibiotic therapy, suppressant medications and even stress, the brush border is compromised. The less brush border, the fewer nutrients get absorbed from your food and vitamins. That means the less healthy you’ll be and the less resistant your gums will be to periodontal disease. Having brush border is like having a big savings account. If you suffer a financial setback, you don’t hit the panic button. Brush border determines if you’re going to catch this year’s virus or be able to resist it. And, in case you haven’t guessed by now, brush border determines how quickly your gums are impacted by poor hygiene habits.

That’s why some people who are fanatical about brushing and flossing can still get periodontal disease. Others whose hygiene habits aren’t great, never seem to even get bleeding gums. Those people are in better overall health. They have good brush border and their resistance is higher.

In either case, you don’t want to ignore the signs of periodontal disease. You want to address redness and swelling right away. Your gum health contributes to your internal health and vice versa. So, pay attention to those gums. Like the red light on your car dashboard, their condition indicates your overall health.

your son, daughter or grandkid wants to join the growing number of young adults with pierced tongues, they should be aware of the risks to their dental health.

These can cause tooth chipping and breakage and lead gums to recede due to rubbing and irritation.

The practice of replacing silver fillings with white, tooth-colored material for health reasons has been promoted by “biological” dentists who believe silver fillings are detrimental to your health. You may have heard these referred to as “silver”, “mercury”, or “amalgam.” These three terms are used to refer to the silver material which contains more mercury than silver, along with other metals.

If you’re confused about whether mercury fillings are safe or not, you’re not alone: even the FDA has seemingly changed their opinion. On June 4, 2008, the agency issued this statement on their website:

“Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses.” And: “When amalgam fillings are placed in teeth or removed from teeth, they release mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is also released during chewing.”

The FDA also agreed to release a new ruling in July 2009, and alert consumers about potential related hazards.

Instead, on July 28, 2009 the FDA issued the following statement, as reported by Reuter’s:

“While elemental mercury has been associated with adverse health effects at high exposures, the levels released by dental amalgam fillings are not high enough to cause harm in patients,’’ the FDA said, citing an agency review of roughly 200 scientific studies.

The American Dental Association stands behind mercury filling safety, stating:

“Dental amalgam has been studied and reviewed extensively, and has established a record of safety and effectiveness.”

For cosmetic reasons 90% of our patients prefer the white, tooth-colored material. If you’re among those of us who grew up when mercury fillings were the only option and you haven’t had these replaced, you can whiten and update your smile by replacing these with this new tooth-colored material.

I don’t see enough hard science confirming claims that mercury fillings are linked to such conditions as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Alzheimer’s. However, I’ve been using the white, tooth-colored non-metallic filling material since 1987, thereby eliminating the issue for my patients. That said, some people are allergic to this non-metal material.

A “biological dentist” would recommend you remove these fillings for health reasons, believing that the longer you leave these in your mouth, the longer you are exposing yourself to metal toxicity.

I recommend replacing decades-old mercury fillings for two reasons: one is cosmetic and the second is tooth preservation. You see, as a dentist, my primary role is to enable you to chew. Since mercury expands and contracts with temperature changes, over time the teeth underneath can crack, which has been the case with some patients. Sometimes, the tooth can crack so deeply it must be removed and replaced with an implant and crown.

Ok, let’s address some common questions.

1. Are white fillings weaker than amalgams?

Yes, however, if you take the total result—the filling plus the tooth—the composites are stronger

because they bond to the tooth, making the tooth more resistant to fracture.

2. Why don’t all dentists offer white fillings?

Many dentists don’t feel comfortable using white filling material on back teeth—it requires special

training to do so. The experience and training ensures the filling isn’t vulnerable to leakage and

new decay. The material has been around since the 70’s, but it wasn’t until the mid-80’s that technology was developed to bond it to your tooth.

With a deep cleaning …called a “scaling and root planing” you get all of that trapped bacteria, plaque and calcification cleaned out. The result is your gum tissue can reattach to the bone. A deep cleaning, when necessary, is one of the most therapeutic health treatments you can get. Good gum health is a foundation of good overall health.

1. Plaque Buildup. Cavities and tongues with deep grooves serve as prime reservoirs for bacteria we commonly call plaque – a sticky, colorless film that constantly forms on teeth. The bacteria produces volatile sulphur compounds that give bad breath, or halitosis.

2. Periodontal Disease. Gums that are puffy or bleed when you brush indicate infection.

3. Medications. According to the most recent research 7 out of the top 10 medications used in the US during 1998 had “dry mouth, bad breath, or taste disorders” as a side effect.

4. Tooth Decay. Tooth decay is just what the name implies–dead, decayed matter. Dead stuff smells bad by itself,and since the decay is fairly soft, it absorbs juices from the foods you eat, and that decays as well. Every area of decay is a potential source of bad breath. You cannot hope to eliminate bad breath permanently without first having the decay repaired.

5. Diseases. Some diseases are directly related to chronic bad breath such as diabetes, sinus and tonsil infections and lung, kidney and liver diseases.

Since chronic bad breath can be either medical or dental in origin, the first approach is improving oral hygiene. This includes the following:

•Scrape Your Tongue.

•Brush and Floss every day

•Get regular professional cleanings

•Treat gum disease with deep cleanings that eliminate bacteria that has penetrated into gum tissue that has pulled back from the teeth – called “pockets.” This allows the gums to heal and reattach to the teeth.

If the above treatments don’t address the situation, seek medical treatment for any chronic infections that are contributing to the condition.

For example if your tooth had a three surface cavity, many dentists would do a crown and build up. I might start with a three surface filling to see if that alleviates your problem. If the filling doesn’t hold up, you may need the crown in six months, but often times the less invasive — and less expensive –dental procedure will suffice.

In November of 2005 Newsweek’s cover proclaimed “READY OR NOT, BOOMERS TURN 60.” 3.4 million Americans were born in 1946 — a million more than in the entire previous decade. And 1957 saw the largest number of births in any one year in US history: 4.3 million.

Older generations had predictable benchmarks between birth and death: college, family life, empty nest, retirement. Not any more. As boomers get older, they demand more and disrupt any predictable patterns set by earlier generations.

In some areas of the country, you’ll find 50 and 60 year olds starting a second or third family, buying a bigger house and spending money at Disney. My 40-something year old brother and sister-in-law in San Francisco are among the youngest parents where their six and seven year old children attend school.

Yankelovich Partners, one of America’s respected research groups, surveyed early boomers (those leading the generation in age) who defined “old age” as starting 3 years after life expectancy (82.3 years). Irrational as it may be, boomers are not bound by facts. They fully expect advances in health care to have them living an active fulfilling life in good health.

Boomers are not thinking in terms of “slowing down,” “aging gracefully,” or “retiring.” According to Merrill Lynch’s New Retirement Survey, 80% plan to work well past age 65. This explains the sizable segment of boomers who are extraordinarily proactive in attempting to influence their own health and looks with what were once considered “alternative” or “radical” means. This is fueling dramatic sales growth in nutritional supplements, herbal supplements, treatments available at foreign clinics, and organic foods.

The explosion in services and products just mentioned comprise the “wellness industry.” These and others catering to wellness, such as cosmetic surgeries, cosmetic dentistry, massage, and integrative medicine have grown to an estimated $400 billion dollar industry in 2005 (Business Week).

I see this regularly in my own dental practice. Half of my patients are over the age of 40. For the most part, these folks take excellent care to maintain a healthy, attractive smile. Increasingly, I am restoring gum health, rebuilding teeth and re-creating smiles. Whereas even ten years ago patients of the same age would be content to neglect their dental health and get dentures, this mindset is no longer as common.

I challenge you to name any other single enhancement that improves appearance and health as drastically as restoring teeth and gums and updating your smile.