Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Calcium for your teeth and bones


So the dentist didn't have horrible news for me but I also did not walk away carefree. Turns out my fillings from some years ago need to be redone.This is quite frustrating. Also, I have two additional spots that they are going to watch. This was a new dentist and there is no possible way that she could have known my lifestyle but amusingly the following questions were asked:
1. Do you drink lots of sports drinks and soda? NONE
2. Do you eat a sugary diet? NO
3. Do you brush and floss on a daily basis? HELL YES
4. What kind of toothbrush do you use? Only the best...a Sonicare.
5. Do you drink milk? Not if I don't have to.
The milk question caught me off guard. But then it lead to discussion about calcium and how I needed more calcium in order for my teeth to be stronger. Ok, yes I understand but I still do not plan to drink milk(I was the little girl who put apple juice on her cheerios, not milk). So I looked into other forms of calcium because despite the American notion that milk is the best form of calcium, it turns out it is NOT the ONLY form.
Other non-dairy forms of calcium include:
  • dark leafy greens (except spinach and chard, who's calcium is hard to absorb)
  • beans/legumes
  • Blackstrap Molasses
  • calcium supplements (look for ones combined with Vit D for good absorption)
Calcium is not the only nutrient we need for health teeth. Vitamin K (also found in leafy greens) plays an important role and bone and tooth health.
When we have too little calcium in our blood, our body tends to borrow it from our bones, ultimately planning to return what it has borrowed, Vitamin A helps in this exchange. Be wary though, too much Vitamin A can lead to bone fractures.

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