Breaking the Pattern

I have always had really nice teeth - straight, white. I remember my grandmother (my Giagia in Greek) telling me to always take care of my teeth because you could see every one when I laughed. (I always just thought she was saying I had a big mouth...) She had just a few teeth when I was a little girl and had the few she had left pulled later on. She couldn't get used to false teeth so she remained toothless. She actually developed the hardest gums I ever saw! She could chew a steak with no problem. She came to this country at the age of 16 and told how her mother back in Greece died from a blood infection when she attempted to pull one of her own teeth.

I really didn't think that much about dental health growing up. I had a few cavities but for the most part my mouth was pretty healthy. As I reached my teens, my mother began having more and more problems with her teeth. I remember her coming home from the dentist with blood-soaked cotten balls in her mouth. She would always say she had "too much acid" in her system and that was creating the problems with her teeth. She ended up having all her teeth pulled in her 50's.

I still did not think very much about dental health until I began having my own children. Pregnancy was hard on my mouth!! My teeth were still looking good, but I began noticing problems with my gums - bleeding, bruising, tenderness. The dentist told me that it is extremely important to be vigilant about good dental hygiene, especially during pregnancy. I became more aware and tried to be even more careful to floss and brush, but with each succeeding pregnancy, I noticed more problems.

Now I was concerned. I was not willing to be the fourth generation of women in my family to lose her teeth. Actually I was determined I would keep every single one that was still in my mouth. I went to a periodontist who informed me that I would most likely lose all my teeth eventually, but he would do the scaling and deep cleaning necessary to slow the process. Those were fighting words to me! I was determined to prove him wrong.

I went through the cleaning and scaling procedures. At about this time I was learning how important it is to keep your body's pH levels alkaline rather than acidic. It struck a chord as I remembered what my mother had said about her system. While I was "into health" and daily taking supplements and eating a clean diet, pH was something new to me. As I learned more about it I realized it could make all the difference in the results I achieved as far as my teeth were concerned.

So I began to drink several green drinks a day. To learn more about what these healthy, "multiple vitamins in a glass" are, visit http://fatherreallydoesknowbest.blogspot.com/, "Are You Smarter Than A Donkey.

The green drinks are excellent at alkalizing the body. I would drink them and as I sipped, I'd swish a mouthful at a time around my mouth before swallowing. I made sure to have several servings of fruits and vegetables daily along with my protein. The other very important alkalizing thing I did was increase my water intake. I began to drink at least half my body weight in ounces of distilled water every day.

I have not been back to the periodontist in six years. I visit my dentist three times a year for a check up and cleaning and in that time she has noticed that the pockets in my gums have shrunk and my dental health has improved dramatically. I love hearing her tell me that everything looks great! I am very careful about flossing and brushing several times a day. I still drink two green drinks a day and even test my pH periodically to be sure I'm staying in a healthy range consistently.

Just because a doctor or dentist tells you something doesn't mean it is engraved in stone. God's given our bodies the amazing ability to heal themselves if we provide the proper raw materials.

JG8D69D

Listen to your Gut!

Mothers know their kids better than anyone. I remember when my son, Matt, was small he had one ear infection after another for a time. We were visiting my inlaws at the Jersey shore and he was actually on an antibiotic, yet I was still up with him all night. I called the doctor and said he must have developed a tolerance to that antibiotic. He told me that couldn't be. When we got home and I took him in, sure enough he had a raging ear infection and the antibiotic was not touching it. Score, mom one, doctor zero.

Several years later, Matt was about 9 years old and we were living here in the Hudson Valley in our new home. We have well water here which we'd never had before. Matt began to develop a horrendous cough. You know the type - people would turn around a look at him as if he had typhoid fever and pull their kids away from him. I couldn't blame them - he sounded awful. I took him to our pediatrician who prescribed, what else, an antibiotic and a cough medicine. His cough seemed to improve slightly while he was on the meds and then went right back once we stopped. Took him in again - same story - and same result. She never tried to figure out what might be causing the cough, just sent us out every time with something to suppress the annoying (and embarrassing) symptom and never giving me an answer as to what may be causing it.

I was at my wits end and was praying one morning and asked the Lord to please show me something that would help Matt. Sure enough as I watched a show later that morning a doctor was being interviewed who had written a book about natural ways to deal with sinus and respiratory problems. I just knew the answer was in that book. As it was just before Christmas and we were on kind of a tight budget, I told my husband that all I wanted for Christmas was that book. Being the wonderful man he is, he obliged.

I sat down and began reading and didn't even get past the first chapter. He talked about how very common substances we wouldn't even consider may cause allergic reactions - one he mentioned was sulfur. That jumped out at me because every time we turned on the water faucet the smell of rotten eggs was overpowering - our water had a very high sulfur content.

I was ecstatic! I told Matt - from this moment on we would conduct an experiment - he was to only drink bottled water and we would see if that helped his cough. When I tell you that by the end of that day his cough had improved 100% and was completely gone within two, I am not exaggerating. It absolutely amazed me. I called the doctor to let her know what I'd discovered in case anyone else had the same problem and she was flabbergasted - she couldn't believe that was the answer and said she'd never heard anything like it.

Fast forward to his teen years and we tried this natural acne remedy. After the very first night he woke up with his eyes almost swollen shut and red welts on his face. I went online and checked the ingredients again and then called the company and they confirmed that it did contain sulfur. When I asked to return it as my son was obviously allergic to it, they told me "you can't be allergic to sulfur."

Yeah, you can and he is. His stomach even gets a little funny sometimes when he eats whole eggs - the yolks are a good source of sulfur - so we do two egg whites and one whole egg for his omelets.

Those were the experiences that propelled me into studying natural health more seriously and the more I learn the more exciting it is. Just always remember to listen to your gut - I knew there had to be an underlying cause of my son's symptoms, even if the doctor didn't or just didn't want to be bothered trying to figure it out.