Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS ● Nutritional Periodontist
March 5, 2018 [printfriendly]
Several years ago, my dental colleague, Dr. John, told me about his patient, whom I’ll call Gloria. John told me Gloria was fixated on beauty. She dressed immaculately, wore expensive perfume, and must have taken a long time to apply her makeup. She went to Dr. John to have her upper front six teeth crowned to make her look “more beautiful”. John told her that she had many back teeth that were broken down and needed repair, but she only was concerned with her front teeth. Her response to John was, “These front teeth are the ones that people see when I smile”.
My dental colleague explained to Gloria that she had active gum disease and active tooth decay. However, facts only confused Gloria. She wasn’t motivated to change her lifestyle and nutrition to recover from the chronic diseases of tooth decay and gum disease. Gloria reemphasized that she only wanted her upper front teeth to be beautiful.
What is Beauty?
Beauty is defined as, “a combination of qualities – such as shape, color, or form – that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.” The problem with this definition is that it focuses attention on external beauty only.
To me, beauty goes far beneath the superficial surface. As a matter of fact, external beauty is often the end result of internal beauty. I see real beauty as an inside thing.
The inner workings of our amazing machine we call the human body affects not only the inside of us but also the outside of us. When you start making yourself beautiful from the inside, beauty reveals itself on the outside.
Some Examples
- Most people want to smell good, so they use various soaps and perfumes to create a fragrance they think is pleasing to others. Certainly, we all want to smell good, and everyone should clean their body to remove unhealthy bacteria and dead cells. But, to use artificial fragrances made from various chemicals and to apply them on the skin in excess may be masking other internal problems. In my way of thinking, it would be best to understand and repair the internal problems in order to improve the external manifestations.
- Some people use various mouthwashes several times a day to conceal odors in the mouth because these odors are offensive to others. While antibacterial mouthwashes may kill many bacteria that may cause unpleasant mouth odor, these mouthwashes also kill very important and beneficial bacteria in the mouth. The “bad” bacteria are overgrown in the mouth because of unhealthy bacteria in the gut, unhealthy food choices feeding these offensive mouth bacteria, a compromised immune system, and poor oral hygiene.
- Others may use various chemical preparations on their skin to cover up pimples and kill bacteria and other microbes. However, these skin blemishes are frequently the result of a compromised immune system, poor nutrition, and damage to the healthy gut bacteria.
The common denominator to much of what is happening on the outside of the body is a result of what is happening in the gut and in the overall immune system. In fact, when a person begins an internal beauty program to improve the inside of his or her body, many of these outward “offensive” body odors, mouth problems, and skin ailments diminish or disappear. Real beauty is an inside thing.
Beauty on the Inside
So, how does a person get beautiful on the inside? What is the “inside thing” that has to occur?
The four most important proactive steps you can take to repair that “inside thing” are:
- Create diversity, quality, and quantity of balanced gut bacteria, which a unique blend of spore-based bacillus probiotics may provide
- Remove most grain products, added sugars, over-processed seed oils, and pasteurized milk products from your diet
- Include organic vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and oils, and animal products that have been raised humanely in their natural environments and allowed to feed in their natural way
- Remove or reduce any chemical and toxic exposures to your food, air, skin, and the water supply.
Here are some links to articles I have written about gut bacteria, mouth bacteria, healthy eating, and toxic exposures: HERE, HERE, HERE
1 Comment
You can’t put lipstick on an unhealthy CAFO pig ?. Great article!
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