Hi!

I am a 32 yo male vegan (since 1996) and I have tried a few times to change to living foods.

At the moment I am trying it once again (since a few weeks ago) but unfortunately I have found that fruit can cause a lot of problems to teeth and I intend to eat very little or no fruit (one or two bananas today, no fruit tomorrow, two apples the next day,...).

What do you think about this? Did anyone suffer from the same problems? Can you live a fruit-free? What solutions for this problem? Do I have to eat more sprouted grains?

I have always loved fruit and this is terrible for me, I don't know other raw foodists and I need real help and inspiration.

Rinse your teeth well with water after you eat fruit.

So how do fruit eating monkeys deal with tooth decay? This book talks about how they eat the barks of trees for tannins. I think that the Miswak, a twig from the Middle East that is used as a toothbrush, contains tannins. A researcher studed 950 howler monkeys and found a complete absence of tooth decay:
Wild Health By Cindy Engel [books.google.com]
"These monkeys not only have a low-sugar diet, they also eat a great quantity of cashew pedicels (Anacardium occidental) — which contain the phenolic compounds anacardic acid and cardol that are active against tooth-decay bacteria . . . Phenols such as tannins are common in many plants, and are known to inhibit the growth of Streptococcus mutans, a main protagonist in tooth decay.

Chinpanzees, which eat far more sugary fruit than howler monkeys, suffer from both tooth decay and gum disease. To cope with the ailment, they chew on anitbacterial barks - which local people also use to keep teeth healthy -"

This book says not to brush your teeth right after eating citrus:
Dental Erosion By Adrian Lussi [books.google.com]
"To further compound the problem, health conscious individuals tend to have better than average oral hygiene . . . Several studies have shown that the loss of tooth substance after exposure to citrus fruit juice is accelerated by toothbrushing . . . toothbrushing surface immediately after ingesting acidic food or beverage may accelerate tooth loss"

Problems? I'm assuming you mean pain....or bleeding gums...or some such. In any event, does ALL fruit do this to you? Every single one of the 100's of varieites? Not ALL foods work well for all people. If you do love fruit, then try to find fruits that are less sweet....or do not hurt your teeth. Of course, there are non-sweet fruits like peppers and tomatoes you can try as well. Each person is unique...and no one is forcing you to eat foods that do not agree with you. And all folks must certainly deal with the issue of the foods they 'like' and 'want' vs. what they think is good for them....and to try to find what their true motivation is in the now. Just some thoughts.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Well, all I know is that I've had pain on and off in one of my loose teeth which was due to decomposed dead root, hence infection and gum problems.

They said root canal or removal was the only options.

Since going raw vegan, the tooth in question is almost pain free, has firmed and gum has normalised.

If you brush and floss I don't see how you would have any trouble.

Cheers geo

I usually only eat fruit for breakfast, getting my whole day's amount then. I just make a big, fat fruit and kale smoothie, then I brush my teeth later in the day.