Hello, I know this topic has come up before, so will apologize in advance for needing to revisit. First, a bit of background. I started drinking green smoothies for breakfast everyday the end of October 2007. I love them. However, over the winter I've been adding lots of fruits higher in acid, such as oranges, pineapples and kiwis. I've noticed over the last couple of weeks my teeth in front have started to become very sensitive, not only when I eat but just all the time they feel strange and kind of achy.

I am worried that I've been consuming too much high acid fruit... Has anyone experienced this?? I cant imagine cutting out the oranges in the winter time... and now I am worried long term that eating like this will really damage my teeth...

Any feedback would be much appreciated

Elayne aka Custom

When I was first all raw, I remember having some sensitive teeth while eating citrus. At the time I backed off of citrus and ate fewer acidic fruits. At some point later I tried citrus again and the problem went away. Nowadays, I eat tons of citrus without problems.

Do you slice your oranges with a knife? This made the problem worse for me. Eating whole oranges was easier on my teeth.

I have tons of difficulty with my teeth when I eat too acidic regardless of whether it is fruit or anything else. So, yes I can relate. I would recommend, as did Bryan, that you ease up on citrus fruits and re-introduce them very slowly later. The best I can do is a small amount of orange juice (juiced myself from oranges and frozen into cubes) in my smoothies with banana and lots of spinach/kale.

Good Luck.

Patty

From what I've heard at various lectures at Hippocrates Health Institute, is that you are eating too much “unripe fruit”. I will be posting a excerpts from a video excerpt from this lecture later this week. In this lecture, Brian Clement specifically mentions teeth hurting. He said unripe fruit removes minerals from the bones and cells to neutralize the acidic fruit. Calcium in particular is being taken from the body due to the unripe fruit.

If also said that when fruit is picked early to get to market, most fruit does not ripen, but rots. So while it is changing colors, it still is not ripening, but rotting. An analogy he mentioned is that when you move a premature baby from the womb, it stops growing. So once removed from the tree, the the fruit will stop gaining additional vital nutrients from that tree that that it would have received.

Therefore, it will never be as healthy as fruit that is picked when ripe and is still acidic. Bananas were one exception to this that he specifically mentioned.

I’m sure this will be another controversial topic, so have fun with this one.

If we get enough comments that I can’t answer, I will post a video response from Brian Clement.
Best of Health to All...

I agree with Bryan and ActiveInternet. Especially in the first few months (or even years) of a healthy eating/lifestyle regiment, the person may experience ups...downs....sensitivities....eliminitory crisis.....even illness. Just cut back on the things that you are reacting poorly to. Eat as simply and and joyfully as you can - and pay it no mind.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I used to think it was the citrus fruit and pineapples that caused my teeth to hurt when I ate them, but it was because I was brushing my teeth with hydrogen peroxide. I think the HP was increasing sensitivity because once I stopped using it my teeth no longer hurt when I eat fruit!

My toothbrush feels like MURDER right now.

I've had the same problem for about a week. Some pineapple made my mouth bleed (holy god), it wasn't even THAT acidic. I found I was really enjoying using my teeth with different fruits, especially mangoes--that made the gums in the front of my mouth VERY sore. I rediscovered the joy of mastication, but instead of sore muscles, I got sore gums. Now I have to cut most of my fruit because any pressure really makes them ache.

I've also tried to speed up my detox (I was getting too comfortable), so this could also be an eliminative crisis. My mouth was one of my weaker spots and I had a lot of wisdom tooth problems before I went raw.

I've been rinsing after every meal (since I can't brush more than 2x/day, ouch) with sea salt and oil of oregano.

That sounds rough Phantom! Hugs to you hun...



My website: The Coconut Chronicles

Phantom.. ouch.... I too the last couple of days not only have my teeth been hurting.. but now my entire mouth has felt ravished.... Although instead of stepping up my raw, I have had a couple of slips this week.. I think the entire sore mouth thing is from cooked foods.. but the teeth and gums as everyone so far has said on here is probably from my high level of acid fruit intake... I am definitely going to cut back.. well after I finish off the two pineapple I just bought. Thank goodness I have finished off the entire box of yummy oranges.

Byron.. I consume most of my fruit in green smoothies and occasionally eat oranges peeled and by the section and of course pineapple by the slice. Typically I consume a half a lime a day as I just love adding lime peel and all to my smoothies.

Last night I bought some new tooth paste and I avoided anything with peroxide or "whitening" agents.. I've even thought about just brushing with baking soda for awhile...

Phantom what does oil of oregano do??

Thanks to all who have written so far...

Elayne

Too much acid fruit is not the problem. Too much fruit and or just fruit is the problem. I know a number of others who had that happen. Join the green revolution.
elnatural

Mine hurt on a SAD diet, but now they dont on high-fruit whatsoever

Make sure you rinse your mouth out/bicarb

rawdanceruk,

That was my experience also. When I was unhealthy, fruit hurt my teeth. After healing, no more pain.

I think I've gained some new knowledge with regard to tooth sensitivity since my dog lost his infected tooth recently. I also have been thru the mill with my teeth and have come out with much healthier teeth with my protocol and diet after the initial extensive dental work being done.

My dog has been a raw carnivore for over 5 years now, and his teeth suffered due to my not giving him enough raw meaty rib bones and other ok bones as they advocate for a primal food diet. His gums were inflamed, red, and some teeth had gotten infected due to bacteria not being cleaned off that would have with the raw bones. The back molars were full of tarter build up, 2 back teeth were loose with at least one with an infection. Once I started him on the raw bones, he took right to them and I also started to clean what he would let me off the back teeth with a toothbrush and some hydrogen peroxide..but that wasn't often. Then after a month, he just guarded the bone and didn't really chow down on them like before..so I backed off giving them to him for a few weeks. Then I gave him a couple in a row and his very infected tooth fell out one day. I gave him a raw bone and he was able to chew that up in 5 minutes! I'm able to brush his teeth now more often and his other teeth are looking cleaner, whiter, healthier and one of the loose teeth is tightening up it seems. I have his tooth that fell out, I soaked it in hydrogen peroxide, and then some bleach water and now that it's all dried up, the tooth looks perfect! No cavity, no holes, just some tarter that I can scrape off easily and it has left a perfect white tooth! So, for him, the tooth sensitivity was the infected gums and however deep the infection went, and while the tooth loosened up more and more, it probably hit the sore gums more often and so he quit eating the raw bone that is actually the cause of his gums healing themselves along with fighting the infection with the peroxide. This is my understanding of it anyway. He's happy I can tell you that much!

For me, I use a bit of hydrogen peroxide every evening in my water pik to keep bacteria and infection from developing. I clean my tooth brush with 3% hydrogen peroxide also after brushing. I don't use anything to brush my teeth with except a bit of hydrogen peroxide on the brush.

I had extensive dental work done finally which I needed badly, all mercury removed, fillings redone with composite, and I lost a couple teeth that were too far gone, and a couple root canals I allowed to get done. I have bridges, caps, including my own teeth, all healthy and white now. I have no tooth sensitivity but I did have even after the work was done for several months. But with using the hydrogen peroxide and water in the water pik, flossing, and brushing, and keeping a new and or clean tooth brush to use, my 'tooth' sensitivity is non-existent. It's really the gums that are sensitive, any roots that may be exposed due to erosion of the gums, and any large holes in your teeth thru loss of fillings, or new cavities that lead down to the root.

It's not the fruits, or citrus, except for the sugar in them and or starchy foods that create the sugar that bacteria feed on that are causing your problems. You need to get your gums in shape and free of all infection and inflammation. Visit a dental hygienist to clean and scape off the tarter and teach you how to keep healthy gums, and how to brush your teeth. Use the mixture of hydrogen peroxide in your water and water pik. Rinse your mouth out, or brush, or use the water pik after eating anything starchy. Don't worry about the fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds..they are all what is needed in keeping your gums, mouth, and teeth healthy. Back off the offending fruits until you have a healthy mouth.

What causes mouth and teeth pain? The unhealthy surrounding tissues, and roots that have the nerves. You don't want to loose perfect teeth just because your gums can't support them as in the case of my dog and you don't want to let the inflammation, infection, tarter, and pain go so long you end up with chronic mouth pain and loss of teeth due to large cavities and damaged roots I went thru.

Love,
Prism

Sensitive teeth, like other common health issues encountered in the raw food community (hair loss, weak digestion), is a symptom of magnesium deficiency.

Eventually your body will store enough magnesium to enable you to eat a higher fruit diet.

My teeth definitely look whiter and shinier now that I've been paying attention to a proper mineral balance.

In the summer I noticed my teeth were looking yellowy and kinda gross - now of course I realize that must have been because I was eating higher fruit while getting low on magnesium (exercising alot, which depletes magnesium) - I had muscle twitches and hallucinations in my peripheral vision as well. All signs of magnesium deficiency.

My guess as to why all this happens to some people when they switch to a raw food diet is that A.) Whole grains are high in magnesium, and since cooking is out, it's easier for raw foodists to just eliminate grains altogether rather than bother sprouting them (like me) and B.) magnesium is in alot of fortified SAD foods, so there may have been a previous hidden source of minerals in the diet that's no longer there. I'm not advocating processed foods, just sayin.

also beans are high in magnesium- again, generally a food that gets eliminated from a raw diet - cuz raw beans taste gross, imo.

So that generally leaves greens, nuts, and avocados as the sources of magnesium in a raw diet. And since 95% of people on a SAD diet are already low in magnesium to begin with - it's probably only the beans & grains & fortified foods that are keeping them afloat in the first place - then it's understandable that if we're not careful, an improperly mineralized raw diet in the initial stages can accelerate this deficiency.

Are there deficiencies that would affect the gums, specifically? I should add I get well over the RDA for magnesium--a few months ago I fixed that with my coconut craze, and it's stable now.

I played around with cutting out some fats and going nearly all fruit this week (finding the source of my bloating, trying to speed my detox), and as a side effect, my gums have been bleeding.

It will be nice to jump back on the fat wagon when I go shopping tomorrow, I miss my durian... but if the gums don't settle down, I'll have no choice but to fast because I won't be able to eat soon. =\

Bah, too late for me to edit, but I found this link: [natureheal.blogspot.com]

It says lemon juice and lemon slices can be used to stimulate healing of the gums. I was wondering about this, since some people here say citrus is the worst offender?

In any case, I just tried it now. It stung a LOT at first, but then felt better. Now the sore areas feel kind of tender, but they seem slightly less red/swollen. I'll have to do this a bunch of times a day and keep you posted, but I'm down with anything that's not seeing a dentist... (I'm also brushing/flossing/rinsing with salt water, I always had sparkling white teeth and great dental health prior to this.)

Coconut isn't a magnesium food - it's a potassium food.

According to fitday.com:

1 cup of coconut water has 15% magnesium, 17% potassium. (The young coconuts I get usually have 2 cups of water inside, making this significant.)

1 cup of shredded mature coconut meat has 8% magnesium, 6% potassium.

Young coconut meat isn't logged on the site, but I have read elsewhere it is a source of magnesium as well. It's not EXTREMELY high like some greens may be, but moderate and definitely a yummy source to add to a balanced and varied diet. =)

In percentage terms they may appear similar but if you consider it in milligrams - the USRDA for magnesium is about 300-400mgs whereas for potassium it's 2000-3000mgs. So that equates to a very large difference in milligrams when you consider 15% of each of those numbers.

The reason this is significant is because potassium, like calcium, inhibits magnesium absorption. That ratio in coconut is absolutely fine if we're not magnesium deficient, but if we are, then our magnesium-calcium-potassium ratio in foods has to be balanced quite differently than in a person who already has an adequate level of magnesium stores in the body.

Now I have no idea whether you actually are or are not deficient. A nutritionist should be able to tell you (better than a doctor) if you're deficient in something.

Just thought I'd mention...

I heard from a friend the local juice bar chains sell wheatgrass that's juiced right in front of you. Despite the fact it made me feel very caffeine-like stimulated, had a terrible aftertaste, and made me want to PUKE... my very first two shots reduced the swelling and redness in my gums by 50%, and took away my tooth pain completely.

I went back twice today and the gums are looking better (something in the juice helped my body heal overnight, too, I think), so I'll keep going for more.

For anyone having mouth problems, I TOTALLY recommend wheatgrass. It's working like a charm, and thank god it did, because I'd rather lie and wait for my death under a durian tree than go back to the dentist...

I tried lemons, essential oils, ditching all mouth products and brushing with water, sea salt rinses, chewing cloves... and wheatgrass REALLY made the difference. Salt water stopped the bleeding but didn't heal me, cloves masked the pain but did nothing for the cause... Wheatgrass all the way.

Phantom, oh my god, yes!! The wheatgrass - I think it's the magnesium. That stuff has the highest concentration of magnesium of any food I found, it was my number one source of magnesium to normalize my racing heartrate a few months ago - 2 ounces would instantly calm my heart. I hope you didn't feel caffeine-like stimulated in a bad way?? I've found that just the right magnesium level in my body make me feel really energetic (although it's hard to always get it right due to magnesium's synergies with calcium & potassium -oy vey, it's so complicated). I thought about mentioning wheatgrass in my posts but didn't want to be telling people take this, take that, without actually knowing the cause of your symptoms. I'm so happy that you chose wheatgrass & it totally worked for you!

I found something that works well for me and is simple and easy. I have been doing it for several years and I intend to keep right on doing it. I have a "Interplak" (brand name) water jet that I got at Walmart. Its like a "Waterpik" (brand name) but cheaper. I put a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into the reservoir and the last thing before going to bed I wash out my mouth cleaning out the food and zapping the germs at the same time. Be sure to read the instructions before using it so that your technique is right if you decide to give it a try.

My dad swore by the water pick. It is an incredibly gentle way of flossing.

MINERALS!!! You want Minerals!! I was experiencing the same thing when eating tooo much fruit last summer..I increased my trace minerals and drank ionized water and it went away OVERNIGHT!

I suggest a good mineral supplement like Conscious Planets Genesis (Trace Minerals, Fulvic Acid, Zeolites, Humic Shale)..You can read about it on the website in my signature file.

Awesome stuff...Ive heard good things about Kelzyme also..and eat lots of sea vegetables.

Drinking Ionized water helped tremendously too..

I feel for ya.

Stacey~Queen Green