10 Types of Food for Healthy Teeth

Recent dental troubles have gotten me thinking about what I could have been doing more to help out my teeth and gums over the past few years. The obvious things come to mind first, brushing flossing mouthwash, regular dentist cleanings, etc. But I wanted to find out beyond that what I could have done and be doing from this point on. Since food is my primary focus right now with the spring planting season coming I wanted to know more about what types of food would be good for my teeth.

It turns out that there are around 10 foods and food types that are agreed on by the scientific community as to being healthy for teeth.

Green Tea


A common type of tea which contains polyphenols a antioxidant that helps reduce the amount of plaque that will adhere to teeth. The lower amounts of plaque reduces chances of cavities and gum disease which helps us get a thumbs up from the dentist on our next visit.


Milk and Yogurt


These types of foods have low acidity which reduces the gradual wear on teeth called dental erosion. Also rather obviously these products contain much of our daily calcium intake which is a major part of our bones and our teeth.


Cheese


With cheeses high amounts of calcium and phosphates they are able to replenish calcium in our system and  they help balance the mouths pH which reduces dental erosion. Other beneficial aspect of cheese is that it kills the bacteria that are responsible for cavities.
 
Fruits


Many different types of fruits contain large amounts of Vitamin C which is considers the glue that keeps cells together. Research has shown that people that don’t get enough Vitamin C will cause the collagen network in your gums to break down which makes them more susceptible to bacteria and infection.


Vegetables


Vegetables are a all around good thing for us and most of us me included don't get enough of them. But for the purposes of dental health you want veggies full of Vitamin A like carrots, pumpkins and broccoli. Not only do the nutrients do the teeth some good but the crunchy nature of these veggies help your mouth up.

Now that were done with the general foodstuffs it is time to look at some of the specifics of good food for your teeth food.

Onions


Though this one won't make you any friends if it lingers on your breath the humble onion does quite a bit for our teeth. The onion is rich in anti bacterial sulfur compounds that will clean out that lovely tooth rotting bacteria right on out of your mouth. Advocates of the onion say that if you can stand the stink to eat them raw for the best effects.


Celery


Eating raw celery produces a gum massaging action that anyone familiar with celery will know what I'm talking about. If raw celery is a little much for you add a little peanut butter for dipping will go along way.


Sesame seeds


Are great in rolls and breads have been shown to dissolve plaque and build tooth enamel and also contain a good bit of calcium to help strengthen the jaw bone and teeth.


Proteins


Proteins like the ones contained in beef, chicken, eggs and turkey are rich in phosphorus. When phosphorus combines with calcium and Vitamin D it helps to produce our teeth and bones. Getting enough protein will keep your teeth healthy.


Water

Humble H2O is essential to teeth health in that is rinses away food particles so that saliva can do its jobs and nourish our teeth and repair and hydrate our gums.
 
Well there you have it the 10 foods for healthy teeth.  I bet this just makes you want to go right out and buy some carrots and celery doesn't it.  If not a visit around the Internet seeing what happens when you don't take care of your choppers might be in order for you. :)
 
 
Unitl next time
 
Josh

Oh Crap I missed Earth Day

With the recent snow that has been blasting across the Midwest it probably derailed some plans for Earth Day that some people might have had.  I in fact was snowed and iced in at my house so I got to celebrate Earth Day by sitting on my butt in front of the TV and computer all day. 

Not the best way to spend Earth Day in my opinion.  The best way to celebrate Earth Day is of course be outside and enjoying all the wonders that the planet has to offer and I hope that all of you did that.  I unfortunately could not except maybe to enjoy the fun and heart pounding excitement that snow shoveling has to offer.

If you feel the need to give back on Earth Day there are many organization and groups that put things together for groups to do or if you would rather lone wolf it you can plant a tree providing your not buried in snow like I was. 

If you want to see what people are doing for Earth Day check out the Earth Day Network.  It is a site that brings people together on Earth Day and the rest of the year to do projects that are good for the environment and could have a real impact on the future of our planet. 

So I hope were able to do something for Earth Day and give back a little to the planet which has given all of us so much.



Josh

What Does It Take to Eat Sustainably

I find that there is a lot of confusion out there to what does it mean to eat sustainably. For some people it means going organic. Going organic is a good step towards eating sustainably since it does support a environmental sensitive approach to farming that seeks to protect and improve the soil and the land. But eating sustainably is not just eating food that was grown or raised in a responsible manner there is also the concepts of embodied energy and food miles to consider.

Embodied energy in the case of food is the energy that was put into preparing the seed bed, planting the seed, any artificial fertilizer or pesticides that were used, harvest and finally transportation and packing of the food items to be purchased in the store. All of those processes use energy in some way or another. Here in the western world that energy usually comes from fossil fuel such as oil and it derivatives like diesel and gasoline. In the intensive agriculture system found here in American there can be upwards of 10 calories of fossil fuel energy contained in 1 calorie of food energy. With fossil fuels being a non renewable and therefor unsustainable into the future and food that takes large amounts of fossil fuels to create and ship is not sustainable.

The concept of food miles ties directly into embodied energy but focuses exclusively on the distance that food will travel from farm to table. On average food in America will travel up to thousand miles from farm to table on a variety of of trucks, trains and planes. The large distance that most food travels gives even food raised organically poor marks in sustainability. One way that some people have gotten around this is becoming a locavore. A locavore is someone that eats only locally grown food from some sort of fixed radius whenever possible. Typical distances for most locavores can be anywhere from 50-200 miles depending on your location. Areas that produce more variety of crops in small areas can have smaller food radius while people that live in the Great Plains or other rural areas might have harder time with it. Being a locavore can limit you on variety unless you live in a ideal climate for growing many types of crops.

Being a locavore isn't for everyone since it would take out some of peoples favorite foods like green salads in winter, and every banana from here to Florida would be off limits. I know for me being a locavore would be incredible tough since I do love fruits like pineapple, oranges, and those would defiantly not fall into this potential locavores radius.

It essentially boils down to the fact that the current mass production of food pioneered by industrial nations like the US will not work for the future. It takes to much energy in the form of fossil fuels to make this type of food sustainable and it will eventually fail. The only hope for sustainable food production into the future is food that is organically grown and a local as possible. That is not to say you can't enjoy those oranges and pineapples I know I will. But we must keep in mind the potential damage that growing and shipping that food has caused. If you can try to source out organic sources of your food and always support the local growers by going to local farmers market and co-ops. If you live in a rural area without access to farmers markets and you still want to eat sustainably then the time has come for you to plant a garden and learn about growing your own food.

If you wish to grow you own food there are many excellent resources out there but one of my favorites is a book called Mini Farming by Brett Markham. It is a excellent resource for someone just getting started in the art of gardening and is a very useful book to have in any library.

Until next time my fellow environmentalists 

Josh

Seed Starting

Its sounds so easy doesn’t it. That’s what I thought and boy was I wrong. It really becomes painfully clear as you try and start seeds inside why plants produce so many seeds. It take a specific set of conditions that are unique to each variety of plants and most of the seeds don't make it. They will fall prey to moisture and rot or get eaten by animals or will simply never have the conditions they need to be viable.

There a few key things that are important for all seeds to germinate they need some moisture but not to much and good seed to soil contact. To much water will cause the seed to rot instead of germinating and if it is placed incorrectly in the soil it will not receive the needed indicators to germinate. This is done in nature simple through fortuitous circumstances and by plants producing

many seeds in the attempt to get a few seedlings.



Seed Starting in yogurt cups and terra cotta pots

But luckily we are no longer forced to rely entirely on nature for the germination of our seeds. Through wonderful things like artificial lighting and custom made seed mixtures getting seeds to germinate is easier than ever. The right mixture will be light textured, pathogen and parasite free and will allow water to be easily taken up by the plants after they have germinated. After seeds have germinated they will quickly exhaust there internal energy stores and will need to begin photosynthesis. Most sunlight especially inside a house is too weak and directional when seed starting usually begins to be used by itself. Some artificial light must be used to prevent the plant seedlings from getting leggy and reaching for the sun. The most commonly used lights for this are fluorescent lights since they are cheap, easily available and work well in many situations. They can be strung up on chains or ropes and raised and lowered as needed above the seeds to keep them at the optimum height. It is critical during early development that they get as much light as they can get which ends up being about 12-15 hours a day with the lights so close they are almost touching the plant

Regular watering is critical for seedling due to there fragile nature and the small amount of soil available to them. Watering can be easily accomplished by punching holes into the bottom of soil containers and placing all the containers into a water proof tray. Then by placing water in the tray it is easily taken up by the soil in the containers which provides even watering. Just make sure drain the extra water from the trays to prevent over-watering of the seedlings or seed rotting. This method also makes it easier to do any fertilizing that needs to be done.

With the proper soil mixture, good watering, good lighting and a little luck you will have home grown seedlings at a fraction of what they would cost you at a greenhouse. For more information check out this article at Mother Earth News and other resources likeMini Farming by Brett Markham.

 

 

If you are looking for ways to start seeds without buying all the special seed trays and greenhouse lids check out an article I have on Infobarrel call 3 DIY Seed Starters for Garden Seeds

Until next time

 

Josh

               

Walipani (The Underground Greenhouse)

These wondrously easy to build greenhouses could be the cost effective key to those looking to grow food all year long. The idea came from Bolivia South America made my locals in a attempt to improve their local food supply. It relies on the principles of passive heat from the sun being captured in the mass of the earth. To do this a pit is dug 6-8 feet into the ground and a layer of plastic or other clear material is laid over the top at a angle specific to your latitude on the Earth. Many walipani are being built using recycled and cheap materials and one can be built for as little as 300 dollar depending on the size you want.

If built correctly so that heat is trapped, excess moisture is ventilated, there is proper drainage and of course strongly so the walls don’t collapse. You will essential be able to grow food all winter long even in some of the harshest climates. Depending on your climate you may have to include a additional heat source such as a wood stove to provide for the intermittent heat needs that colds nights will demand. The ability of people to grow quality food in the middle of winter is something that will become more important as people being to become more self reliant and pull away from other support systems.

I have not yet been able to build one of these yet though it is on my to do list now that I have found out more about it and the ease at which is can be built.

For more reading on this topic check out the following articles and PDF files that I have linked below.

http://www.bensoninstitute.org/Publication/Manuals/Walipini.pdf

http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/build-underground-greenhouse-garden-year-round.html

http://www.undergroundhousing.com/greenhouse_book.html

Until next time my fellow environmentalists

Josh

Ode to the Chicken

When you sit down for dinner tonight and you look at what is on your plate what it is?

Depending on the day and how much you enjoy your beef you probably have chicken on your plate. Chicken is one of the most successful domesticated animals in the world with over 20 billion chickens living on farms across the world. They became so successful because of there incredible usefulness in many aspects from the eggs and meat they provide to the entertainment and pest control they provide on the property.

It is widely believed that modern domesticated chickens Gallus domesticus are descended the Red Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus. Some of the first documented evidence of domesticated chickens occurs in China around 5400 BC at multiple sites. They also appear in the Indus Valley of India around 2000 BC and it is from there that the chicken spreads to Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.  Chickens historically we not the a ultimate suppliers of protein that they are today.  Some cultures used them quite extensively in cock fighting and others venerated the chicken in a religious context using them to adorn church's like the early Christians in Europe

Today the modern chicken supplies much of our protein in the form of eggs and meat and around 74% of all chicken meat and 68% of eggs are raised on industrial farm. There are many breeds of chickens around the world so many in fact that we are not really sure how many there actually are. They come in many sizes but are generally divided into the categories of large and bantam breeds. Bantam breeds are usually 1/4 to 1/5 the size of the large breeds and can be either miniature versions of large breeds or separate breeds in there own right.

For the purposes of production a chicken farmer will typically look at two things when deciding what breed to purchase. If they desire meat then they will look at breeds that are good for meat production like the Cornish, Orpington and Shamo breeds. Perhaps they are more interested in exceptional egg layers like Leghorns chickens. It all really depends on what type of production you want to have and what scale you want to do it on. A lot of the commercial chickens found in industrial chicken operations are hybrids specially bred to put on meat or be egg layers. Like many hybrids though these chickens are incapable of breeding true and the overemphasis of certain traits causes health problems in the chickens.While hybridization and the industrial scale production are good for the bottom line of the chicken producer it does have certain effects of the health of the chickens and there surrounding environment that has many environmentalist worried.

There has been a upswing in recent years of people starting there own micro flocks of 10-12 birds that they keep for eggs, fertilizer and entertainment. Along with a sustainable managed garden and food preservation a flock of chickens could be the beginning of a self sufficient lifestyle that many people a striving to reach today.

A good reference to have for any would be chicken farmer is Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. This all inclusive book gives details on breeds, care, feeding and facilities needed to properly raise chickens.

I have consulted it quite extensively in deciding what breed would work for our little operation and I'm sure it will be very useful in the months to come as I and a few friends raise our first flock of chickens.

Until next time my fellow environmentalists

Josh