Oral microbiome
If, after reading the first and second articles, you asked yourself what the best food for a healthy oral microbiome is, then this article will definitely make you happy.
People love quick and simple solutions, so the idea of a foolproof list of foods to eat and not to eat is irresistable. However, I prefer to serve you a few tips on things to keep in mind and then you can look up more information yourself, if you are interested. In accordance with your preferences and current possibilities, you will then decide what to incorporate into your diet.
Which foods will support my oral microbiome and healthy teeth and gums?
The best foods to support a healthy oral microbiome, healthy teeth and gums are…
……………………….dramatic drumroll……………………………..
Foods that provide a varied spectrum of nutrients. This is because the nutrients that you get from these foods will help to support your healthy teeth and gums.
That makes sense, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, though, I will not answer this question in just one sentence. In the following lines, I offer you a short overview of nutrients you can focus on.
Let’s get started!
Vitamin D3
Foods rich in vitamin D3 support strong teeth and remineralisation, which is important for protection against cavities. Vitamin D is one of the helpers responsible for supplying teeth with calcium (it is also helped by vitamins A and K2 and magnesium).
Foods rich in vitamin D3:
- Tuna
- Cod liver oil
- Sardines
- Egg yolks
Supplement:
Safely stored in a bottle, also with its buddy K2, here you can buy quality vitamin D3.
Vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 only gained real attention in connection with D3 (it is recommended to take these two buddies together). Vitamin K2 is very important for building the structure of teeth, though. If you have a K2 deficiency, you are at risk of your pearly whites growing weaker. The risk of chronic diseases also increases.
Foods rich in vitamin K2:
- Natto
- Japanese fermented cheese made from soybeans. Its flavour is quite strong, but the content of vitamin K2 is really high. Look for it in healthy food shops. - Egg yolks
- This depends on what the hen eats. It is very likely that hens fed corn or soybean diet will be K2 deficient. How about finding your own personal farmer? ☺
- Sauerkraut
- The best is homemade, of course. If you have to buy it in a shop, however, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Reach for refrigerated cabbage that was not heat treated. Simply avoid cabbage that is sterilised or pasteurised.
- Have a look at the ingredients. Honest sauerkraut is a true minimalist and it only needs cabbage and salt for its sour happiness. Caraway and mustard seeds are also OK. And that’s enough. If there is vinagre, sodium benzoate, sodium hydrogen sulphate, or another preservative, this is a hint that the cabbage you are holding in your hand may have been pasteurised. - Cheeses
- Munster (ripened semi-soft French cheese)
- Camembert (I am sure you know it. It has been adapted for the Czech palate as Hermelín)
- Edam or Gouda
Note: If you have the possibility, try to opt for organic cheeses. It is proven that if cows can graze naturally in pastures, the cheese made from such organic milk has significantly higher nutrient values.
Supplement:
I would also like to add that there is a small catch concerning K2. We Earthlings are not particularly efficient in converting K1 (from broccoli, for example) into K2. That is why it may be better for some people to take it in the form of supplements. This is especially true if you are on a purely plant-based diet.
Calcium
Calcium is very important for your body. Besides its other functions, it helps to make teeth more resistant to oral bacteria. It also participates in remineralisation, which means that it helps to repair the damage done by bacteria. In addition, it also reduces the risk of gum disease. If you decide to supplement calcium, watch your D3 and K2 intake. This team of helpers work synergistically.
Foods rich in calcium:
- Savoy cabbage
- Bok choy (vegetable)
- Broccoli
- Beans and lentils
- Chia seeds
- Leafy greens
- Powdered shells from happy eggs - can be added to porridge or soups
Supplement:
Here you can check out natural calcium and magnesium from sea corals.
Probiotics
Here they are again. Probiotics are loved not only by our gut microbiome, but also by the oral microbiome. It is one of the favourite foods of our friendly bacteria. They will reward us for our care by helping to prevent cavities and gum disease. Bacteria strengthened by probiotics will also help us have a fresh breath!
Probiotic foods
- Kombucha
- Kombucha is alive! And so, similarly as with sauerkraut, choose refrigerated kombucha. This drink is traditionally made from green or black tea, so one of these teas must be on the ingredients list. If it says made with tea flavouring, extract, or essence instead, perhaps you should put the bottle back and keep browsing. As for sugar, it is added to kombucha as food for friendly bacteria. Even though its presence is necessary, it should not dominate the list of ingredients. Opt for kombucha with less that 10g sugar / portion. - Sauerkraut
Supplement:
An army of 32.5 billion live bacteria hiding in one capsule? Why not! You can find them here.
Finally, I want to take a second to remind you how important nutrient absorption is. The rate of nutrient absorption is crucial since it determines how many benefits from the ingested nutrients you will actually get, and how many will just pass through your body without any effect. Kristie explores this issue in relation with the “expensive poo” in her excellent article focused on Black Stuff. This is because Black Stuff helps nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to get exactly where they are needed in the body.
What is the main takeaway from this article?
Eat a rainbow! Eat vegetables of all colours and foods where you can be sure that they provide you, your body, and also your oral microbiome with proper nourishment.
- Oily fish
- Happy eggs
- Colourful vegetables (such as broccoli or Savoy cabbage)
- Beans and lentils
- Quality cheeses
- Fermented foods (such as sauerkraut)
Bibliography:
Harvard Health, 2021. Fermented foods can add depth to your diet - Harvard Health. [online] Harvard Health. Available at: <https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/fermented-foods-can-add-depth-to-your-diet#:~:text=Fermented%20foods%20are%20preserved%20using,and%20other%20microorganisms%2C%20says%20Dr.> [Accessed 11 September 2022].
Nutrition Reviews, 2009. VITAMIN K DEFICIENCY IN CHICKENS FED CORN-SOYBEAN DIETS. 12(9), pp.274-275.
Ods, 2016. Office of Dietary Supplements - Calcium. [online] Ods.od.nih.gov. Available at: <https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/> [Accessed 11 September 2022].
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2016. White Lies? Five Milk Myths Debunked. [online] Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Available at: <https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/white-lies-five-myths-debunked> [Accessed 11 September 2022].
Suzuki, Y. and Okamoto, M., 1997. Production of hen's eggs rich in vitamin K. Nutrition Research, 17(10), pp.1607-1615.
5 kinds of food to avoid if you want to have a happy oral microbiome
What you will learn in this article:
I would like to start by emphasising that I am definitely not a fan of a bossy approach along the lines of you may do this and you mustn’t do that. Likewise, I do not wish to classify foods as good and bad.
The purpose of this article is to share information with you. Information that will help you evaluate and understand which foods will support the health of your oral microbiome. In accordance with your goals and intentions, you can choose for yourself whether some of this information will become part of your future decisions.
Let’s begin!
In my last article, I explained that the health of your oral microbiome is affected by a number of factors. These include, for example, antibiotics, infections, a weakened immune system, medications, sugar, and the composition and amount of saliva.
Are there any specific foods, however, that are outright bad for our oral microbiome? And if so, why is it?
Foods to avoid:
- Pretzels and crackers (they stick to the teeth)
- Biscuits, granola bars
- Sweetened cereals
- Dried fruit (very high content of sugar)
- Sodas and sugary drinks
Why?
The listed foods and others like them play an important part in the formation of tartar and contribute to an oral imbalance. These foods are known as fermentable carbohydrates. The pathogenic bacteria in your mouth absolutely adore these fermentable carbs. It is very easy for them to split them in a process during which an acid is released that has devastating effects on our tooth enamel. As I described in this article, this acid contributes to the decalcification and demineralisation, and over time leads to the formation of caries and an imbalance of the oral microbiome.
“My pretzels are organic and I buy dried fruit in the healthy food shop.”
Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or organic? Pathogenic bacteria simply don’t care! The process in your mouth is still the same.
What is the main takeaway from this article?
If you are trying to support the health of your oral microbiome, then keep in mind the following:
- Avoid over-processed foods and eat a rainbow every day.
- Keep up your water intake by drinking pure water.
- Make sure you get enough restorative sleep.
- Focus on breathing through your nose, have control of your breath.
- Make sure you keep your gut microbiome happy. The mouth and the gut are closely related.
Bibliography:
Buffalo, 2022. Study: Carbs, sugary foods may influence poor oral health. [online] Buffalo.edu. Available at: <https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2022/04/008.html> [Accessed 11 September 2022].
Millen, A., Dahhan, R., Freudenheim, J., Hovey, K., Li, L., McSkimming, D., Andrews, C., Buck, M., LaMonte, M., Kirkwood, K., Sun, Y., Murugaiyan, V., Tsompana, M. and Wactawski-Wende, J., 2022. Dietary carbohydrate intake is associated with the subgingival plaque oral microbiome abundance and diversity in a cohort of postmenopausal women. Scientific Reports, 12(1).
Scardina, G. and Messina, P., 2012. Good Oral Health and Diet. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2012, pp.1-8.
What you will learn in this article:
- Why you should definitely take an interest in the oral microbiome.
- What is biofilm and how it contributes to dental caries.
- Why you should not take bleeding gums lightly.
- What can cause an imbalance in the oral microbiome.
Why you should look a gift horse in the mouth
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Have you ever thought about this proverb which teaches us not to criticise what we have got for free? Why the mouth of all places?
Perhaps because a lot can be told by a look into our mouth. The mouth is the entrance into our body and a direct reflection of our overall health. The American Health Institute claims that over 90% of all common diseases have oral symptoms (1). Gum infections, cavities, bad breath, and an increased inflammation in the body can have a significantly negative impact on your health if you do not pay attention to them and start treating them.
The oral microbiome is a population of microorganisms living in the oral cavity - they colonise the hard surface of the teeth and the soft tissues of the oral mucosa. The mouth of an average person can be the home of up to six million of them! That is a real bact-army, and all the more worthy of our attention.
The composition of our oral microbiome changes throughout our life, affected by many factors. You affect it yourself by your eating habits, the medication you use, the way you breathe, and by how thorough and handy you are in your oral hygiene. Genetics is another important factor, as well as your mother’s oral microbiome during pregnancy (2).
Biofilm and its role in the formation of caries
Biofilm is an ingenious invention of microbes. It is a complex microbial community commonly found both inside the human body and outside in nature. You can imagine it as a densely populated housing estate whose inhabitants have encapsulated themselves, and their existence in the resulting biofilm helps them to adapt and survive even in the hardest of conditions (such as efficient detergents or antibiotics) (3).
The tooth enamel is the only natural surface of the human body that does not peel off. This makes it a perfect surface for the occurrence of biofilm, a place for bacterial settlers (4). Tooth fillings, dental bonding, and dentures serve as a similar environment, as their surface remains unchanged, and thus they influence the oral microbiome as well.
Unless this biofilm is disturbed regularly, thick plaque can form on the teeth. Some of the present bacteria can easily be pathogenic, contributing to the formation of cavities, and in time, their effects may lead to an uprising (imbalance).
How do cavities start?
Some of the inhabitants of the oral biofilm produce acids and, if you let them sit on your teeth for too long, these acids contribute to the decalcification of teeth - tooth enamel erosion. A hole in the tooth and consequently a cavity are only a question of time. At the same time, other waste products of the bacteria can easily lead to gum infection.
Regular brushing disrupts the biofilm. You have to work mechanically, though, armed with a toothbrush, interdental brush, and dental floss. Washing or swishing your mouth with water does not rid you of the bacteria in tooth plaque.
A travel expedition - From oral microbiome to gut microbiome
Most inhabitants of the oral microbiome are harmless. Potential rebels are under the control of our body’s natural defence mechanisms, as long as we practise proper oral hygiene. However, the peaceful life of our oral microbiome may get out of hand. In that case, the rebellious bacteria may become overabundant. Keep in mind that your mouth is the entry point not only for avocado toast, but also for bacteria which may enter your bloodstream and infest other parts of your body. How? You swallow them regularly. Every time you swallow, oral microbes, both friendly and unfriendly (fungi and viruses), may start a long journey through your body. Many of them are heading for the gut microbiome - an estimated number of 1011 of bacterial cells travel daily in this way. One study discovered an 45% overlap between the bacteria in oral and gut microbiome (5). Wow. I’m going to brush my teeth now.
Bleeding gums, an open door
Another entry point for bacteria is your gums. Imagine you are standing in the bathroom, responsibly brushing your teeth. Everything seems to be in order, yet your oral microbiome might be a bit grumpy today. The reason for its bad mood is the impending revolt. The uprising is led by pathogens which bring about an imbalance in the environment. After your skilled manoeuvres with a toothbrush, you professionally wrap dental floss around your fingers (right?!) and you floss and floss. Suddenly you notice a little bit of blood on the floss. Careful now! Do not take it lightly.
Your gums protect the inside of your body against microbial rebels, among other things. They consist of a thin mucosal tissue, similar to the intestinal epithelium. If your gums are bleeding, the gates to your bloodstream and other parts of your body are wide open for all kinds of bacteria, including the pathogenic ones. Bleeding gums serve as an open entry point.
Microbes residing in the oral cavity do not fear long journeys. Their presence has been confirmed in such distant places as the small intestine, lungs, heart, brain, and even the placenta (6). Wow. What does this mean for you?
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Poor oral health has also been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, and complications during pregnancy (8).
What can have a negative effect on the health of your oral microbiome - a grumpy microbiome:
- Antibiotics
- Infection
- Weakened immune system
- Diet (for example, low fibre intake)
- Medication
- Sugar
- Composition and amount of saliva
We will focus more on these factors in our next article. You can look forward to a list of foods to avoid, as well as those that support the health of your oral microbiome. And in conclusion? Relax. The idea is not to frighten you. My intention was to emphasise the importance of the oral microbiome. ♡
The main takeaway
Definitely do look a gift horse in the mouth!
The main takeaway, kidding aside:
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Bibliography:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3329699/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457218/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163956/#:~:text=Dental%20plaque%20is%20a%20poly,matrix%20of%20polymers%20%5B8%5D.
- https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2016.865
- https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/gb-2012-13-6-r42
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29051379/
- https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-Oral-Microbiome-Nelson-Dooley-Olmstead.pdf
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/custom-media/healthy-mouth-healthy-body/chronic-gum-disease-may-harm-brain-joints-and-gut/
