Health Weekly

Benefits of going natural

October 14 - 26, 2010

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Did you know that stress depletes Vitamin C in your body? So every time you get stressed, you use up all your Vitamin C ... that's why you are more prone to getting sick when you're stressed, writes Alia AlMoayed.

And, you know what else? Vitamin C goes into the making of collagen, which means that with less vitamin C, you're also more likely to get wrinkles, and you're more likely to have dental/gum problems!

When I'm stressed, I can usually see the effects directly on my health. In October 2007 (with the launch of my book - I Want Healthy Kids), my stress levels reached an all-time high. I remember knowing the extent of my stress from my gums. Every time I would brush my teeth my gums would bleed. I went to the dentist who did a thorough cleaning and gave me a soothing gel to apply. It helped for a while but the effects didn't last.

Then, a few months later, I got pregnant. During pregnancy, the gums are always more sensitive and I knew that, but this time, they were bleeding so frequently I started to get worried.

I did not want to take the medical route, especially not during pregnancy. So I decided to look for a natural answer for my problem. I increased my Vitamin C intake and waited for another natural solution to help me out. A few weeks later, my answer came in two parts:

First solution: It's called Oil Pulling, which is a kind of therapy where you take cold-pressed sesame oil (sometimes sunflower oil) and swish it in your mouth between your teeth.

This swishing (or 'pulling') has so many positive effects. It helps clean the sinus, detox the body and it's a fantastic remedy for bleeding gums and whitening teeth! I know it sounds too good to be true, but it really works.

Look it up for yourself online, it's amazing. You can even find a video of a guy 'oil pulling' on YouTube. I honestly would not have written about it if I didn't think it was fantastic.

Want to know how I do it? First I bought organic, cold-pressed sesame oil (do NOT buy the toasted or the refined one). You can usually find the good kind in health food stores.

Then you take one tablespoon of it in your mouth and you swish it around your mouth and between your teeth for 15 minutes and then spit it out; then brush your teeth as usual. You do this ideally every day (two or three times a day if you can) on an empty stomach.

Second solution: The second part of the answer came to me in the form of a toothpaste alternative called Tooth Soap.

Over the past few years I have been using natural toothpaste (fluoride-free) because fluoride is just horrible for you (that's a topic for another article).

Apparently, unlike toothpaste, Tooth Soap does not contain glycerin, so it does not coat the teeth, allowing them to absorb nutrients from your diet.

While I'm at it, I might as well tell you about my other natural toileteries:

I do not use regular deodorant/anti-perspirant because they're loaded with artificial substances as well as aluminum, which is disastrous to health.

What you could use instead is natural deodorant crystals from the earth. You just wet the crystal and use it on any part of the body. And, it works for men and women.

When I speak about this crystal deo to the 'older' members of my family, they tell me that everyone used to use it in the old days. In Bahrain they call it 'shabba'. You can get them at any health store.

I hope this atricle inspires you to go more natural; there are plenty of great choices out there!