Natural Remedies for Your Oral Health

In my previous newsletter, I talked about the importance of the toothpaste and oral products you are using. If you have been using fluoride-free toothpaste, you may be not aware of artificial flavors, colors, and toxic preservatives in your toothpaste. This is why you should consider making your own toothpaste, they are safe, effective, and cheap.

Here are a few remedies to consider to make your own toothpaste.

Neem leaf or neem bark has been used as a natural remedy for oral infections due to its strong antibacterial, anti-parasitic, and antiviral properties for centuries. Modern research suggested that neem reduces plaque, prevents cavities and gum disease, and cleanses the breath. You can add powdered neem to your homemade toothpaste. Remember, the bark is more potent than the leaf.

White oak bark powder soothes and reduces gum swelling. Historically, it was used for bleeding gums and to tighten gum tissue around loose teeth. It also relieves tooth infections. If you suffer from gum infection, you can make a paste of white oak bark powder and water and place it on the affected area for healing.

Bentonite clay is a soft clay composed of aged volcanic ash. It has been used since ancient times to protect the body from disease and injury. The impressive power of bentonite clay comes from its negatively charged molecules. Those molecules attract positively-charged toxins and heavy metals. Bentonite clay can bind with toxins and push them out of the body.
Your teeth are composed of hard dentin and enamel and both are sustained by minerals. Unfortunately, due to our unhealthy modern lifestyle and environmental toxins, we are losing minerals from our teeth. When your teeth lose minerals faster than they gain minerals, you start to notice unpleasant symptoms like sensitivity and decay. Brushing with bentonite clay accelerates remineralization because natural clays are loaded with minerals like silica, calcium, zinc, potassium, and magnesium. This helps strengthen your teeth, reduce and prevent sensitivity, and protect gums from decay and infection. Bentonite clay gently scrubs and polishes the teeth. It works like an astringent by removing tartar and cleaning the gums. As soon as bentonite clay comes in contact with the bacteria and toxins in your mouth, it absorbs them and replaces them with minerals. According to the International Association of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, brushing with bentonite clay three times per day can even relieve oral infections by removing dangerous bacteria and nourishing the teeth and gums with restorative minerals.

Peppermint oil reduces bad breath and may help whiten teeth too. You can also add a few drops of clove oil and myrrh oil to enhance its potency.

To learn more, please check my recent video.

Unique Ways to Boost Your Gut Health Part One

Digestive bitters are foods and herbs that improve your digestion by stimulating your digestive system to produce digestive enzymes, they improve the function of your digestive organs such as your liver, and gall bladder, and promote bile production and bile flow to enhance your gut health. Adding digestive bitters to your diet can help relieve indigestion, soothe occasional heartburn and nausea, lower blood sugar levels, reduce your food cravings and your appetite, and support your liver function. When you taste bitterness, a nerve signal reaches your brain, which triggers the vagus nerve to stimulate your entire digestive system from your salivary glands to your stomach, pancreas, liver, and intestines. Digestive bitters can also change the PH level of your stomach, which stimulates the gall bladder to release bile into your digestive tract. Bile helps to break down fats and aids the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

Digestive bitters also stimulate the valves at the beginning and end of your stomach to close, which helps reduce acid reflux. When your digestive system detects bitterness, it secretes hormones into your bloodstream to slow the passage of food through your system, which makes you feel full longer and curb your food cravings. This helps promote weight loss. Taking digestive bitters before a meal stimulates the digestive system to produce hydrochloric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile. They can also help relieve gas, bloating, and indigestion. Digestive bitters can also help lower blood sugar levels by improving the body cells to utilize insulin more efficiently. The ideal timeframe to take digestive bitters is right before a meal, or about 10 minutes before you start eating. You can put about ¼ tsp of digestive bitters on your tongue and hold them in your mouth for about 10-15 seconds until your mouth starts to salivate. Did you know that you have bitter receptors on your entire tongue?

Let's dive into these digestive remedies. please check my recent video.

A New Approach to Your Gut Health

Many studies suggest the composition of microbiota or gut flora in your gut can be the cause of obesity, type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and other chronic conditions. Did you know the bile flow is also closely linked to your gut health?

There is a close connection between bile production and thyroid function. Bile triggers the release of the enzymes that convert T4 to T3, which is the active form of thyroid hormones. T3 specifically supports brain function, heart function, and digestion and plays a role in your metabolic rate and bone health. According to studies in Finland, hypothyroidism is seven times more likely in people with decreased bile flow. Fats are the building blocks of hormones, if you are not absorbing fat, your body is unable to make thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones also help relax the sphincter of ODDI, which is the muscular valve surrounding the exit of the bile duct and pancreatic duct into the duodenum. It controls the bile flow into the small intestines.

Many people don’t produce enough bile. Bile insufficiency is linked to many health challenges, such as bloating, indigestion, nausea, chronic fatigue, constipation, and back pain. Bile insufficiency can also cause poor hormone synthesis because all hormones are made from lipids. Poor fat metabolism can cause blood sugar fluctuation because bile receptors help regulate fat and carbohydrate metabolism as well as the inflammatory response.  The bile acids activate these receptors. Bile backing up into the gallbladder can cause the gallbladder to swell, and people may experience pain in the ride side of the chest below the rib cage, and pain in the back of the right shoulder blade.

How to improve the bile production and bile flow to boost your gut health? Please read here.

Quebracho Bark - A Natural Remedy for Your Gut Health

Quebracho is an evergreen powerful tree that has long been growing in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. It usually grows up to 20 meters in height. Their notoriously dense wood earned them a name derived from the Spanish phrase, “quebrar hacha,” which means “axe breaker.” There are over 15 different species of quebracho tree and many are used for commercial purposes, but only a few are used medicinally. The crown of the tree resembles a weeping willow. For medicinal use, the yellowish-brown or gray bark is harvested. Quebracho is a source of polyphenols, which are what make quebracho an herbal medicine. The quebracho trees known for their medicinal uses include Schinopsis quebracho-colorado (sometimes called red quebracho) and Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco (white quebracho).

The polyphenols in quebracho have been considered very effective to reduce methane in the leaky gut, which causes gassing and bloating. Quebracho bonds to hydrogen, thereby reducing the amount of hydrogen that is made into methane, which is a major cause of bloating and discomfort. Quebracho contains proanthocyanidin within the class of tannins, making it a potent antioxidant. Tannins or tannoids are a class of astringent and polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. Tannins are large flavonoids that readily bond to hydrogen, which significantly reduces methane production and disrupts and destroys bacterial lipid bilayers in your digestive tract. Quebracho bark is not only a great remedy for excess gas in the GI tract, but it is also antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory. Quebracho is a natural antagonist to M. smithii, a predominant bacterium in the gut that produces methane as a by-product. Because of quebracho’s unique antifungal and antibacterial properties, it is able to target the intestine wall lining. Hydrogens are what lead to bloating in our gut, so with these tannins bonding with the hydrogen molecules, it is able to remove them before they release gases. Quebracho is a macromolecule, meaning it isn’t absorbed by the intestines and remains in the gastrointestinal tract, interacting with substances present without being absorbed into the bloodstream. Due To this unique stability, the polyphenols in quebracho are not destroyed by gastric acid or pancreatic enzymes. This allows it to improve your gut health before it is digested and removed from the body.

The main active ingredients of the plant are alkaloids, represented by aspidospermine and quebrachine-yohimbine. Yohimbe and other alkaloids in the bark extract can block specific receptors that inhibit fat loss, therefore, it promotes weight loss too. Since ancient times, quebracho bark has been prepared as an excellent remedy for liver diseases, fever, and for general health improvement. People also take quebracho for asthma and health challenges related to the lower respiratory tract including loosening chest congestion and using it as a respiratory tract stimulant. Quebracho is also used to treat high blood pressure, spasms, fluid retention, fever, and pain in folk medicine. In homeopathy, Quebracho is often used for cardiac issues and bronchial asthma. 

According to recent studies, quebracho is considered safe and effective for human medicinal use, especially when it comes to gastrointestinal-related issues. Due to its large molecular size, it cannot easily be absorbed by the body, which is why there is very little side effect. However, it is necessary to avoid overdoses during treatment, as this can cause nausea or vomiting. Be sure you don’t confuse Quebracho Colorado and Quebracho Blanco. Quebracho Colorado isn’t widely available at this point. Some supplements are available, but these are nearly all quebracho blanco. There are not so many supplements on the market right now related to this amazing medicinal herb, but with increased awareness, more quebracho products will be available in the near future to combat gut-related issues with grace and ease.

I am offering cupping, moxibustion, and lymphatic drainage with skin scraping techniques from TCM to improve chronic health challenges such as digestive issues, chronic pain, insomnia, etc., and also liver compression techniques to boost your liver health. Summer is the best time to take advantage of these treatments because the Yang energy is releasing, which facilitates the healing process. Please check here for these services and much more. 

What Dose July Store for you?

Astrology has a lot to say about your health and it can address the root causes of your chronic health challenges. For example, if you have Neptune in your 2nd house, you may experience eating disorders or addictions early in your life and if you have Neptune in your 6th house, the health challenges you have may not be easy to identify with conventional medicine. If you have Saturn in your 6th house, you may have chronic joint pain or back pain, these are just a few examples. You wonder why you have these placements in your chart, it is linked to past life experiences, which can be reviewed from your division charts in Vedic Astrology. So, let's dive into astrology for July. 

The Capricorn Full Moon will arrive on July 3^rd, 2023. The Moon opposes the Sun in Cancer at 11 degrees and 19 minutes of Capricorn. This full moon is called Buck Moon due to the fact that male deer antlers tend to reach peak growth at this time of year. This Buck Moon is also considered a supermoon, as it’s one of the four full moons closest to the Earth. It brings a beautiful opportunity to bring your summer dreams into reality. July is a busy month with the Lunar Nodes changing signs and Venus stationing retrograde. 

Numerology Significance

Number 7 is associated with intuition and higher wisdom, and number 3 is linked to our emotions and expressions. Number 11 represents collaboration and creative efforts. With the magic combination of these numbers, this July Full Moon can help us bring our dreams and solid ideas to this reality through diligence, hard work, and collaboration with others.

Full Moon in Capricorn – Long-term Stability

This supermoon in Capricorn brings our attention to the governments and political changes at the global scale because Capricorn is ruled by Saturn and Saturn rules structures and authorities. Cancer-Capricorn polarity suggests we seek a balance between our private life and our career, Cancer urges us to protect our homes and focus on our family life, while Capricorn emphasizes our career, reputation, and accountability. Cancer speaks our emotions, sensitivity, attachments, and love, while Capricorn is goal-driven, and desires achievements and success. Cancer represents our home base and Capricorn represents our goals and public life. We need both polarities to have a balanced life.

What about your personal life? Please continue reading.