Dental Check-Up

Are you one of those people who care for oral hygiene as much as you care for the rest of your body? Is oral hygiene a part of your grooming? Whatever your habit, please read on to find out more about oral health and the ways and means to sustain it!



About Visiting the Dentist

It is commonly recommended that you visit the dentist twice a year to clean your teeth and gums and also do the basic check –ups. This helps to detect signs of oral illness or decay well in advance and initiate treatment at the earliest.

However, some individuals with certain illnesses such as gum disease and plaque build- up, cavities or a weakened immune system may need to visit the dentist for more number of times than recommended in order to obtain optimum benefits.

Sometimes excessive stress can cause a flare of infection or bring about certain unprecedented changes in the mouth. Such situations too warrant a greater number of visits to the dentist.

People who have been diligent with regard to oral hygiene may not find the need to visit a dentist twice a year. They may consult their dentist as to what is best suited for them.

Dental Check-ups

The following are some of the procedures that take place during dental health check-up:

Exams and treatment -The dentist may begin by enquiring about your general health. An initial exam of gums and teeth will be conducted and you will be asked questions about your existing dental care. Your medical documents will be checked and the medicines that you are already taking will be examined. They will also look out for dental diseases and recommend treatment if necessary.

Cleaning - A thorough cleaning by a dentist or a dental hygienist, using metallic hand instruments or ultrasonic scalers, is necessary to remove the hardened plaque that may have accumulated on the teeth. This method of deep cleaning thoroughly removes all the debris from above and below the gum line. 

Polishing - Once teeth are cleaned, they are polished to remove stains on the tooth surface. The polish constitutes of an abrasive substance and fluoride. It is applied with the help of a small rotating rubber cup or brush attached to a dental hand piece. 

X-rays and Treatment - X-rays may be taken if your dentist thinks it is necessary. If a problem is identified then the dentist might recommend an appropriate treatment or he may even refer you to another dental health care specialist for further review or advice.

Prevention - During a dental health check up the dentist would also give you tips on brushing, flossing and other dental care that you may even follow at home.

Examining for first timers

If you are a first timer some of the highlights include: 

Head and neck exam -Your dentist may examine your head and neck and also look out for swelling or tenderness in lymph nodes or salivary glands. 

Soft tissue exam - The soft tissues inside the mouth, lips, tongue, cheek, floor of the mouth, throat and tonsils will be examined.

Gum Disease detection -Your dentist will look out for puffy or bleeding gums and if gum disease is identified they may refer you to a periodontist. 

Occlusion -Your dentist will also analyze the synchrony between the upper and lower teeth. 

Teeth Exam -Your dentist will also examine the surface of every tooth with probes and look out for signs of decay. Some of these probes may make you uncomfortable but devices like diagnodent, which is a laser-device, are very gentle and can easily detect tooth decays.

If you are one of those who fear visiting the dentist, this is the time for you to get rid of that fear make that visit, if you value your health and desire to safe guard it. 

Is Soy Bad For You or Good?

Soy is one of the largest cultivated crops in the US and used as the main protein source by most vegetarians or vegans. There seems to be a lot of confusion whether soy is good for your health or not. For decades the mainstream media has been telling us how healthy soy products are. But have those million dollar campaigns tricked us into believing something that’s not true?
Well the answers is YES. Soy is not healthy. It causes major health problems and its production is destroying our planet. There are hundreds of research studies linking soy to malnutrition, allergic reactions, thyroid disorders, immune issues, digestive disorders, infertility, cancer, and heart diseases.

So if you think soy is a health food, just like I thought, then you have been the victim of smart marketing campaigns over the past years.

But What About Asian People? They Eat Tons Of Soy And Are In Good Health.

We all assume Asian people eat tons of soy, and since they are thin and in good health, soy must be the super-food the media claims it to be. Or is this just an illusion?

To be honest I have been to Asia a few times and they are not the big soy-eaters we think they are. Soy based foods are served as a condiment and never as a main meal or replacement for animal protein. And another big difference, all their soy products are fermented in contrary to what you get on your plate in the West.

Soy’s History

Originally soy was an inedible plant used as a rotating crop to fix nitrogen in the soil. Ancient Asian people were aware that soy contained many toxins (such as saponines, goitrogens, hemagglutinin, oxalates, phytates, protease, estrogens, etc.), making it unsafe for consumption. Only after discovering that soy’s toxins could be neutralized through fermentation they started to use fermented soy products in small amounts for cooking.
The soy industry made massive investments in marketing campaigns, and that’s how unfermented and overly processed soy products like soymilk, tofu, soy cheese, burgers, and ice cream ended up on our kitchen tables.
So in contrary to what we think, Asians do not use soy (as we know it) as their main source of protein and all soy is fermented.

The Hidden Dangers Of Soy

Our western market is flooded with unfermented soy products that we should avoid at all cost. Before going into detail about the risks, I want to share with you my personal experience with soy.
3 years ago I decided to eat less meat, and soy became my main source of protein. After 2 months all my breast glands where painfully swollen, my hormones were a total mess, and they found calcifications in both breasts. These calcifications can be the onset for breast cancer. Luckily it didn’t come so far, but the thought scared the hell out of me. I stopped all soy intake and everything went back to normal in less than a week or 2.

Health Risk Of Soy Products

Although soybeans are complete proteins with moderate amounts of fat and considered a good alternative for animal protein, these 8 reasons will definitely change your mind, if my personal story didn’t give you enough proof to stay as far as possible from unfermented soy like tofu, edamame, soy milk and soy burger.

1.      Estrogen-like Phytochemicals

Soybeans contain phytoestrogens, which act like natural estrogen and can seriously mess up your hormones. And not only women are affected. Men, children and newborns as well.
For men, raised estrogen levels mess up testosterone levels and may cause infertility, low libido, low sperm count, man boobs, fat accumulation around the waist, energy loss, and it increases the risk of cancer (especially prostate cancer).
For women, raised estrogen levels cause estrogen dominance which is linked to infertility, disrupt endocrine system, menstrual issues, and increased risk of cancer (especially breast cancer).
Newborns who are consuming soy formula are daily consuming an amount of estrogens that equals the amount of 4 to 5 birth control pills! Your baby needs a balanced hormonal system for its normal development. Especially baby boys are affected. Too much estrogens can mess up the development of the testicles and other issues may appear when they grow older (lack of facial hair, prostate cancer, thyroid malfunctions, and emasculation).

2.      Affects Absorption Of Essential Minerals And Vitamins

Soy has very high levels of phytic acids. These inhibit the absorption of essential minerals like zinc, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper. Soy also contains protease inhibitors, which block the function of important enzymes necessary for the digestion of proteins.
Eating soy regularly will increase your body’s need for vitamin D and B12. People who often eat soy make their B12 deficiency much worse. And that is bad news for the vegetarians and vegans who are already at higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. Just as with the estrogens, soy contains vitamin B12-like compounds that can’t be used by our body.

3.      Thyroid Disruptor

Soy contains high levels of goitogens. These compounds slow down thyroid function and disturb the thyroids ability to use iodine. This can lead to hypothyroidism, or and under-performing thyroid gland. Especially women are at risk.
Goitrogens can also be found in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, cabbage), but in smaller amounts and these are removed when vegetables are cooked, which is not the case for soy-products.

4.      Free Glutamic Acid (MSG)

MSG is potentially neurotoxic and is formed during the processing of soybeans. And if that isn’t bad enough, they add more to mask soy’s natural bad flavor. MSG can change the normal activity of the nervous system and damage nerve tissue.

5.      High Levels Of Aluminum

MSGs are not the only thing found in final soy products. When soybeans are processed they are washed with acids in aluminum tanks. During the process high levels of aluminum end up in the final product.

6.      Almost All Soy Is GMO

More than 80% of all soy grown in the US is genetically modified to make the plants resistant to a toxic herbicide (Roundup). GM soy has often been associated with allergies and an increased risk of infertility.

7.      Not A Good Alternative For Celiac and Gluten Intolerant People

Although soy does not contain gluten, its lectins can damage your intestines and prevent your gut from healing.

8.      Not Good For our Planet

And soy is not only wreaking havoc on our bodies, it is ruining our planet and poisoning our livestock as well. Actually they see the same issues appearing in animals that are fed with soy.
And one last thing, soy is a very destructive crop. It depletes the soil from its essential nutrients and the crops are heavenly sprayed and processed afterwards.

Take-home message

Personally I don’t eat any soy products anymore since all the trouble it caused in my body. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have it either. Keep in mind only fermented (preferably traditionally fermented) soy in moderation is safe. Natto, miso, tempeh and fermented soy sauce are a few safe examples. Soy milk, tofu, edamame, soy burgers are definitely not a health food.
Make sure to read your food labels and watch out for phrases that contain the word soy. You will be surprised how many soy you are actually consuming. Even if you’re off tofu and soy milk. Almost all processed foods are packed with some form of soy.

This article taken from:
http://www.healthyandnaturalworld.com/is-soy-bad-for-you-or-good/

Myths about Heart

1. All kinds of exercise are good for the heart

Among some of the most common myths related to heart care, according to renowned cardiologist Dr Ashok Seth, is that all kinds of exercise is good for the cardiovascular system.

‘A 45-minute brisk walk, or aerobic exercise is good for your heart. But weightlifting and gym exercises are not necessarily good for your cardiovascular health,’ Seth told IANS. (Read: Is running bad for your heart?)

2. Women are less prone to heart ailments

It’s also a misconception that women are less prone to cardiovascular ailments.

‘Cardiovascular disease is the biggest cause of death in women, six times more than breast cancer,’ Seth said. ‘But traditionally it’s seen that in most Indian families this doesn’t appear as a concern vis-a-vis a woman’s health. If the man has a slight discomfort, they rush to the hospital, but the women, maybe because they have a high tolerance level, simply ignore any such discomfort’.

‘Even while going for health check-ups, a mammogram or a pap smear test is listed (to detect cancer), but not a heart check-up, which is very necessary,’ he added.

Agreed K.K. Talwar, cardiologist at Delhi’s Max hospital. ‘Although women have the protection cover of the estrogen hormone, lifestyle habits like smoking, unhealthy eating habits and contraceptive pills make them prone (to heart ailments). And after menopause, the risk increases,’ Talwar said. (Read: Indian women more vulnerable to heart diseases now)

3. Young cannot be affected by heart ailments

That the young cannot be affected by heart ailments is another myth, Talwar says.

‘It’s no longer true that only those in their 50s and 60s can have cardiovascular problems. Even those in their 30s are coming with such problems these days. In fact, because of lifestyle habits like junk food, alcohol consumption and smoking, plus stress, they are prone to acute heart attacks that can be fatal,’ he said.

According to Talwar, about 20 percent of heart attack patients in Max hospital are in the 30-40 age group. In the West this number is 5 to 10 percent lower because South Asians are more prone to cardiovascular problems at a younger age than their Western counterparts. ‘Five to seven percent of those who come for angiography are below the age of 35,’ Talwar told IANS. (Read: More young people falling prey to hypertension)

4. Heart pain, indicating emergency, will be on the left side of the chest

It’s not necessary that heart pain, indicating emergency, will be on the left side of the chest, Sunita Choudhury, another cardiologist, emphasised. ‘It may also be in the right arm, upper abdomen, and usually in the left arm,’ she said.

5. A particular brand of oil is good for your heart

Much against TV and print commercials promoting a particular kind or brand of oil as being good for the heart, doctors say that such information should be taken with a pinch of salt.

‘Trans-fatty acid is bad for the heart, and one should look out for food containing that. Other than that, there is no truth that only a particular kind of oil is good, like the trend is of olive oil. Even mustard oil is good,’ Talwar said. But even as the Mustard Research and Promotion Consortium says that mustard oil can prevent coronary artery disease, many doctors say that it’s best to keep changing one’s brand or kind of oil every few months.

Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

6. Nuts are bad for your heart

Nuts, a rich source of oil, are also not at all bad. ‘Almonds and walnuts are good for the heart, and one should have 8 to 10 pieces of almond, soaked in water, every day,’ Seth said. But don’t go overboard – fried almonds are a big no. As doctors say, it’s often a thin line separating information and misinformation.

9 Reasons To Stop Drinking Any Kind of Pasteurized Milk

Pasteurization is a dangerous method of heating our foods with tragic side effects which are largely ignored bu the FDA and downplayed by the dairy industry. To accept these facts would be to surrender after a hundred-year war indiscriminately waged against all bacteria--a hundred-year war that has now turned to attack the immune systems of the public. Here are 9 reasons why pasteurization destroys the nutritional and enzymatic value of milk and why you need to avoid it.

Raw milk contains vast amounts of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidolphilus, vitamins and enzmes, and only a very modest source of calcium (if left unpasteurized).

To understand what heat does to a good bacteria, we need to know about its structure. A bacterium is a single-celled organism. Think of it like a studio apartment, one room containing all the things a person needs to live: food, water, air. The walls of the apartment enclose the electrical wiring and gas pipes that deliver energy, along with the sewage pipes that get rid of waste products. In contrast to the size of this single-celled organism, even an animal as small as a mouse would be like a huge city with thousands of buildings and extensive infrastructure to keep it "alive."

When the temperature gets hot enough, the enzymes in the bacterium are denatured, meaning they change shape. This change renders them useless, and they're no longer able to do their work. The cell simply ceases to function. 

Heat can also damage the bacterium's cell envelope. Proteins and fatty acids making up the envelope lose their shape, weakening it. At the same time, fluid inside the cell expands as the temperature rises, increasing the internal pressure. The expanding fluid pushes against the weakened wall and causes it to burst, spilling out the guts of the bacterium. 

Pasteurization constitutes one of the milder forms of thermal processing. Ultra-high temperature and sterilization methods kill all microorganisms in the food, while milder heat treatments like thermization and pasteurization only kill some of them. Why not use a higher temperature if it will kill more pathogens? The answer is that higher temperatures change the characteristics of the food.

At higher temperatures, as with Ultra High Temperature Pasteurization, several things happen to milk that make it less desirable to consumers: 

High-Temp Pasteurization - Milk is heated to 161F for 31 seconds in order to sterilize the milk. The problem is that this also kills enzymes, much of the healthy microorganisms, and more importantly it denatures the proteins. Essentially, high-temp pasteurization kills the milk and makes it much more difficult for your body to digest. This can typically lead to inflammatory bowel disease, among others. 

Ultra-Pasteurized - This is the majority of our milk today, what you would typically find in a grocery store. Ultra-pasteurization heats the milk to 280F for only a few seconds. The reason for using ultra-pasteurization is because it kills everything. Ultra pasteurization not only kills potentially harmful bacteria in the milk, but also damages all of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients originally contained in the milk. This process also kills the healthy enzymes which help your body digest the milk, and drinking it without the enzymes can lead to lactose intolerance.

Low-Temp Pasteurization - Milk is only heated to 145F. This is significant because it’s below the temperature that kills most of the beneficial enzymes and the proteins remain in-tact. The main downside to low-temp pasteurization is that some of the enzymes and probiotics can be damaged. But, by culturing (fermenting it with good bacteria) this dairy and making yogurt, kefir or amasai, many of those probiotics are added back. This also improves the digestibility of the dairy. Low-temp is the closest to raw milk products most of us in the US can get. 

Most cow's milk has measurable quantities of herbicides, pesticides, dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels), up to 52 powerful antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, bacteria and viruses. 

9 REASONS TO STOP DRINKING PASTEURIZED MILK

1) Pasteurization Used To Mask Low-Quality Milk
Heat destroys a great number of bacteria in milk and thus conceals the evidence of dirt, pus and dirty dairy practices. It’s cheaper to produce dirty milk and kill the bacteria by heat, that to maintain a clean dairy and keep cows healthy. To combat the increase in pathogens milk goes through ‘clarification’, ‘filtering’, ‘bactofugation’ and two ‘deariation’ treatments. Each of these treatments uses heat ranging from 100-175 degrees Fahrenheit. Dairies count on many heat treatments to mask their inferior sanitary conditions: milk filled with pus, manure and debris. Consumer Reports found 44% of 125 pasteurized milk samples contained as many as 2200 organisms per cubic centimeter (fecal bacteria, coliforms)

2) Pasteurization Destroys Nutrients
It destroys vitamin C, and damages water soluble B vitamins diminishing the nutrient value of milk. Calcium and other minerals are made unavailable by pasteurization. The Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between proteins and sugars, occurs at higher heats and causes browning, discoloring the milk. 

3) Pasteurization Destroys Enzymes
Milk enzymes, proteins, antibodies as well as beneficial hormones are destroyed by pasteurization resulting in devitalized ‘lifeless’ milk. Milk enzymes help digest lactose and both enzymes and milk proteins help to absorb vitamins. Protective enzymes in milk are inactivated, making it more susceptible to spoilage. 

4) Causes Asthma
Pasteurized milk causes asthma, and as a result doctors prescribe a diet without pasteurized dairy products. Milk triggers asthma by destabilizing MAST cells, which release histamines that cause inflammation, mucus production and bronchial spasm. Pasteurized milk is a partial food product that is missing digestive enzymes and nearly all of its beneficial bacteria. Pasteurized milk (with rare exceptions) comes from cows fed a ration based on corn and soy rather than pasture and forage. Pasteurization warps and distorts fragile proteins, making them allergenic. Unpasteurized milk is the opposite and heals and prevents asthma by stabilizing MAST cells and reducing inflammation as shown by dramatic lowering of C-reactive protein levels. Unpasteurized milk rebuilds immunity by allowing the safe consumption of biodiversity in our diets. These bacteria then re-colonize the gut and become our immune protective and digestive ecosystem armies.

5) Allergenic and Disease Causing FoodCow's milk is the number one allergic food in this country. The milk of each of the over 4,700 mammals on earth is formulated specifically for that species. There are special lactoferrins and immunoglobulins (cow specific immunizing stuff) that in humans serve as allergens. It has been well documented as a cause in diarrhea, cramps, bloating, gas, gastrointestinal bleeding, iron-deficiency anemia, skin rashes, atherosclerosis, and acne. It is the primary cause of recurrent ear infections in children. It has also been linked to insulin dependent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, infertility, and leukemia. The protein lactalbumin, has been identified as a key factor in diabetes (and a major reason for NOT giving cows milk to infants). 89% of America's dairy herds have the leukemia virus. Cows diagnosed with Johne's Disease have diarrhea, and heavy fecal shedding of bacteria. This bacteria becomes cultured in milk, and is not destroyed by pasteurization. Occasionally, the milk-borne bacteria will begin to grow in the human host, and the results are irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's Disease.

6) Kills Bone Density
The dairy industry has been hard at work the last 50 years convincing people that pasteurized dairy products such as milk or cheese increases bioavailable calcium levels. This is totally false. The pasteurization process only creates calcium carbonate, which has absolutely no way of entering the cells without a chelating agent. So what the body does is pull the calcium from the bones and other tissues in order to buffer the calcium carbonate in the blood. This process actually causes osteoporosis. Pasteurized dairy contains too little magnesium needed at the proper ratio to absorb the calcium. Most would agree that a minimum amount of Cal. to Mag Ratio is 2 to 1 and preferably 1 to 1. So milk, at a Cal/Mag ratio of 10 to 1, has a problem. You may put 1200 mg of dairy calcium in your mouth, but you will be lucky to actually absorb a third of it into your system. Over 99% of the body's calcium is in the skeleton, where it provides mechanical rigidity. Pasteurized dairy forces a calcium intake lower than normal and the skeleton is used as a reserve to meet needs. Long-term use of skeletal calcium to meet these needs leads to osteoporosis. Dairy is pushed on Americans from birth yet they have one of the highes risk of osteoporosis in the world. The test for pasteurization is called the negative alpha phosphatase test. When milk has been heated to 165 degrees (higher for UHT milk) and pasteurization is complete, the enzyme phosphatase is 100 percent destroyed. Guess what? This is the enzyme that is critical for the absorption of minerals including calcium! Phosphatase is the third most abundant enzyme in raw milk and those who drink raw milk enjoy increased bone density. Several studies have documented greater bone density and longer bones in animals and humans consuming raw milk compared to pasteurized.

7) Antibiotic Effectiveness
Pasteurization killed antibiotic effectiveness for all of us. By creating a commodity dairy market system that relies heavily on antibiotics fed to heifers and dry cows at CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) mega dairies to support massive milk production, the antibiotics now used in American hospitals for humans no longer work. Tens of thousands of Americans now die each year because of superbugs created by CAFO antibiotic abuse. MRSA and VRA drug resistance is now a major cause of death and there are fewer and sometimes no antibiotics left to kill the bad bugs and save human lives. FDA has conceded antibiotic use in farm animals must be phased out but refuses an outright ban or limit of the use of antibiotics in CAFO feed and instead testifies in defense of antibiotic use by the CAFO industry.

8) Cancer Fuel 
Of the almost 60 hormones, one is a powerful GROWTH hormone called Insulin- like Growth Factor ONE (IGF-1). By a freak of nature it is identical in cows and humans. Consider this hormone to be a "fuel cell" for any cancer... (the medical world says IGF-1 is a key factor in the rapid growth and proliferation of breast, prostate and colon cancers, and we suspect that most likely it will be found to promote ALL cancers). IGF-1 is a normal part of ALL milk... the newborn is SUPPOSED to grow quickly! What makes the 50% of obese American consumers think they need MORE growth? Consumers don't think anything about it because they do not have a clue to the problem... nor do most of our doctors. 

9) Forces Cows Out Of Green Pastures And Into Diseased World
Pasteurization kills cows on green pastures. Seventy-five years ago there were friendly cows on green pastures all over America. Pasteurization has effectively paved the pastures and now forces the cows to be fed soy protein concentrates and forty pounds of grain per day, along with antibiotics and hormones. These CAFO dairy feeds increase milk production to numbers never seen before in the history of earth. It is not uncommon for some CAFO dairy cows to produce twenty gallons of milk per day and be crowded into pens deep in manure with thousands of other cows. The stress of being milked up to four times per day and lying on artificial rubber beds shortens their lives to just forty months. A cow on pasture will produce much less milk (four to five gallons per day) and easily live ten years or more in true happiness and health. 

Try Coconut Milk
Compared to cow’s milk coconut milk is easier to digest because the body uses 3 less enzymes for its digestion as opposed to cow’s milk. It also contains a high level of omega 3, 6 and 9 fats along with high amounts of amino acids. This excellent combination of fats and amino acids make it a complete meal in and of itself.

The high level of omega 3, 6 and 9 fats and protein in this milk are more bio-available to humans compared to all other animal fats and most vegetable fats. This bio-availability results in the body’s ability to assimilate all its nutrients.

It’s very healing to the digestive tract and even heals damage done to the system in cases of IBS, Crohn’s disease and severe malnutrition.

Coconut milk also helps maintain balanced blood sugar levels by being a good source of manganese. This mineral is usually deficient in people with blood sugar issues. 

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