Healthy Aging: How to Help Your Aging Teeth

A big part of healthy aging is keeping your aging teeth healthy. After all, if you can't chew your food well, you can't live a healthy lifestyle and achieve everything you want to � like learning to water-ski at age 99 (and there is a man who does water ski at age 99 -- look it up in a past issue of National Geographic)! While many adults are under the misconception that they no longer have to worry about cavities as they age, they are operating under a misunderstanding. The fact is that aging teeth are more susceptible to damage, such as cavities, as time passes.

Other signs of aging teeth include:

• cavities in the tooth root (due to gum erosion)
• sensitivity to hot or cold
• oral cancer
• bone loss
• receding gums
• loose teeth

Healthy Aging Tips for Your Aging Teeth
Don't let the list of symptoms above scare you! Aging happens to all of us, whether we want it to or not. At the same time, there are practical steps you can take to support your aging teeth and keep them healthy as long as possible. In addition to visiting your dentist every six months, check out these natural solutions that support not just the health of your teeth, but your overall health as well! We are not kidding.

For instance, according to the American Academy of Periodontology, people who have periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have heart disease. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this isn't surprising since the heart governs gum health, and the tongue is considered the "root of the heart." So oral and heart health are obviously related. Therefore, by supporting your oral health you will also be supporting your heart health!

Tip #1: Prevent Acid Erosion
If you eat a lot of sugary or starchy foods, or drink carbonated beverages, then you are setting up your aging teeth for acid erosion. These types of foods and beverages tend to cause the bacteria in your mouth to produce acid, which in turn eats away at the enamel of your teeth. Once the enamel on your teeth becomes thin or pitted, tooth decay starts to occur. Not good. How do you prevent this process from happening? Try these simple tips:

• avoid sugary or starchy foods and carbonated beverages if possible
• brush and floss at least twice daily (but wait 30 minutes if you have just eaten acidic food)
• avoid snacking all day long, which causes mouth acid to remain high all day
• if you can't brush and floss for a while, swish with water and chew sugar free gum
• swish with mouthwash or chew gum with xylitol -- the bacteria in your mouth thinks xylitol is food and will focus on that rather than attacking your teeth

Tip #2: Support Gum and Heart Health
Did you know that the tissues of your gum and the tissues of your heart are very similar? That's why heart and gum health are so closely related. What's more, both your heart and your gums benefit from supplementation of an enzyme called co-enzyme Q10, of CoQ10 for short. CoQ10 is not only key to cellular health and energy production, but is extremely supportive of heart health and immunity. For instance, multiple studies have revealed that supplementation of CoQ10 has remarkable results on cardiovascular health, immunity, and rejuvenation of energy-producing processes.

Supplementation with CoQ10 is especially important for healthy aging, since our bodies reduce production of CoQ10 as we age. Taking extra Q10 is also important because a stressful lifestyle can deplete our natural supplies of CoQ10. In addition, most manufacturing processes (such as the refinement of grains) remove most of the CoQ10 that naturally occurs in the foods we eat. So if you want to support your gum and heart health, add CoQ10 to your daily regimen. Studies also show that omega-3 fatty acids can support gum health, and eating foods high in omega-3's (such as AFA blue-green algae and leafy greens) can reduce gum inflammation.

Tip #3: Prevent Dry Mouth
One of the biggest signs of aging is dry mouth. Dry mouth is often caused by certain medications. In fact, there are at least 800 known medications often taken by mature adults that list "dry mouth" as a side effect. Dry mouth can really harm aging teeth because of the reduction of the flow of saliva in the mouth. A healthy flow of saliva helps keep your teeth clean and also neutralizes mouth acid. To prevent dry mouth, chew sugarless gum (especially those fortified with xylitol) or swish with a mouthwash created specifically to prevent dry mouth.

There you have it � three simple natural solutions to support aging teeth so you can continue on the path of healthy aging. You can't stop time, but by taking practical steps to ensure oral health you can slow the effects of time on your body!

Photo Credit: http://pinterest.com/highlanddental/

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Healthy Aging: 7 Tips You Can Use Today

Healthy aging is definitely something to be sought after. For instance, did you know that within the last 3 years, people over 65 in the United States reported that they felt unwell MORE THAN 1/6 of the time? This is according to the Centers for Disease Control. That's a lot of time to feel unwell, which indicates the need for lifestyle changes that lead to healthy aging rather than just aging!

Healthy Aging and Aging Gracefully
While we can't dodge the effects of time altogether, there are definite ways that we can all change the process from simply aging to aging gracefully! We can all take simple steps to look better, feel better, and feel younger than our chronological age. There are people out there who show us that healthy aging and aging gracefully are not only possible, but positively enjoyable. If you don't believe us, check out this fabulous video on YouTube in which some of the most active people over 100 years of age are asked about their secrets to success. .

Aging Gracefully: 7 Tips for You
Whether or not you choose to watch the video, just know that there are tons of tiny little changes you can make to your lifestyle that will have a big effect on the aging process. Aging gracefully doesn't have to be difficult or make you cranky. In fact, just the opposite is true. These 7 tips we offer in this article should allow you to feel better, look younger, and begin the practice of healthy aging!

Aging Gracefully - Tip #1: Realize You CAN Do It!
When you wake up tired and sore in the morning, feeling motivated to get moving and stay young can be a chore. But the key to healthy aging begins with the mind and spirit. Before you can start to change your life for healthy aging, you have to DECIDE that you want to change your life for the better. More importantly, you have to believe that you can do it. One way to start is simply to be willing to try. Consider the process of aging gracefully to be a life experiment of sorts ... don't worry too much about the results right now, just be willing to try something and see if it has a positive effect on your life. By being willing, you have already taken a step in the right direction. Personally, we like Nike's approach to healthy aging (or anything that requires motivation): "Just Do It!"

Aging Gracefully - Tip #2: Pick a Place to Start
While the internet is chock full of information on healthy aging, too much information can be overwhelming. So instead of getting into data overload, just pick a place in your life where you KNOW you need to make a change. We're sure that if you look around, you can find a single place to start. For some people, that means getting just a bit more exercise by parking the car further away from the store. For others it means avoiding that single pastry every morning and replacing it with a healthy alternative like oatmeal. If eating oatmeal every single morning seems like too much, then just try to eat oatmeal a couple of times a week. Really, keep it simple but keep doing whatever you choose. Any little change you make in the present will result in a definite and noticeable change in your future!

Aging Gracefully - Tip #3: Get a Checkup
We know that visiting the doctor isn't really one of your favorite things to do, but getting a regular checkup can give you a couple of benefits. First, you'll discover if you have any health issues that need to be addressed. This is especially helpful when it comes to prevention and early detection ("An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and all that!). Second, if you do get a clean bill of health, then you can rest easy at night knowing that all is well. Plus, you can feel free to embark on exercise and nutrition programs without worry.

Aging Gracefully - Tip #4: Cover Your Nutritional Bases
As we age, we may find it more difficult to cook and eat healthy, especially if we are cooking for one. That's OK. One way to fill in any nutritional gaps is to take a complete supplement that covers your nutritional bases. The supplement should feed your mind and body, and assist with digestion so that you can get all the nutrition possible from the food you put into your body. Our favorite supplement is a daily packet that covers all of these areas. Look HERE  for more information on this simple yet essential nutritional source.

Aging Gracefully - Tip #5: Stay Social
One of the most important keys to healthy aging is maintaining an active social life. Many people over 100 years old who are still happy and healthy will tell you that a strong social network is one of the most important factors to keeping them young-at-heart. Any expert of healthy aging will tell you the same thing. Having social engagements keeps us moving forward toward events in life rather than stagnating in the same place. We are also more likely to stay active, make the effort to look and feel our best, and be mentally alert. Whether you stay social by actually leaving the house or having people visit you or staying connected on the computer, be sure to feed and nurture your social network. What you put into your social network will definitely pay you back!

Aging Gracefully - Tip #6: Support Your Body
Aches, pains, and general feelings of physical unwellness can keep us from aging gracefully. If you have specific physical ailments that are keeping you down, consult with your doctor or other types of healthcare providers to see what you can do to stay on top of your symptoms and feeling well. For those who favor natural solutions, adding adult stem cell support supplements to your daily regimen can do wonders. HERE is one example of an adult stem cell support supplement that can really support your body in replenishing its cells and help you feel more youthful!

Aging Gracefully - Tip #7: Take a Nap or Lots of Naps!
While napping may be considered "lazy" by some, research suggests that people who nap regularly are more likely to remain healthy than people who nap only occasionally or not at all. For instance, people who take regular naps are 37% less likely to die from heart disease than people who don't nap regularly. Experts believe that napping tends to reduce stress hormones in the body, allowing us to relax and enjoy life. Now if that's not a key to healthy aging, what is?

Aging gracefully isn't only possible, it's positively necessary! After all, who wants to age ungracefully or unhealthily? So take a gander at these 7 simple tips and see if any of them (or all of them) could be easily integrated into your life. Then you will be on your way to healthy aging, no matter your current age!


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.

Photo Credit: http://pinterest.com/janegwhite/advanced-culture/