8 Foods And 3 Dirt Cheap Toothpaste Recipes That Whiten Your Teeth

That pearly white smile is attractive isn’t it? You can’t help but notice when someone has a great smile with healthy looking teeth. We all want to have an attractive smile, it gives us confidence and an attractive smile is a great thing to have! Several years ago I created a teeth whitening book and program that shared  protocols to use to whiten your teeth naturally with foods and home remedies for barely anything. I was inspired to write and talk about this when I found out that many teeth whitening kits contain bleaches, toxic chemicals and harsh abrasive ingredients that actually weaken your enamel and teeth. What’s the point of having whiter teeth if you weaken your enamel and tooth health in general? Guess what? those white teeth won’t last with the bleach or that tooth whitening kit.

I’m going to do my best to sum up that book in program in this article here today for you for free. These foods and protocols work really well and I highly recommend using them. I recommend starting with the foods on a daily basis and then integrating the other hands on protocols as well. These tips are beneficial to help the health of your enamel and dentin, to help whiten and keep your teeth healthy. If your teeth are yellow and the enamel is worn down and you know it then focus more on the tips that rebuild enamel and less on the acidic methods to whiten. They are also great for preventing future stains on your teeth. If you practice good oral hygiene (more on this later) along with these foods and practices your teeth will get healthier and whiter by the week.

Believe it or not I have not been to any dentist or orthodontist in about 8 or 9 years. I have had tooth sensitivity a few times but nothing serious. I keep my teeth very healthy and practice good oral health in the way I eat, brush, and tend to my teeth with specific minerals and antioxidants as you’ll learn below.

1. Eat Organic Strawberries

Strawberries contain malic acid which is an enzyme that helps to whiten teeth. By simply eating strawberries and letting the chewed up strawberry remains (insert delicious slurp face here) sit in your mouth and on your teeth before swallowing the malic acid will go to work to whiten your teeth. I recommend organic strawberries only because non-organic strawberries have high amounts of pesticides which don’t give you as much value. Strawberries are also a rich source of vitamin c which protects the teeth.

Interesting Tip: From my understanding and research malic acid content decreases as the strawberries ripen. So eating and using them as fresh as possible gives your teeth the most pearly white benefits. I am not 100% sure of this but based on what i’ve researched and read this seems to be true. If you have other information please comment at the end of this article.

2. Eat Organic Bananas (And Scrub With The Peel)

Bananas contain many beneficial minerals for your teeth to stay healthy and white. Magnesium, potassium and manganese to name a few. Eat organic bananas more often! You can actually rub the inside of the banana peel on your teeth as well. The inside of the banana peel still contains these minerals and is a great way to clean/rub your teeth and help them stay pearly white.

3. Eat Organic Lemons (Brush With Lemon Water)

Lemons are full of acids and enzymes that help keep the teeth healthy. Just like strawberries, lemons contain malic acid and vitamin C which are both beneficial for the tooth enamel. I recommend drinking lemon water and then after taking a few sips, brush with lemon water and spit that out. Drink water immediately after and spit that out as well. Lemon is very acidic and you don’t want these acids sitting on your teeth too long.

4. Eat Organic Apples

Organic apples are great because they act as nature’s toothbrush. The rich fiber content in apples does a great job scrubbing your teeth and removing stains and bacteria with every single bite. Apples also contain malic acid which help to reduce surface stains on the teeth.

Interesting Fact: Malic acid is used in commercial teeth whitening products, why not just eat the fruit? 🙂

5. Eat Grapefruit (and other sour foods)

Sour foods induce saliva production in the mouth. Saliva production keeps your teeth healthier and inhibits plaque formation. Your teeth will be whiter in the long-term by eating sour foods like grapefruit, lemon, lime and cranberries. This works really great preventative measure and to keep your mouth and gums healthy.

6. Drink, Eat, Brush & Rinse With Himalayan Salt

I personally love pink himalayan salt. It’s got 84 minerals and electrolytes including calcium, potassium, magnesium along with many more. These are beneficial for the health of your teeth and enamel formation. You can include this salt in your food, or add a bit to water and drink it. You can also add a half spoon-full to a small glass of water and swish it around your mouth, then brush with it (once the salt has assimilated into the water) and spit it out. That way you can benefit form these tooth whitening minerals internally but then also apply and brush them on and in your gums and teeth topically.

7. Brush With Baking Soda (Sparingly)

Some people brush with baking soda. I do this every once in a while myself but not so much anymore. It’s a great way to whiten your teeth quickly. The problem is that it’s so abrasive that you do not want to do this daily, not even weekly in my opinion. You can also mix baking soda into fresh squeezed lemon juice paste or hydrogen peroxide.

8. Brush With Hydrogen Peroxide (H202)

Hydrogen peroxide (two hydrogen and two oxygen molecules) is often used in commercial teeth whitening kits and works very well. It’s safe when diluted in water. I get 35% food grade (for internal ingestion) hydrogen peroxide because it’s in your mouth, food grade is the smartest choice when you’re putting something in your mouth and brushing it into your gums and teeth. I then dilute it in a small glass of water so it’s about 10% or so dilution. You can then dip your toothbrush in the water and brush with this. Some people mix this with baking soda as well, it’s worth a shot if you have teeth that really need some help but it’s a very strong combination that can wear down your tooth enamel if used too often.

9. Oil Pull With Organic Extra Virgin Coconut & Olive Oil

Oil pulling entails putting organic olive or coconut oil in your mouth and swishing it around your teeth and gums. Oil pulling is a topic of controversy on the web. Does it work? is it actually worth it? and does oil pulling whiten teeth? These are all great questions. A lot of skeptics say people who oil pull are crazy, and I don’t blame them… what could it possibly do? Well, coconut and olive oil both have healthy fats in them as well as many vitamins and minerals beneficial for tooth enamel. How could swishing this around your mouth (for 30 minutes or so) be bad for your teeth? The only thing it can do will help. Both olive and coconut oil also have healthy fats (fatty acids) that help to protect against enamel and tooth decay. This strengthens your teeth and allows them the enamel base that can then be whitened. It may not whiten teeth directly, but it helps keep your enamel healthy (and not decaying) so that it can be whitened by other malic acid fruits and healthy practices.

10. Brush With Earthpaste Toothpaste

I typically brush my teeth with no toothpaste at all. Why? You don’t need it every single time… in fact, by brushing your teeth with toothpaste every single time you are actually killing the good bacteria that your mouth and gums need. I use toothpaste once or twice a week when I brush in the shower and I use earthpaste toothpaste because it contains a clay that helps to whiten the enamel. My holistic dentist friend does not recommend brushing with this daily though because the clay can be too abrasive if brushed on the enamel daily. I love this toothpaste and I have noticed my teeth look whiter and healthier just by using it sparingly.

11. Use Cloves & Clove Essential Oil

I put about 3o cloves in a 8 ounce glass bottle of water and let it sit on my windowsill for 24-48 hours. During this time it turns into clove water. Clove is very rich in magnesium, calcium, manganese and other minerals great for tooth health. They are also known to be the best natural toothache remedy! So drinking this water (pictured left) helps with that as well as to consume many minerals and antioxidants as cloves are in the top 3 highest ORAC foods of all time. I will say though that this water is pretty strong and a good majority of people won’t drink it. It’s not the best tasting water in the world! if you don’t like cloves then you won’t like this water. You can still use clove essential oil on your teeth for internal use to protect against toothaches and enamel damage. This company has an all natural toothpaste with essential oils to help keep bad bacteria at bay that is nice and can be used more often than a clay based toothpaste like earthpaste.

Here are a few more tips to keep your teeth healthy and white:

* Reduce Sugar Intake

* Reduce Fruit Juices & Coffee

* Drink Water After Food

* Brush Your Teeth Gently Each Day

* Floss Regularly (tip on this, I really like desert essence tea tree oil dental floss, it worked a LOT better for me than those little floss plastic sticks because it’s a thicker floss and the tea tree scent is nice as well as kills bad bacteria in the mouth)

Sources: EverydayRoots.com, DoctorOz.com, DrAxe.com. Image: Pixabay.com