For those of you that are conscious of the harm of chemical pesticides used to grow our foods, harmful chemicals in our cleaning products that can be avoided. Have you thought about what is in your toothpaste? Here is a homemade toothpaste recipe to whiten your teeth AND reduce your toxic chemical contact.
Possible ingredients in your shop bought toothpaste
Check the ingredients in your toothpaste to see how many of these it contains:
- Triclosan, a pesticide and hormone disruptor.
- Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) can cause cold sores for many people.
- Artificial colorings linked to ADHD and hyperactivity in children. Toothpaste does not need to have stripes!
- Fluoride which can be toxic if swallowed and doesn’t even work in toothpaste.
- Titanium dioxide which is added to make a toothpaste white. Most of the data shows it’s safe and is not absorbed by the skin, however there is not a study done to measure absorption by oral tissues. It’s just there to make toothpaste white. It does not improve your oral health so why bother with it?
- Glycerin which isn’t toxic, but has no place in the mouth as it’s a soap that strips your body’s natural oral mucosa and leaves a film. This film could coat the teeth, interfering with the structure of the biofilm. This could further alter the microbiome in the mouth and impact the natural remineralization process and your body’s natural cavity-fighting mechanism.
- Highly abrasive ingredients, which damage tooth enamel, making teeth sensitive and more prone to gum recession and cavities. Toothpaste should only be a little abrasive. This aids the brushing motion to remove the biofilm of the tooth.
We are conditioned to think there is some kind of miracle outside of our ability to make a paste that will clean our teeth and therefore we need to buy it. Unfortunately, I think this belief has also permeated in our society regarding a lot of magical foods/sauces. We seem to have the belief that companies have the ability to process these foods but that we can’t make them ourselves! These are falsehoods that are believed by our modern society. There are many recipes for toothpaste, this is just one of them.
Homemade Toothpaste Recipe
Here is a simple, easy to make (literally takes 2 minutes to make), homemade toothpaste recipe. This paste will help to clean your teeth/mouth without destroying the natural and needed bacteria in our mouths.
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate soda
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
For something extra for your gum health you could add a couple of capsules of Coenzyme Q 10.
Just mix them together and keep in a small pot. Done!
Homemade toothpaste recipe breakdown of ingredients:
Coconut oil – this oil has been attributed many positives. In this use, it can naturally prevent candida in the mouth as well as helping to boost the natural microbiome(the microorganisms in a particular environment) in the gut (remember there is a connection from mouth to anus, shocking I know!).
Bicarbonate of soda – has a natural, gentle abrasive action that will help whiten your teeth. More importantly, are its alkaline properties. Many of the foods we eat are acidic, attacking our teeth and mouth bacteria. We can neutralise this acidity by increasing certain foods in our diets, e.g. vegetables and also by using bicarbonate of soda. This will help to encourage the right bacteria and protect our teeth enamel from decay.
Turmeric – a little controversial I know, seeing as everything turmeric touches seems to turn orange – my juicer is evidence to this. However, turmeric is an age-old teeth whitener that is widely used in India and other parts of the world. Curcumin, a component in Turmeric has received a lot of focus recently regarding its many beneficial effects on our health. It has natural antibiotic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and therefore could be beneficial for suffers of gingivitis, other gum infections or teeth sensitivity. I am always trying to get more Turmeric in me and by putting it in my toothpaste I am achieving that goal. Also, if you have been reading the research on Turmeric, you will know that it needs to be taken in the presence of black pepper or coconut oil to make it effective. Boom! Probably, most importantly for many, it doesn’t make your teeth yellow/orange.
Pro’s and Con’s
- Teeth feel really clean. Yes, okay it’s a little weird at first that you don’t have that mint taste that you are probably used to but seriously, you get over it really fast(well I did because my teeth feel so clean!).
- It is good for your mouth/gut health.
- It’s much cheaper to make your own and so simple.
- I would suggest you don’t brush your teeth in your favourite white linen shirt, just in case.
- You need to wash the bathroom sink a little more often due to the coconut oil.
I hope you give this a go as it really is so simple to make and use, good for your health and it’s cheap!
