Healing Cavities Naturally – Really?

** Update.  I no longer recommend consuming Fermented Cod Liver Oil after this whistleblower report.   RIP Ramiel Nagel, who died of cancer at only 38.  
This post is about teeth.  We all have them (hopefully) and we generally spend as little time as possible thinking about them.  I’ve been thinking about mine more lately because they’ve been hurting.  Correction – they were hurting.  For several months.  I was dreading a return trip to the dentist because he didn’t really fix anything that was hurting last time.  I just ended up with two mercury fillings.  🙁   (Me, sleep-deprived b/c of a newborn, and a dentist trip didn’t mix real well). But THEN – I read an article on the Healthy Home Economist about how she healed her child’s cavities naturally.  NATURALLY.   After doing more research and reading the book she references, Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel, I decided to give it a try.  It sure wouldn’t hurt, and the supplement they recommend would cost an incredibly amount less than the dentist. After about two weeks on the supplement, my teeth were feeling SO MUCH BETTER!  They weren’t hurting anymore, and I could chew all throughout my mouth.  (Don’t you love these details??) If you want to know the scientific basis for this, keep reading! The theory that Ramiel Nagel presents is based on research from well-known doctor, Weston A. Price.  There’s a whole foundation based on his work, from which I have learned a lot about whole foods. Dr. Price visited tribes that had been isolated from the modern world back in the fifties.  He noticed that their teeth were absolutely perfect – white, no cavities, no missing teeth, and no need for orthodontics.  He started studying the tribes to learn why and, as you might have guessed, their perfect teeth had everything to do with their diet. Nagel explains how a dentist that formulated the theory for tooth decay explained that when teeth are strong, the bacteria that lives on them don’t harm the teeth.  These tribes didn’t brush or floss, and their teeth always had food on them.  It’s when the teeth are weak that the bacteria can affect them.  Same idea if someone has a weakened immune system.  He might get sick from a bug that someone else’s body would fight right off. This theory got turned around along the way, and we started blaming the bacteria for tooth decay, rather than looking at the root cause.  (Does that sound familiar to anyone?)  Reference Digging Deeper… The diet he explains sounded rather complicated to me and included things like fish head stew.  Um, no thanks.  BUT he talked in depth about two supplements that we can take that replaces the nutrients our bodies are lacking if we have teeth decay.  These nutrients are found in fermented cod liver oil and butter oil. Before you stay eww and stop reading, especially if you’ve read this far, it comes in capsules.  I haven’t had any trouble with it.  (Unlike the regular cod liver oil I took when I was pregnant with D – it was in capsules too and I couldn’t handle it.  The fermented version is actually terrific for some reason.) I bought the FCLO and butter oil combination that Green Pastures makes (it’s called the Blue Ice Royal Blend) and I’ve been taking 4 capsules/day.  You can play with the dosage to find one that’s right for you. If you have some more complicated issues, like mercury fillings and root canals, or just want to know more, I highly recommend Nagel’s book.  I got the Kindle version (which you can read on your smartphone or computer, you don’t need a Kindle) and it was much cheaper. =) What do you think?   Have you tried it? * These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.