Your Mouth is Complex

The first thing to understand about oral care is that our mouths are the home to a complex living ecosystem. This is so often neglected in modern dentistry, yet without it homeopathic dentistry as we know it would largely not exist. Nadine Artemis of Living Libations really dives into this concept in her book, and I’ve also talked about it in previous posts. For the purposes of what we’re talking about here, it’s important to have a bit of background, so here’s a quick summary:

Toothpaste that you see in a standard store has two goals. First, it aims to kill all of the bacteria in your mouth, and it does quite a good job of this. Second, it aims to coat your teeth in fluoride in the hopes that they will absorb some of it.

In every other part of our body, killing all of the bacteria present is always a bad idea. Our mouths are not different. They are still a part of us, like any other. Regarding fluoride, if you aren’t already opposed to it, here are 50 good reasons why it shouldn’t be in our drinking water – why would our toothpaste be any different? One thing I stand by at Living Earth Beauty is that if you can’t eat it, you shouldn’t be putting it on your skin, and especially not brushing your teeth with it.

Clay for Oral Care

As mentioned last week, clays other than zeolite have unique absorptive abilities that make them useful for internal cleansing. This is also helpful when it comes to oral care. Similar to internal cleansing, the ultimate goal is to cultivate and maintain the healthy ecosystem that naturally occurs in our mouths. Clay helps with this in three ways:

1. Brushing with clay gently polishes the teeth, removing built up plaque and tartar without the use of acidic or toxic chemicals that bleach the teeth and leave them vulnerable and cause further imbalance.
2. Clay can help kill harmful bacteria that deposit plaque in the first place
3. The high mineral content of clay is made available for use by the body in rebuilding the wear that teeth undergo throughout the day.

How to Start Using Clay

If you’d like to start using clay for oral care purposes, this is what I’d recommend trying:

The main ingredients in Ozonated Toothpaste by Living Libations are pyrophyllite clay and ozone combined with magnesium and an alchemical blend of essential oils. I’ve mentioned before how beneficial ozone is when used for oral care, and when paired up with all of the properties of clay listed above and antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and healing essential oils, the result is an excellent toothpaste that’s non-toxic, raw, completely organic, and genuinely healthy for your mouth.

Oralive by Ascended Health is one of my favorite organic toothpastes, and one that I use every day. All of the ingredients present are housed in a base of natural magnetic mineral earth from carefully selected areas, including some Micronesian Volcanos. This earth has tremendous healing properties and elements of monatomic silver, gold, rhodium, and magnesium.

With these guidelines, you should be well on your way to nurturing your healthy, natural oral flora. Also, if you’ve tried using clay for oral care, be sure to share how your experience was in the comments below!

The use of clay for a variety of medicinal purposes dates as far back as we have records for organized society in prehistoric times and still sees widespread use across many cultures today. Perhaps most interestingly, it has been well known since the second century that many animals seek out specific clays when they are sick to successfully treat and heal themselves. The first uses of medicinal clay that we have instruction for come from mesopotamian tablets around 2500 B.C. and the writings of Egyptian physicians that documented their work with pharaohs. Clay can be used topically for beautiful skin and hair, orally to strengthen teeth, and internally to treat and heal a variety of intestinal issues. Over the next three weeks, I’ll walk you through each of these, starting today with internal use.

Organic Clay Sources for Internal Use

Zeolite

The most prominently used internal clay in alternative medicine today for detoxification purposes is Zeolite – a powder made of fine honeycomb shaped mineral clusters that form over many years when lava and ash meet sea water. It’s effectiveness in detoxification comes from their natural negative charge. Since many toxins, all heavy metals, several dangerous chemical compounds, and multiple carcinogens are all positively charged, they readily bind with zeolites, forming a neutral compound that is easily flushed out in the urine.

Another advantage of their negative charge is that they are naturally alkalizing, helping balance body pH and enhancing the body’s digestive processes which are more efficient when the rest of the body maintains its alkalinity. During the digestive process, while zeolite clay is being passed through the intestines, the absorption of carbohydrates are slowed. While the same amount of carbohydrates are still ultimately absorbed, allowing this to occur over a slightly longer amount of time helps the body regulate its blood sugar levels.

Personally, if you’re looking to cleanse your body with organic zeolite, I recommend Super-Z-Lite by Omica Organics (which is also available in powder or capsule form) if you’d like to start taking a zeolite supplement. This is the Zeolite I use and the best I’ve found on the market. They use sustainable manufacturing practices from a private zeolite source where they can ensure a specific level of quality, and their zeolite is reduced to the size of red blood cells to ease absorption. This differs from most Zeolite manufacturers who use a variety of sources (often whatever costs the least, unfortunately) and do little to no work to ensure the quality of their products. Super-Z-Lite is also comprised of over 100,000 parts per million pure zeolite, making it the most concentrated zeolite source available today.
Bentonite

The second most widely-used internal clay that you’re likely to hear about is Bentonite, which gains most of its detoxifying abilities from its absorptivity. Unlike zeolite, it does not have a prominent negative charge and so does not specifically bind heavy metals and other positively charged toxins. While bentonite clay absorbs a decent amount of water while passing through the gastrointestinal tract (a fact that once made it a prominent diarrhea treatment), it also absorbs many toxins. Why it absorbs substances that tend to be harmful to the body while leaving nearly everything else in the GI tract alone is not well understood, but it has been repeatedly observed.

Upon contact with bentonite clay, certain molecules initially bond to its surface. Shortly after, the clay draws the molecules inward, absorbing them completely within their structure along with a small amount of water. Since these molecules are then surrounded entirely by a clay that the body will not absorb, they pass harmlessly through the rest of the GI tract. Bentonite has been shown to absorb a wide variety of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals and help remove them from the body.

Historically, clay treatments, especially Zeolite, have been prescribed by practitioners of alternative medicine for sore joints, arthritis, cysts, a wide variety of gastrointestinal issues, and as a regular overall cleanse to increase general health and wellness. It is important to note that clay can alter the absorptivity of any medications you may be taking, thus changing how they act, so be aware of this before starting any cleansing program with clay.

Personally, I take Zeolite almost every night before bed and make sure to drink plenty of water with it. I have also done a two week long internal cleanse using bentonite clay. I followed the protocol described in the book, Bernard Jensen’s Guide to Better Bowel Care. I had a colonic every evening during this cleanse, as well. This cleanse was the single deepest cleanse I ever did and it got the most profound results. I felt amazing and all of my chronic sinus, skin, and health conditions were pretty much eliminated afterwards. Of course, such conditions can easily come back if a pure, healthy diet as not followed, so keep that in mind.

Lastly, if you’ve tried an internal clay cleanse, be sure to let us know how it went for you!

I’ve been wanting to create a look for a quite some time that was more representative of who I am and what this blog is about. I’m so excited that it is here! I hope you enjoy the aliveness of the new look! Let me know you feel about it in the comments below, if you’d like.

What I will be sharing with you here is not changing. You can still expect the latest information about the world of raw, vegan, organic skincare and nutrition every Friday.

Here’s her letter:

Hi Jill,

I was wondering if you were going to do any blogs on acne scars. I know many skin experts say that the only way to make indented scars less noticeable is via surgery..but I want to say that as someone who has suffered with not only cystic acne, but pitted scars as well, that there is hope. I am not sure what ingredient has been the superstar, but after changing my diet to mostly raw, and using skincare like ISUN and Living Libations and Simply Divine Botanicals, I can honestly say that my scars are barely noticeable now…at first I thought it was just wishful thinking, but when both my husband and my esthetician noticed it, I knew I was on to something. I barely wear any face makeup anymore (before I had to layer it on to try and fill in the holes in my face) and I actually look years younger ( I am 41, but everyone thinks I am in my 20′s). I guess I just want people who have gone through what I have to know there is hope. Of course I still have a ways to go, and I am addressing things internally as well, but I believe that there are things on this earth that can completely heal us. I want to say that Tamanu oil has been a huge help, as it has been in most all of what I use, that and MSM.

As for what I have done, I am still working on the healing process as my scars are older so are healing slower than I’d like, but progress is happening so that is keeping me motivated. ISUN was the first product line I tried and I used the Emerald Sun Hydrosol and the Clarifying Serum. I used a face wash, then used the Emerald Sun as a toner, then applied the Clarifying Serum. Then I discovered Living Libations and used the Grapefruit Cellular Renewal , the Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever, Dew Dab, SeaBuckthorn Tamanu All Over Lotion and the RoseGlow Face Cream. I used all of these products religiously for probably a year before I saw real results. I would use the Best Skin Ever as a night serum and the others during the day. I also use your Supernatural Face Serum at night as well. I did discover that Tamanu is a superstar healer after recently cutting myself doing the dishes. I thought I would need stitches or at least have a nasty scar, but in 2 days of using pure tamanu on it, it has closed up and is almost gone. So now, at night I just massage that in my skin and use natural tea tree or neem oil as a blemish buster. As for my diet, I try and eat something raw before and/or at every meal. I would say my husband and I are probably around 65-80% raw most often. I drink water with lemon a lot and I love chia seeds (which are high in omega efa’s and protein) so I incorporate those into my diet a lot as well.

This is something that I am very passionate about and your site as well as your story has certainly played a role in my transformation, both physically and spiritually.

Thank you so much for your wonderful gifts…

- Sabrina Zimmerman

There are three main reasons why Sabrina was able to achieve success in healing her acne scars. The first involves reframing how we think about what scars are and why they exist. The second reason was because of her healthy, alive, healing diet. The third essential reason was because of her use of natural, organic, healing skin care. Let focus in on some of the primary ingredients in the skin care that she used that have an especially healing affect on scars. MSM taken both internally and applied externally is an excellent scar healer. Tamanu Oil is also a skin and scar healing star. Let’s take a deeper look at each of these and why they’re important.

Most Scars Are a Natural Part of the Healing Process

Scars are likely to form from any wound that takes longer than two or three weeks to heal, or from long term inflammation. Scars that stick out are called “hypertrophic,” while those that have depth are called “atrophic” (these are the kind most commonly associated with acne). Scarring occurs because your body doesn’t like having things between your skin cells for very long except other skin cells. So when the body responds to a wound or infection by creating masses of white or red blood cells (often in the form of a clot for red blood cells), and they stay between your skin cells for an extended period of time, your body launches a specialized rapid healing response. By winding collagen fibers together into dense matrix, then snaking them through whatever is in the way from one end of the wound to the other, your skin makes a natural kind of stitch and closes the wound. This was very necessary in the early stages of our evolution, where infection of all kinds could easily be fatal. Truly, without scars, the human race may not be around today.

Healing Scars with Tamanu Oil and MSM

This doesn’t mean that scars must be there forever. This is where Tamanu Oil and MSM come into play.

Tamanu Oil

Tamanu Oil comes from the Tamanu tree, which you may know by one of its many other names: Calophyllum Tacamahaca, Calophyllum Inophyllum, Alexandrian Laurel, Sweet Scented Calophyllum, Pannay Tree, or even Borneo Mahogany (this is more of a historical name). It’s still highly regarded in Polynesian cultures, where it originally found ancient use as one of the very first methods of protecting skin from the sun. It’s also widely regarded as a very potent antibiotic and fungicide, and indeed, it has compared favorably in alleviating a variety of maladies, from infected burns to even urinary tract infections. Most importantly, it has demonstrated some potent abilities as a skin repair agent and scar tissue healer. And not just on new scar tissue – results have been reproduced on aged scars that are over a year old.

Here are the products Sabrina used to heal her scars that include Tamanu Oil:

Supernatural Age-Defying Facial Elixir by Living Earth Beauty

Pure Tamanu Oil by Living Earth Beauty

Seabuckthorn Best Skin Ever by Living Libations

Seabuckthorn Tamanu All-Over Lotion by Living Libations

MSM

MSM is an excellent natural source of sulfur, which is necessary in the development of collagen and keratin (both of which are important for firm, healthy skin). While your body will disperse MSM where it’s needed if it’s taken internally, it should be applied topically when using it to aid in the tissue regeneration necessary for scar healing. This ensures that it targets the scar specifically and delivers plenty of required sulfur to the right area.

Here are some of products I recommend for scar healing that contain MSM:

MSM Crystals by Omica Organics

Bee Beauty Age-Defying Facial Oil by Living Earth Beauty

Supernatural Age-Defying Facial Elixir by Living Earth Beauty

Cell Serum by Living Libations

Give these products a try and you should be well on your way to helping your scars heal and fade. Even if you’ve had your scars for years, you may not get rid of them completely, but you still may see results. And if you’ve had your own experience like Sabrina’s or any questions or comments, please share in the comments section below!