About six months ago I got the urge to chew stuff. Hard-to-chew stuff. I was even thinking about getting some rawhide from the pet store or something (relax, I didn’t). I started pondering chewing, and it led me down a really long rabbit hole involving ABC gum, a toad, and a gimp.
Now, be forewarned that if you are a health fanatic or recovering health fanatic with OCD tendencies, you should probably just stop reading here. You run the risk of becoming suddenly and tirelessly obsessed with your tongue position and other crazy stuff that’s just not likely to improve the quality of your life in any way.
But for those of you with a curious mind, read on. If I’m bothering to dust off the blog for the first time in over a year to write about it (and I’ve been’stewing over this post for months now), then you know it’s going to be fascinating.
First off, let me mention the first few thoughts I had before I began looking into this topic.
- I remember growing up that my dad told me, when we got a new puppy, that it needed to chew a lot, and that it should eat dry, hard dog food rather than soft dog food precisely because this was “good for its teeth.” This seemed like common knowledge, yet it seemed humans were always being discouraged from putting things in their mouth from a young age and fed only the very softest of foods as if this fundamental truth didn’t apply to us
- I thought about how other species have to chew all their food raw, and that they often spend hours chewing very difficult-to-chew foods
- I thought about the importance of resistance exercise in maintaining the hardness and density of bones, and I figured the same certainly had to apply to teeth
This was kind of the foundation from which I explored.
If you know the history of this site, you’ll know that in 2007 I began broadly studying health, nutrition, and related fields obsessively. Some of the most interesting stuff I came across right away was the work of Weston A. Price.
Ol’ Weston A. Price, post-humously deified as a health guru by the popular-ish Weston A. Price and Price Pottenger Foundations, did something that really seems to have deeply touched millions of modern humans–he went on a worldwide voyage of Darwin-esque proportions to see what the last remaining primitive peoples did and ate, and how that affected their health.
He was most interested in the field of dentistry, so his studies were focused primarily on tooth decay and malocclusion (crooked teeth).
As you know, just about EVERYONE in the modern world has had both tooth decay and malocclusion. Weston A. Price showed, definitively and irrefutably, that having these two conditions is NOT normal or natural. These conditions ranged from uncommon to unheard of in the isolated tribes he encountered in 14 separate regions of the globe–from Masai warriors in Africa to the Eskimo.
It’s captivating research.
Price’s conclusion was that the changes in food–particularly the nutrient density and profile of the food–was to blame for the widespread “physical degeneration” that he observed when modern food was introduced. He thought fat soluble vitamins A, D, and K2 were the most important “activators” of proper genetic expression as it pertained to healthy teeth and full formation of the dental arch (broad enough to accommodate all 32 teeth, including the wisdom teeth, without the crookedness that results from crowding).
Price also made interesting observations about other changes in facial form. He noted that narrowed nostrils and elongated faces accompanied the more narrow dental arch, and he made particular mention of “mouth breathing” as a new, degenerative phenomenon as well.
All this makes some sense right? I mean, we know that vitamin D and K2 in particular, combined with minerals like calcium, are super important in the formation of bones and teeth n’ stuff. Don’t we?
Actually, some of the most malnourished people in the world have some of the best bones, teeth, nostrils, and jaw formation. Vegans, for example, LOVE to point out that low bone density is more common in countries with the highest calcium consumption, while the best bone density can be found in places with a nutrient-poor diet. Like Africa.
And that’s because bone density doesn’t have much to do with nutrient intake as long as you are getting enough to avoid overt deficiency, which almost everyone is.
If you want better bone density and to avoid osteoporosis, toss the minerals and fat soluble vitamins aside and put your focus on weight-bearing exercise! Weightlifting and alpine skiing will give you much better bone density. It’s not even close.
Turns out the same thing is true with the formation of the jaw. Humans have weak teeth and deformed faces compared to historical norms… because we eat soft, calorie-dense, little-chewing-required food!
Yes folks, Price missed the big one, and a generation of unfortunate kids were forced to choke down toxic and disgusting cod liver oil! Bleh! Some health gurus who religiously followed Price’s teachings friggin’ died from guzzling too much of it! (R.I.P. Rami Nagel and Ron Schmid).
Quite simply, our jaws are narrower and our teeth are softer and more pathetic and prone to tooth decay, cracking, and other problems, primarily because we don’t chew enough!
Just like our bones and muscles and posture suck because we spend too much time sitting around in front of screens instead of climbing, jumping, dancing, lifting shit, walking, running, and so on. The body, quite simply, does not tend to allocate energy and matter to areas of the body that aren’t in use. What isn’t getting used atrophies, or doesn’t form properly at all.
Yet, millions of misled health seekers are sitting around eating even MORE cheese than a typical American, and thinking that if their butter is yellow enough or their pigs have a good enough suntan, that some kind of magic will happen.
Hey, nothing wrong with a nutritious diet, but exercise, including exercise of the jaw, is a much bigger factor.
Meet Dr. Mew
Thanks to Steven Edholm for the heads up on Dr. Mew. I mentioned my interest in chewing, teeth, and the jaw in a comment on the blog, and Steven shared his work. By the way, Steven is a long-time 180D friend and follower, and is quickly becoming a bit of a YouTube celebrity with his channel SkillCult. I’m super proud of him, and also super proud that 180D was able to captivate someone so intelligent and talented. It reflects highly on all of us losers here, haha.
So yeah, Mew was just EXACTLY what I was looking for as I got curious about the subject. Like getting interested in metabolism and finding Ray Peat, I was thrilled to find someone who had come to similar conclusions as my own but had WAY more in-depth knowledge and experience accumulated over decades.
To be honest, the guy strikes me as being weird as fuck. And he is a pretty terrible speaker, in part because he insists on doing some strange swallowing thing (called the Mew Push Swallow) with his tongue as part of his whole facial structure and function philosophy, but who cares. The dude is just plain RIGHT. About a lot of stuff. And I love him for it.
And it turns out this whole chewing thing is really important. It’s not just an aesthetic thing. When the facial bones aren’t properly stimulated, the jaw slopes downward, elongating the face and narrowing both the dental arch and the nostrils (which makes it harder to breathe through the nose, causing mouth-breathing). A narrow dental arch also causes there to be no room for your tongue, and when there’s no room for your tongue, you have to do one or more of the following things to compensate:
- Stick your neck out farther (forward head posture)
- Open your mouth to breathe (remember Price’s mouth breathing fascination)
It probably goes even further than that. A narrowed airway that’s clogged up with a crowded tongue leads to sleep apnea and snoring, which is correlated with all kinds of horrible things. Diabetes n’ stuff. I suspect mouth-breathing alters breathing physiology as well via exhaling excess carbon dioxide, altering metabolism negatively, reducing stress tolerance, and other things you may have encountered from the work of Ray Peat or Konstantin Buteyko. Mouth breathing is also terrible for dental health, as it dries out your protective saliva.
Mew even thinks the forward head posture that supposedly results from a dental arch that’s too small can cause a variety of postural problems leading to a flat ass and flabby abs. Get your first taste of Mew below…
Get a full bottle of the Mew in his more thorough presentation…
Practical Application
This is where this whole adventure gets pretty hilarious. After watching some Dr. Mew videos and pondering buying doggie chew toys to strengthen my jaw and teeth, the highly-pinpointed advertising machine on YouTube presented me with exactly what I had been looking for–a jaw workout device for humans.
Yes, I got hit with this commercial, which is, if you didn’t know anything about the importance of jaw exercise for improving and maintaining facial structure, totally hilarious. If you DO know about the importance of jaw exercise, it’s still pretty hilarious…
But undoubtedly more hilarious was Infinite Elgintensity’s roast of Jawzrsize…
Love that guy.
Fortunately, I don’t think you need to go full gimp and chew on a ball gag to get great results. Don’t let me stop you, but I think it’s probably better to chew on something that allows you to chew through a broader range of motion. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. But I’m totally good with giant wads of gum. And, because I chew like 15 pieces of gum in one huge ass wad, and because I want it to be quite stiff and difficult to chew, well…
I chew ABC gum.
There I said it. Kinda gross, but I don’t have a better alternative at the moment. Anyone want to make some natural gum in giant pieces at a low cost for me to chew? Please help a brother out.
Dr. Mew recommends chewing a big ass piece of gum and working it all around your mouth for about a half hour a day. That sounds kind of silly, but chewing gum is actually pretty fun. I wouldn’t mind it. HOWEVER…
I really don’t think you need to do very much chewing to properly stimulate the jaw, increase the musculature in your face, broaden the dental arch, and strengthen the teeth.
And that’s where the final mystery enters the picture…
The Toad
I’m talking about Matt Stonie (yes, that’s a real person, not a fictitious cousin of mine, and not a typo), aka “Megatoad.”
Matt Stonie is a competitive eater, and his jaw and facial structure has undergone truly MASSIVE changes over the few years that I have followed him. I mean, his face looks completely different from a few years ago.
But what the hell? He eats a bunch of soft foods like burgers and fries and giant tubs of mayonnaise. Why would his jaw muscles hypertrophy and his face widen? He probably does less chewing than nearly everyone. What about that, Dr. Mew?!
Building muscles, strength, power, and undergoing tremendous physiological alterations is not about how much you chew. Just like in weight training, it’s about short bursts of extremely intense exercise through a full range of motion, working the muscles to their maximum threshold, and then resting for days or even a week or longer before doing another hard “workout.”
When you shove as much food in your mouth as possible and eat it as quickly as possible, chewing hard for 3-10 minutes without pause, you are doing some really intense work. And that’s what triggers dramatic adaptations. Watch how hard that kid’s jaw is working when he is eating. That’s some SERIOUS bite force! Watch your fingers bro!
In Conclusion
In conclusion, I think the best thing to do with all this information is to do a little bout of high-intensity chewing to muscular failure once or twice a week. That’s all I do, and I believe it will help long-term. The muscles in my jaw, face, neck, and sides of my head are definitely larger and stronger than before, it’s been an enjoyable practice, and it’s only taken up an average of about 30 minutes of my time per month. Not 30 minutes per day!
My teeth also feel stronger. Prior to starting, one of the things that was making me feel a strong urge to chew was my two front teeth feeling kind of weak and brittle. Not anymore.
Maybe in a matter of years my dental arch will have even expanded a little bit. That would be pretty cool, although, to be sure, this stuff is much more effective if it’s started at a young age while the jaw is still developing (although don’t be fooled, our bones/skeletons are always changing in response to stimuli, just VERY slowly).
And, if you do nothing, your jaw will get smaller as you age, further crowding your teeth, elongating your face, clogging your airway, worsening your head posture, and so on. Very interesting as I’ve seen this in my own mom, whose lifelong straight teeth have suddenly gone slightly crooked. It’s possible to prevent this.
Okay, well. Hope you enjoyed this post. I’ll be retreating back into obscurity now. After answering some comments for a few days of course :)
If anyone has any better ideas for something to chew on besides a gimp ball or some nasty-ass old Bazooka that’s already been chewed about 6 times, please chime in!
If you REALLY want to chew on something try looking at https://afferentinput.org/ and similar sites. This shows – with videos – that your backache, leg-ache, injuries etc are all due to your….TEETH
Go look…
Hi George, I’ve looked into Afferent input as you suggest (intriguing and I plan on learning more) but haven’t yet come across any reference to teeth. Can you expand on that or provide some specific links? Thx in advance..
Guys, the best thing to chew on is mastic gum.
It is tree resin. It will really give your jaw and face a workout.
I have seen big changes in the past 6 months.
It doesn’t lose consistency and has show to have some digestive benefits as well. Just make sure you get the actual mastic, and not the capsules which are sold as supplements.
They look like white small stones/crystals.
Buy online or check your local greek store.
Don’t chew more than 30 min per day though, specially at the beginning, as too much of anything is bad.
Also, as they are quite pricey, i personally chew on the same thing a few times before I throw it away. (Might sound gross I know).
Good luck
I have enjoyed mastic, but I don’t like it nearly as much as hard biting on a teething ring. I got much greater results with a lot less TMJ type side effects by short period of hard-as-I-can biteforce on a teething ring than I did from just some jaw muscle exercise via mastic gum. Really strengthened my teeth and increased my bite force. I really noticed when I went to open up one of those honey bears with my teeth and bit through the plastic without even feeling it. Just tore right through it like it was a fruit roll up or something!
Hello Matt.
Kind of an odd question, but what type of teething ring are you biting on?
I’ve been using “Chewelry” that I got on Amazon recently. It’s my favorite so far… https://www.amazon.com/Necklace-GNAWRISHING-Necklaces-Silicone-Autistic/dp/B088TDXZFX/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=chewelry&qid=1629170790&sr=8-3
I can’t remember if that’s the exact one I have or not, but I’ve got one like it. I’d suggest getting the hardest one you can find. Your bite force will increase quickly and you’ll find anything soft to be too mushy very quickly.
Tree resin can be found? I only found the Greek elma mastic but it’s not hard enough, it’s how ever really healthy with antioxidants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4114011/
Katy Bowman has also talked about the need to chew. She has suggested chewing sticks, not the ones you find lying on the ground though.
I have tried popsicle sticks. Wouldn’t recommend it. :)
https://neemtreefarms.com/shop/neem-chew-sticks/
I think something like this might work. : )
Get some beef jerky and leave it sitting open for a few days. My husband does this because he prefers it that way. After a number of days, it dries out to the point of, probably not quite rawhide, but possibly a human form of rawhide. Eating a good size piece definitely tires the jaw. Perhaps I’ll have to start turning his way in that.
I like that idea. I didn’t know that jerky would get more leathery beyond how it comes.
Perhaps different brands will be different in that aspect. I got some awhile back from a local farmer where I get most of meat. Although to call that jerky might be pushing it a bit. It was very soft jerky, and never did dry out much. My husband usually gets either Great Value brand from Walmart, or another one that he actually prefers but can’t always find. He’ll open the bag for a few days before eating it, and then he leaves it open to gnaw on when the mood strikes him. Definitely hardens up and will give your jaw a workout.
This is so interesting! Personally, I have always doubted the “focal point of infection” theory that Price postulated because it was never replicated. That’s the point of science–replication of the results. Also, the nutrition aspect as the sole factor for dental health struck me as narrow-focused. However, I chewed a lot of gum as a kid, so what happened to my teeth?? I also ate a lot of sugary candy and my gum was 100% sugar, so that was not helpful. I think you’re on to something here–chew sugar-free gum once in a while, exercise your jaws and teeth just like you do the rest of your body, and your bones will be stronger. I really loved this analysis! Missed your stuff, man!
I don’t think gum is ideal, and chewing small pieces of gum is probably pretty useless. It’s akin to trying to get ripped with 5-pound pink dumbbells, lol.
Well well well! Been awhile since you have given us something to chew on (groan). Of course you are right again; that we must “use it or lose it” in addition to properly feeding our cave man and cave woman bodies. (Not just being cute here: I actually remind my students in my college biology classes that we have not “evolved” in the last few millennia, but are still physiologically cave men and cave women, and we forget that at our peril.)
Of course you know what’s coming next: the key nutrient that most people lack from bones is that wonderful “non-essential” amino acid glycine, which is every third amino acid in collagen, the most abundant protein in our bodies (and mostly in the bones).
So a couple years ago I also recommended glycine for my daughter’s 13-year-old Llasa apsa, who by all accounts was on death’s doorstep. She didn’t tolerate the free amino acid, but loved straight gelatin powder with her food. The dog is like a puppy again at 16. Of course it took a genius like me to figure out that what dogs (as well as us) really need is the most abundant nutrient in bones! (This is not unusual: These days, science is too often the exercise of overlooking the obvious.)
So now I have found myself also chewing gum a lot, especially as it really does help to clean my teeth after meals (but not ABC gum, seriously?).
And one more thing about bones that’s all the rage these days: Vitamin D. We don’t quite hibernate like some furry critters, but we are made to be less active in the winter, when the sun shines on us less, so the body’s manufacture of vitamin D (the only photosynthesis our animal bodies do) is proportional to the amount of sunlight we get. Since our modern lifestyle involves activity for around 18 hours a day regardless of the season, we really do need to supplement with vitamin D, at least in the winter for palefaces like me (and probably all year for those with dark skin living at temperate lattitudes.)
Anyway, great to have you back at the keyboard, Matt!
It’s always good to see you here, Dr. Brind! I wish we’d all meet here more often.
I hope all is well with you and yours!
Very interesting research on glycine. I will give it a try and see how it goes. Are you familiar with any interactions between retinol and glycine? I have almost finished reading both the free ebooks about chronic vitamin A toxicity by this engineer out of Canada (see link), and I am in disbelief on how badly virtually the entire medical community (allopathic and alternative) has messed this one up. Basically, all the author seems to be missing is a solution to excess retinol besides avoidance (which makes for a severely limited diet). Taurine seemed to solve the eye issues in cats in the 70s, but I wonder if glycine could also ameliorate issues too, since it seems to keep inflammation in a proper balance. You sound like a genuine open-minded researcher, so any opinion you have would be welcome.
The Weston Price Foundation website didn’t post my comment asking them to take a look, and given the all too common health issues of the local group I follow on facebook, I think it is safe to say they are doing something wrong despite tremendous efforts expended towards better nutrition…to which there might be a forehead smacking simple answer if one of these deified nutrients is actually a destructive poison when consumed in excess.
https://ggenereux.blog/
Thank you for the link you posted Evan. The engineer’s research is fantastic! Heliotherapy at noon, MSM (Organic Sulphur) and Kombucha or Apple Cider Vinegar with honey could also help in the detoxification process. In the engineer’s case, though, I do not know if they would suffice. An extra problem is that Canada is too far North for the Sun to be healing plus the chemtrails (which we also have a plethora of here in Greece too, being, unfortunatelly, a NATO country)!
You know, I’ve submitted a few less-than-positive posts on the WAPF website and they were never published. But, under a different name, I would post a positive comment and it was published. But, I guess that’s what they have to do, in order to maintain their cult.
I had one of my published comments bookmarked, but they redesigned their website and the link is no longer valid. But, reading down the left of the paragraph that was published, reading only the first words, the words equated to something like “Sally is very overweight.”
It’s the small things in life that give me joy.
When I was a child I received an operation, which caused me a chronic pain. When I subscribed to the Weston. A. Price. Magazine I learnt about the value of Cod Liver Oil, ergo I commenced consuming a tablespoon a day of the only one I found at the Pharmacy (Seven Seas). The product had artificial Vitamin A and D plus oxidized omega3 fats; it was not a high-end Cod Liver Oil, that is! Nonetheless, the end result was that I got cured from my chronic pain!! I thought at the time that was Vitamin A that did the trick but (since I think that the engineer is correct) it must have been the fats or whatever change I did at the same time! Being Greek I grew up eating organ meat since being twelve months old. I guess that I did not suffer from his health problems because I fast from animal foods 200 days a year (being Orthodox) and I never liked vegetables and fruits to begin with :) so I never really consumed them in quantity! My favourite foods (on fasting days) have always been bread, lentils and potatoes plus some sea food like sepia and / or calamari on weekends! After reading Tim Steeles well-written book “Potato Hack” I loved them even more!
I’m very sorry that the Foundation does not accept your comments because I consider them honest people; too bad!
I forgot to mention that I also consume tahini with honey on my fasting days as a dessert; maybe that is important too. On the non-fasting days I consume either fermented milk (half a litre) or 10% fat yoghurt with honey.
So great to see you back. Fascinating information and just in time for I’ve been experiencing difficulty chewing hard foods. I will study this info intently. I hope you’re back to posting more often.
Good to see you back Matt, enjoyed the post. I hope there’s more to come. I’ve missed your debunking :)
After reading 2 of your books I knew you wouldn’t quit for good … i just hope you can come up with a sustainable business model :-) because you think like I do and somehow have the time to follow your trail. Thanks so much, we’re buying a big box of Bazooka today!
Fascinating! And timely for me. I have several children needing corrective orthodontics for palette and tongue induced bite and jaw issues. No major out-of-line teeth yet, but I’ve been wondering what’s at the heart of it. And admittedly, we are a home that adheres to WAPF principles of nutrient dense (softer I suppose, except for my tough fails at cooking certain cuts of meat) food in general.
One of my girls even has a jaw that needs to come forward for better breathing like you mention.
The interesting thing to me, after reading your thoughts, is that I have not had these issues myself until recently either, and as a kid and young adult I had very straight teeth and a large enough palette to easily accommodate my wisdom teeth without crowding. BUT, I was also a grinder! Not just at night, when my family could hear me a whole house level away, but under stress I would clench and grind my teeth. Of course I was told by dentists how bad this was and that my teeth were wearing down, but Lo and behold, more than 20 years since I was told that and my teeth are still working for me. I don’t grind as much and not at night (I suspect it was the body stress of not eating enough food as an anorexic teenager) but I’m seriously wondering if that inadvertent load bearing was beneficial in an unexpected way.
As for what to do for my kids, I think I will take our new natural dentist’s advice and start having them chew some xylichew gum. Not for the anticavity effects of xylitol alone but for tooth and jaw strength. An occasional intense session? Maybe she knows Dr Mews work but didn’t care to add that in as a reason for chewing. But we’ll give it a go.
Awesome! My kids have used MyoMunchees and experienced some widening of their dental arches from these. The MyoMunchees clean their teeth really well also. I would say anyone chewing to muscle failure should carefully maintain a good (not forward) head posture throughout that exercise. I do several exercises to failure once per week, and love the idea of chewing once per week as well. We have considered sticks and dog toys at our house as well! Some cuts of meat are soft and wonderful, and some are chewy and full of gristle. I think we are going to introduce a chewy meat meal at my house! Chewy on purpose! So love when someone writes something that gets me to thinking differently. Thank you!
I’d be curious how the modern epidemic of posterior tongue ties is related to this phenomenon, either nutritionally or structurally or both.
Mews and his father have some vids on tongue ties on youtube.
Tongue ties cause a problem with the structural relationships that drive facial development. By the time a child is born, the palette will already be deformed if a tongue tie is present. I wasn’t able to find any etiology for this condition in conventional medicine that went beyond the old ‘environmental and genetic factors’, which is pretty typical for birth defects. Most conditions can be connected to metabolic deficiencies, but it wasn’t enough to fully explain the prevalence in certain communities. I poured over research for a bit and became fairly convinced that this was a nutritional deficit related to synthetic folic acid as a midline deformity that occurs in the first trimester. This of course highlights that proper facial development requires both the thinking of Price and Mew.
Steven e – thank you, I will look into them!
Nira – I have the same conclusion re: folic acid, and the connection to MTHFR seems to be important as well.
My 3 kids are tongue tied (and probably my 4th will be as well), have been revised, and led me to finding out that I am also tongue tied. I’ve been debating getting it revised and this new information is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back I think!!
Hi Matt
Great work! I completely agree that Weston Price didn’t get everything right…..but neither did Darwin for that matter, but that certainly doesn’t take much away from what either of those visionaries did indeed accurately ‘get right’.
I have on occasion observed that sometimes after a new book or article is published that, amongst other factors, pointedly extolls the supposed virtues of vitamins A, D, and K2, etc. as being a panacea for malocclusion, diabetes and/or a solution for world peace, they, and/or some of their apostles, also shortly thereafter start there own online marketing and sales of ‘nutraceuticals’ such as vitamins A, D, and K2, etc……go figure.
Thanks for this essay of yours Matt….very helpful.
Last Fall I discovered Vitamin D3 was used by a woman named Elena to great success for reflux and a nice side effect, cured her recent bladder leakage.
I did some more research and started taking Vitamin D3 and K2. It started to be of some help for long standing reflux and bladder leakage that was rapidly worsening.
Then I read Jeff T Bowles research at his website including testimonials there and Amazon and realized I could safely take more than Elena even recommended to achieve better and quicker results. 100,000 IU /20 mg seems like an enormous amount, yet that is not even what a person can make by spending a day in the sun with minimal clothing.
I live in a northern state where we don’t see much sun in Fall and Winter or it’s too cold to go outside without being well covered and generally avoided the sun as I’d burn. I am curious to see how I do in the sun this summer.
Since beginning on lower dosage in October and now. A recent change is my skin. Facial pores are smaller, less dryness overall. I may even be growing back some head hair from decades of thinning.
And yes it finally cured the reflux and bladder leakage and also eliminated the need to take thyroid to be warm and have a positive attitude vs low motivation, etc.
My body temp is now consistently above 98 upon waking and usually in the high 98s/even early 99s in the evening.
Andrew Saul, PhD has written on Vitamin D at http://www.doctoryourself.com/dvitamin.htm and mentioned a 1981 medical journal that reported:
?Pregnant women have likewise been given two huge oral doses of vitamin D (600,000 IU) during the 7th and 8th months.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7239350
Of course, he wasn’t recommending that dose. He was merely showing those massive amounts did not appear to be toxic to the pregnant women.
Love it Matt! Glad to see you back. Already put a Jawzrsize in my Amazon Cart. The Ab’s Walk video is also a must watch. I always knew Pilates was the Devil. There is also face yoga I’ve been planning to try. My kids will always appreciate you, Uncle Matt, as the one who got soda back into the house. But they both have grown into forward head walkers, so this article and video will be helpful to them as well. Hello Jawbreakers that I always have refused to buy. Maybe keep a jug on their computer desks. Love you Matt!
I’ve recebrly came across ideas about allergies blocking the nasal passageway leading to mouth breathing which also changes the dynamic of the whole area. Have you come across anything like this as well from these dudes? I imagine it’s likely a combination of both! My middle child has a serious oral fixation when she was younger and always had sketching in her mouth. She has a very wide mouth compared to my other children. But she also shows zero allergy symptoms and never mouth breaths whereas he other two do. Interesting!
It’s good to have you back man! And we only had to wait a year for you to post lol
Excellent post as always. Always thought the sugary foods equals decay thing was b.s. because all the Africans I’ve hung out with eat high carb and pound highly sugared tea all day and still have amazing teeth with no cavities.
As for the exercise sadly I can’t follow it because I’ve had TMJ pain since early teens and my dentist recently banned me from hard chewy foods. (I’ll try the short bursts though screw it).And thanks to my year round allergies I’m basically a mouth breather lol but I try to rein it in. Will check out all the links.
Great hearing from you. Post more this year!
I know Mews has some stuff about TMJ on youtube. here is one anyway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRCsB9hmNls
Thanks for the link. I’m gonna binge watch this New guy on my day off. Your channel too!
My husband seems to have cured his respiratory allergies with cordyceps mushroom capsules. He started taking them about 10 yrs. ago and has had virtually no issues since then.
I enjoyed your article. It’s always nice to hear from you.
I read a book about green smoothies probably 12 years ago by raw vegan Victoria Boutenko who suggested exercising the jaw when drinking green smoothies to replace the lost chewing. I think she was even working on a prototype jawsercizer or whatever. Anyway, I always found her logic about challenging the teeth and bones and muscles of the jaw, well, logical. Then, fast forward several years and I was pounding grass fed butter, cheese, and such thanks to WAPF.
I have to wonder as a woman rapidly approaching middle age, if these jaw exercises might help with the ol? dreaded turkey neck and jowls.
Hey, Texanne – I just saw an ad for a new product … I’m a friend of Victoria Boutenko. I wrote her a couple years ago to find out if she was still selling her jawcerciser. She said the had some, but they were in Russia and would be very expensive to purchase. So I didn’t pursue it. But here’s the new “Jawzrsize” – https://jawzrsize.com/pages/level-1-beginner-sales-page
Dear moderators! Hah! I thought I was on a different page unrelated to Jawzrsize when I made the previous comment LOL! Please delete it! I was going to write you YOU about Victoria Boutenko’s product, because you might have another market … Let me know if you’re interested … :)
Matt- So delighted that you’ve come back to share your true passion with us!
When I was a kid, it was “jawbreakers” and sticky kinds of caramel lolly pop that would make it hard to reopen your mouth after you took one bite! So it wasn’t just chomping down, but having to do the opposing motion of pulling your jaws apart!
I remember reading an incredibly interesting article talking about how humans used to eat raw food, which took hours to finish chewing. That would definitely be a work-out for the jaw!The premise of this article was that once we starting cooking our food, it became easier to chew and we could eat it faster. Then our brains had more time to develop because we weren’t sitting for long periods of time chewing- – and it contributing to human’s intelligence!
I was one of those kids with naturally straight teeth and never developed wisdom teeth- but as of late, my bottom teeth are getting a little crooked and there’s more space between them!
Over the years I’ve purchased difference devices to strengthen the jaw (and get improve age jowls), and have been trying facial yoga – so this is not that surprising to me. But I’m definitely going to put this on my to do list!
So glad you’re back posting! Don’t leave us to have to read the Diet Industry crap without your counterbalancing intelligence AND humor!
Hi Matt.
If you google Flex Effect, the facial exercise, it features bone building exercises in part of the protocol. You just need to firmly press onto all of your bones in the technique the creator, Deb Crowley, has designed, and this will increase your bone mass. You don’t need to chew anything. Also facial exercises and stimulating the muscles, also contributes to increasing bone mass. I’ve been doing Flex Effect for almost 20 years, and it works.
Also, there is a very old book written in the 1920’s. I cannot recall the name right now. I own it but can’t find it on my shelf right now, but it was written by a Sanford or Stanford (?) and it was called something like ‘how to make an old body young’ something like that.. This man completely rejuvenated himself and seems to be one of the forefathers on facial exercises and bone rebuilding. He also rejuvenated his body with exercises in his bed, as he was very ill and dying.
Old Age: Its Cause and Prevention. The Story of an Old Body and Face Made Young
By Sanford Bennett
If you find the book, could you please give me the name?
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Bennett%2C%20Sanford%2C%201841-
I’ve always loved hard-to-chew food and I thought it was weird. I have regular cravings for hardcore chewing. Now it makes a lot more sense. That’s why I instantly loved beef jerky when I first tried it (I’m from Spain and you can’t get it in the stores here). I’m happy that now I have a reason to indulge in hard food since until now I felt a bit guilty thinking that I was damaging my jaw.
I think I’ll give a try to chewing dried jerky and dried sausages more often once I give birth (I’m pregnant now and I’m supposed to stay away from it). In the meantime, I might try the chewing gum workout and hopefully, it will protect my teeth from pregnancy decay.
Thanks, Matt, this is truly valuable advice.
Yeah, as I pondered this subject I thought about any instinctual urges to chew I might have had earlier in life. I chewed the absolute shit out Bic pens in school!
And I don’t know if all this is “truly valuable advice,” but I think it’s a worthy discussion to bring to the forefront, and I can see it has served its purpose. The comments so far on this post are truly amazing.
So glad you mentioned Rami, because since he passed I have found it so odd that NO one talks about it. Here he pushed this book about superior dental and overall health, and yet he died of cancer, I believe. Now I get that it is hard to ever realy figure out why anyone gets cancer, but this guy was young, and once it was announced he had passed, no one spoke about it. The subject became like a fart in church: sure, we all knew it happened, but it’s not to be discussed.
But why shouldn’t we be discussing this? Maybe all of us could be learning something from his passing. I know many believe Ron died from consuming fermented CLO like it was going out of style because he admitted to taking mega-doses, but was Rami doing that, too? We don’t know because, again, no one will talk about it.
Cheeseslave and David Gumpert both published something about Rami’s death with FCLO as the presumed cause. That’s a big leap.
It’s hard to vilify health gurus for dying young or having health problems. Most of them got into the industry because they were super sick, found something that helped (at least temporarily), and became evangelists for whatever that was. These people are notoriously less healthy than the average person to begin with, typically.
Rami Nagel avoided phytates like the plague (because Price said they were bad), yet they’re highly protective against cancer…
Marvellous stuff! If you’re looking for another chewy option, try the hard rinds you get on Parmesan cheese. I love them! (Maybe my body subconsciously took me to them – lady, you need to work dat jaw.) You could also try Wham bars, a long-ago ’80s British sweetie. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wham-Chew-Bars-Original-box/dp/B003XEAXG6/
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I checked my e-mail this morning. Great to see you back with a new post!
I’m familiar with Dr. Mew and Orthotropics and all that. I was actually using paper tape to keep my mouth shut last night (got that from my Buteyko days), as I was getting over a case of Tonsillitis, and didn’t want dry mouth to make it worse.
(By the way, I tried NOW Foods supplement Oralbiotics, which are lozenges that have L. Salivarius…after a couple days of taking a few of these a day, the tonsillitis is all but gone. Amazing stuff. Also important IMO while we’re on the topic of oral health…oral probiotics can go a long way, I’m a believer now)
Mastic gum is my favorite for chewing exercise. Just search eBay or Amazon for “chios mastic” and any of them will do. It is truly awesome stuff. Very, very hard, will give your jaw a great workout. Info here (also great website for general info pertaining to Orthotropics):
http://claimingpower.com/jaw-muscle-workout/
It’s very expensive, which is why I’m cool using it ABC style (already been chewed…had to Google that one). I’m not sure if it’s important to clean it between uses or not, maybe giving it a quick soak in grain alcohol or peroxide or something. Not sure if that’s even necessary. I’ve used ABC gum plenty of times for days and even weeks, just keeping it on my desk when I wasn’t using it…perhaps it’s not a problem, perhaps there’s a more hygienic way to go about it.
But yeah….Chios Mastic. It is the bomb. Super tough, definitely the toughest gum I’ve ever chewed in my life. This article made me get my stash out and is making me consider ordering another 50 grams or so just to have on backup. My jaw is already really, really tired just from chewing this stuff for the 10 minutes it took me write up this comment.
Thanks Jib! Can’t wait to get Mastic-istic! I have thought about putting it in the freezer in between uses? Haven’t actually done it though.
Here is the book I was speaking of earlier, Matt. I found it online. It’s called ‘Old Age Its Cause and Prevention The Story of an Old Body and Face Made Young’ by Sanford Bennett (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Cause-Prevention-Story-Body-Young/dp/116258520X
In researching the book Keanu noted, I found a version that be read online:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924031232105
It can also be downloaded in multiple formats. Thanks for the find.
Great topic! I’ll join the others and say I’ve missed you, Matt.
Chewing is important, but I don’t think anyone can state with certainty that ONLY chewing or ONLY K2 influences palate development. You can easily find examples that refute both options…Price’s subjects in the Loeschental Valley ate mostly cheese and bread (very soft) yet had perfect teeth; conversely, like you mention, perfect teeth abound in countries with rampant malnutrition. I have friends who have stuffed their kids with fat solubles to zero effect; I also have friends who fed their toddlers beef jerky and really focused on chewing, to zero effect. Very discouraging.
If you have a palate so high and narrow that you can’t physically achieve proper tongue posture, all the chewing in the world won’t help you. It might even do harm since a recessed maxilla and mandible can indicate slipped disks in the jaw. I’m just now getting to the point where I feel comfortable doing chewing exercise…after wearing upper and lower palate expanders for over a year, having my tongue tie and lip tie released, and doing speech therapy (which includes how to chew and swallow).
One more thing: while guzzling K2 might not help your jaw in adulthood, it does seem that K2 plays a role in jaw development in the pre-natal development: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8018065 suggests shortage of K2 during the first trimester of pregnancy causes premature calcification – and hence stunting – of the fetus’ nose and jaw.
Awesome comment Ashley! Thank you!
Their bread was most likely not soft at all. Soft bread is a modern invention. Traditionally, bread was chewy or even hard. Look to finnish sourdough bread for a modern example of what all bread used to be like (it’s simple to make your own actually, I don’t know of any recipies in english though).
And they probably didn’t eat ONLY bread and cheese, it’s just that those were their main source of calories.
I can concur the tough bread bit. Traditionally, in some parts of Finland bread was only baked every few months or so, and then put into racks hanging from the ceiling. It became very tough and hard as it dried. I would think people preserved bread in similar ways in other countries.
We have the same tradition in Greece too. The bread we traditionally use(d) is called paximadi and it is extremelly hard to chew. It lasts for many months and if you are old you need to put it in water first!
I recommend another product from the island of Chios in Greece….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastic_(plant_resin)
It’s great to “see” you again, Matt!
What have you been up to? Any other projects in the works?
Yeah Lazlo, lots of projects. I have trouble keeping myself away from the virtual playground, haha.
As you can see by all the heartfelt replies, we all missed your special brand of humor and intellect! Emphasis on the word “special”!
I hope to see more e-mails from you, whether about 180D or other things you’re doing.
Also, I didn’t realize you passed the 40-year-mark. Welcome to the club. I’m just about to leave this one and join the next one. How quick it goes.
Any new stuff specifically on weight loss? A lot of us still working on that lol. My body is not “releasing” any fat like Jon Gabriel said, even with good metabolism. How’s your weight loss going?
TAFFY?!! ????
Yeah I hear people your age love taffy! :)
Shit I’m 40 now. I can’t really talk anymore.
Rami Nagel and Ron Schmid died from Vitamin A poisoning. Vit A should never, ever be supplemented. No way, no how. A couple of superb books: https://ggenereuxblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/poisoningforprofits1.pdf and https://ggenereuxblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/extinguishing-the-fires-of-hell2.pdf
There is good evidence that K2 is good for you, and that full-spectrum sunlight is required for good health. I doubt that oral Vit D supplements are good for you, but it’s possible that Vit D in oil applied on the skin is helpful when you can’t get sun for an extended period.
I agree that sun exposure is the best way to “get” Vitamin D – but here in Alaska the sun is never close enough to enable us to produce it (according to all I have read). Hence the Vit D supplements.
Would like to know more about the basis for your assertions regarding Ramiel Nagel dying of Vitamin A poisoning. I’m familiar with the fermented cod liver oil debate (& have used it off & on…) Thanks.
Read both ebooks for a full understanding (they are free). Basically, vitamin A shouldn’t be a vitamin anyway, as the author has shown the original studies showing essential status to be flawed. That initial mistake has caused a complete oversight of issues when excess amounts of retinol build up in the body. When the liver is full, it gets stored in fatty tissues, and when those are full retinol apparently gets converted to retinoic acid, which is a very destructive compound. Wherever this excess retinol starts causing inflammation, the author postulates this becomes the autoimmune diseases. The implications are huge if the author is correct. People with autoimmune issues, Alzheimer’s, and autism (or any of the vitamin A toxicity symptoms) should try a no/low vitamin A (no carotene either) diet and report results to see if this has validity. The word needs to get out on this because all multivitamins with vitamin A, CLO, carrot juicing, sweet potatoes, fortified milk and cereals, etc. might be behind the disease epidemic of certain countries.
I read ‘Cure Tooth Decay’ a few years ago when my little boy started getting rapid tooth decay on his top front four teeth. Nagel provided a lot of great material in that book and I think this one big time flaw, the true nature of this retinol compound, is what caused his early departure. Same with Dr Ron, whose supplements my wife took during pregnancy.
I know the trap of always worrying about a deficiency, but what if it isn’t that at all, but a poison nearly no one is aware of? And we keep taking more and more of it stuck in the deficiency mindset as more issues arise? That sounds like exactly what happened to Rami and Ron.
Dana,
How about a UVB lamp?
https://solarcsystems.com/en/solrx-store/?v=3e8d115eb4b3
http://markitonutrition.com/videos/the-truth-about-vitamin-d
I’ve been curious about this myself, but I live at 35.6? N latitude and probably get sufficient UVB rays in the sunny months.
Best,
Carl
Fascinating reading. Thank you for sharing those links.
Human chew toys like stimtastic.com?
Aka chewlry because it jewelry made to chew, also found on Etsy and you can find different strengths of material. No sugar! And some are quite fashionable, like the dragon
Thanks for the shout out and props. Matt is right, I’m cool.
I think Mew’s argument that malocclusion is primarily mechanical is pretty compelling and I can’t think of any way to really argue against it. I am not convinced though that tooth weakness and decay are not partially related to the fat soluble vitamin thing or other nutritional factors. I’d want to delve back into Price’s book and probably his actual research notes to have much to say about that. I know that he did an experiment on kids with cavities and was able to halt decay with one nutritious meal a day with some extra fat soluble vitamin high foods added (butter oil I think?). However, that doesn’t prove much without one or more control groups on other diets. It may have just been that they suddenly had adequate nutrition. If I recall right their average meal as coal miner’s kids was coffee and pancakes with syrup. I think there is a long, long rabbit hole to go down there with his work and what did he really prove regarding fat soluble vitamins? role in tooth decay prevention. He must have had mountains of research comparing groups that also had dental caries and/or malocclusion. The version we get in his book is run through his filter, and whatever bias he may have developed or went into the project with. What is undeniably awesome about price is that he recorded how we should develop and what human facial development should look like. Also, that it is possible for large populations to have both good facial development and freedom from tooth decay without oral hygeine. What seems obvious now is that eating supernatural amounts of fat soluble vitamins and nutritious foods is not adequate to prevent malocclusion or dental caries in all cases. Also, for some people, a diet that would be considered a fast track to death and tooth decay by any adherent of the diet theory of human health (whichever of any of the various disagreeing schools they come from) is not adequate to induce decay. But there are a butt ton of possible factors there. People in very poor areas may have poor nutrition in some ways, but so may we in others. We?d have to compare intakes of all sorts of dietary substances by different populations.
I think people should probably do three things about this information.
*Eat foods that require chewing, and chew everything more. I watch t.v. while I chew, because it’s about the only thing that will take away the urgency to get eating over with. And chew something extra, like gum. If I had sugar cane, I’d chew that every day. Mature coconut is great. If you eat 1/4 of a mature coconut a day, you’ll get a bad ass face workout. The problem is one out of 3 mature coconuts at least is rotten in stores here in the northern hemisphere and I haven’t figured out a way to tell if they are good or not. I chew glee gum. It has no junk in it and they sell it in bulk. But it is not very firm until the flavor is so long gone that I’m ready to get that shit out of my mouth. Mews is making some kind of synthetic human chewy toy now.
*Anyone who is a mouth breather should stop if at all possible. For some it won’t be without intervention of some kind. I did it and it felt impossible at first. I still default if I’m exercising or my nose becomes at all clogged, which happens easily because of restricted nasal passages courtesy of a narrow face. Mouth breathing also causers over-breathing, which from my own experience I’m convinced is unhealthy. Since I stopped mouth breathing all the time, the gaps in my teeth have opened up and are much less crowded. Before I had to use special extra thin floss. I don’t know if my jaw is wider, but I’d be surprised if it’s not slightly wider than before. Developing a nasal breathing habit has been a game changer for me.
*Be aware of tongue position and swallowing habits. I have not been able to train myself by force of will so far to keep my tongue in the roof of my mouth, or swallow normally. There just isn’t enough room for my tongue and I haven’t been able to do it long enough to adapt to the discomfort. I think it is probably possible, but I haven’t made it happen yet. But, I don’t think I’ll make a lot of progress with widening my palate if I can’t learn to keep my tongue up. According to Mew and others, the pressure on the inside of the upper jaw serves a similar function to chewing in shaping the jaw and face toward a normal potential. It’s a crucial part of the system. If you can do it, do it. If you already do, you’re lucky.
Another interesting point is that we are always told not to clench and grind or we will lose the precious thin layer of enamel on the working faces of the teeth. Mews and Price point out that it was normal to see huge amounts of wear on the faces of the teeth and absolutely no enamel, yet also no cavities. As a chronic day time grinder for long periods of my life, I’m told to wear a mouth guard every time I go to the dentist. Yet all that grinding, in the absence of other good habits never seemed to affect my jaw shape in a positive direction.
I’m at an age where most of my friends that are going to have kids have had them and raised them to teens. I don’t know of a single case where the kids didn’t have orthodontics at the usual age. Many people are missing 8 of the teeth they should have from a combination of poor development and misguided orthodontics, while according to price we should have all of our teeth, including the wisdom teeth, and possibly with room to spare behind that. The real lessons here as always are not so much the specifics, but the bigger picture. We are grossly degenerated and it’s become so normal as to be institutionalized. We have an enormous, very high tech, industry created with endless amounts of intelligence and talent to intervene in a problem that hardly anyone has even asked the cause of. The solution if you can call it that has been to keep the malformation and make the teeth fit within it, rather than to correct the malformation so the teeth are not crowded. This is the difference between wisdom and intelligence. It takes intelligence and talent and thought and will to create this industry, but it takes wisdom to realize it’s stupid and misguided and is leaving people with a legacy of problems. In the meantime, Mew and his dad are over here with piles of case studies that clearly show benefit to their methods, shaping more attractive, and more functional people and they are reviled by the orthodontics industry.
The saying goes ?when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail?. Mew’s hammer or lens on the world is malocclusion. The mew equivalent for general posture is Esther Gokhale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtQ1VqGGU74&t=2s and the schools of thought she evolved out of, which ask the question what is normal posture and body mechanics. That is her hammer. Poor posture is institutionalized in a similar way to poor facial development. It seems to me that these two focuses have to eventually converge to be viewed as equivalent parts of the same dynamic system. I think that will happen in the next decade, hopefully sooner with the rate of information exchange we have now. But, just having good posture and chewing a lot is not going to correct the modern plague of human illness and degeneration. Obviously, human degeneration and illness is happening on multiple levels and we have to extend that system beyond our bodies to how we relate to the environments we live in and probably beyond in order to see things for what they actually are. A future paradigm that has a semblance of natural, fulfilled human development would certainly involve physical labor as well as understanding of our environments and direct interaction with them. We literally have huge industries developed around the lack of natural living, both as replacements for normal activities (the gym, ?health? food, chewing) and addressing the dysfunction unnatural living causes. I’m not talking about an unrealizable super ideal of the kind that landed many people on 180D in the first place via diet and optimal health neurosis. I’m talking about waking the fuck up and seeing things for what they are and correcting some fundamental things that are unhealthy by lifestyle instead of by crutches and interventions to the problems that are caused by modern life. Maloclusion is just as much, if not more, of a symptom of something greater as it is of not chewing enough. In the long run it’s about quality of life, but that doesn’t mean what is most easy, most comfortable, or what is handed to us in the present. A good quality of life to my way of thinking involves not just reward and comfort, but challenge, discomfort, risk, contrast and the work required, whether it’s chewing or digging a hole, to develop the strength, form and resiliency that come from engagement, effort and even (if not especially) a level of discomfort. It’s fine to have our various hammers and lenses through which we see things, but we would do well to be aware of our own myopic ways and try to keep that global picture in mind.
In Weston Price’s “Nutrition & Physical Degeneration,” he does show cases of sisters & brothers with the same genetics (obviously) but different dietary habits. I guess these siblings are a control group. Thanks for your insights. One of my sons-in-law has indeed had exactly 8 teeth pulled in childhood!
Actual problems of malocclusion aside, I’ve found that orthodontics can be a pretty neat scam. With my own kids, I declined to put them in braces for their very crooked teeth, assuming they would grow out of straight because of our very straight teeth. And they did grow in straight after all. When I was a kid, braces were rare, but we all had our tonsils out! So beware medical/surgical fads! (and I doubt gum ever hurt anybody).
Actual problems of malocclusion aside, I’ve found that orthodontics can be a pretty neat scam. With my own kids, I declined to put them in braces for their very crooked teeth, assuming they would grow out of straight because of our very straight teeth. And they did grow in straight after all. When I was a kid, braces were rare, but we all had our tonsils out! So beware medical/surgical fads! (and I doubt gum ever hurt anybody).
Hey Steven, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot by calling you a smart dude, but did you really have to step in and write something like 6 times better than my post, making me look like a fool? Jeez man. Go sharpen some axes or something! :)
oh, I thought I was writing a guest blog post lol. All joking aside though. You’ve had a significant impact on how I think for the better. Hanging around 180d helped my distrust of the religious aspect of science, distaste for infohrrea, understanding of relevance and context and the difference between information and knowledge and junk like that all blossom into a beautiful, deadly free thinking propaganda machine. I don’t mean all of that. I’m just saying things that sound cool now. But seriously, what is up with your comments section?! You post once and year and it’s like you threw bloody chum in the water and all the fish come out of nowhere. I probably get a comment every 3 blog posts.
Haha. Well, getting 10K views on the post helps.
I heart chum.
Hi Steven,
I liked your comments.. a truly integrative perspective.
Id say if we look to lifestyle, our ancestors that were living the hunter gatherer way included some fundamental elements we lack.
They didn’t work to stress as we do. Only around 4-6 hours a day with bursts and rests, the psyche without some bizarre notions of personal achievement, taken up with stories and song.. and Id say perhaps overlooked utterly, living in community. That our relationships to each other and the natural world were central puts it mildly in my opinion. And what do we do? The exact opposite.
By the way, when Ive brought this up to all kinds of folks, some even ‘smart’ people, they look blankly with not even any curiosity.. No curiosity! How did this happen?
We have all kinds of chemicals we send in to the world around us, or our bodies do, and they have powerful effects on the minds and physiology of others; parents to children and the reverse, peer to peer, lovers and mates, alphas and betas, etc. And we want to imagine that changing that so profoundly, from video games to internet chats, from Facebook to Kindle and somehow we aren’t suffering from this neurotic shift.. (as I write to a bunch of people Ive never met, never will and can’t see or hear in their response..lol) a thoroughly unsatisfied feedback loop that may be having effects on those of us that are older that can remember ‘going out to play’ for entire days as children in a safe and happy neighborhood, to immeasurable effects on children raised on iPads and Youtube, Celebrity Apprentice and The Bachelor. They are lots of fun, but does anyone else see the danger in all this too? Suicide rates and addiction being just the most obvious..
Sorry, re-reading this, I didn’t mean to sound like such a downer. Just think its worth mentioning and considering.
Im going to go hug a tree now. :)
Yeah Laura, I pretty much live on a screen most of the time now, which I’m not happy about. It’s true we have maybe some different types of stress now. Loneliness is very stressful and that can happen even when surrounded by people. It’s so hard to tease out causation with the complex problems we have now. I don’t think natural living is the answer to everything or anything like that, but it seems like we are neglecting our roots and by extension, really neglecting and betraying who we actually are. I have a theory about human interaction with environments and the value of understanding them. One stress I never hear anyone talk about is the fact that we are basically helpless adult babies. We evolved understanding our environments and interacting with them in very intimate visceral ways. Now we walk through environments that we don’t understand and can’t manipulate. That has to have some deep seated psychological effect on us. It’s a very insecure way to live. Sure we don’t think about it consciously very much, but part of us always knows that if the teat of industrial society is pulled away from us, we are screwed. Interactions with nature are important, but there is something different in possessing skills and knowledge that allow us at least the possibility to exist as free agents in a natural environment. We have a unique opportunity to invent ways of life that are really beneficial in that sense, yet relatively very easy and convenient. It’s clear to me that part of that is assessing what aspects of our physiology and physical function/form need certain types of interaction and stimulus. I very much doubt that merely creating modern simulations and substitutions for normal, natural function and interaction will ever prove to be either adequate or fulfilling. As far as the social stuff goes, I suck at that, but I recognize that it’s a problem of modern life that is taking a serious toll.
I can see what you’re getting at for sure Steven. I think society is intentionally designed in a way that is supposed to light a fire under our asses knowing that if we fail to earn a decent living we’ll be homeless and starving. Of course, with all that’s known about psychology now, it’s clear that’s a terrible way to try to motivate people, and comes at great cost.
I think that’s why there is such a massive downsizing exodus going on the world, from the Tiny House movement to the vanlife movement to the “skillculters” out there and beyond. One thing those movements have in common is their adherents constantly bragging about “freedom,” however non-glamorous that freedom may appear. I think that’s probably reactionary to modern dependence on the “system.”
Anyway, interesting thoughts as always.
Man, I could probably write a novella about how we need a paradigm shift in thinking around our evolutionary mandates and evolving a functional philosophy about being human. No doubt people are missing some important things and going looking for them. It definitely has to do with dependence v.s. independence, even if it’s just possessing the possibility of independence and not actually being some kind of recluse ludite. But, just like health stuff, we have to expand that conversation into a global picture and failing to do so is still attacking symptoms. I think helping define what that missing stuff is and how to fulfill it in a modern context could serve people well.
For a while, I became completely obsessed with unraveling the connections between the various prophets of facial development. It is the ultimate prize for health researchers. I focused on failures, analyzed from an engineering perspective: timeline for disrupted development with interconnections mapped. Mews is great, but there are gaps in his understanding of why we are vulnerable. I actually think that Matt’s work on metabolism and Travell and Simons myofacial research are the missing link between Price and Mews.
Matt, I think you may find the work of Dr. David Singh (DDS, PHD, DMD) quite interesting. I’ve been doing a lot of research into TMD and Sleep for my own health issues, and while Weston Price and Dr. Mew have interesting ideas, Dr. Singh seems to getting results when it comes treating jaw disorders and sleep disordered breathing by remodeling the maxilla and upper airway. More than that, he has been producing research data for some years which is quite promising. Here’s a case study I think is easy to appreciate his work and how much jaw structure matters: “Craniofacial Enhancement Using a Biomimetic Oral Appliance. Authors: Dr. David Singh. Dr. Sameul E. Cress.” http://www.dentistrytoday.com/orthodontics/9866-craniofacial-enhancement-using-a-biomimetic-oral-appliance
Dr. Singh has also made many presentations over the years worth viewing on youtube and elsewhere. Here’s a link to a recent one that goes over much of the research: “Dr. Singh Keynote” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wAPhcECbMU
Additionally, here are many of their publications on their main website: https://www.vivoslife.com/explore-the-science/
You’ll find the case studies cited in the presentation here.
Personally I wish there was better data, but dentistry, and TMD & Sleep Medicine in particular, are not given the most attention by medical providers. Clinicians are caught up in treating symptoms in a very procedure oriented practice of medicine; the idea that ENT issues are really developmental jaw issues is hard for most medical providers to grasp and understand. As such, seeing Dr. Singh work, his understanding of the complexity of these problems, and the results he’s published, is quite promising. Honestly, if you thought Dr. Mew and Orthotropics was great you’ll be blown away by Dr. Singh.
Lots off Chewable jewelry and pen toppers etc for kids with sensory issues and autism.
https://www.arktherapeutic.com/chewelry/
I found a bunch on Amazon too. I buy them sometimes for my kid, he’s not on the spectrum but he chews all my pens and pencils up and it was driving me nuts. Lol
You rock Matt! So “noassatall” is caused by not chewing enough. Well I must have got some extensive chewing in. One other factor would come in to play in my mind. Lack of breastfeeding. There’s a generation when breastfeeding was not encouraged and it had a major impact on my dental health for sure.
“So ‘noassatall’ is caused by not chewing enough. Well I must have got some extensive chewing in.”
I wish this were the case for more women! Va-va-va-voom!
Absolutely Heather, I would be pleased to see more research in this area. https://www.lllc.ca/thursdays-tip-breastfeeding-and-oral-development
Chew biltong. Quite a bit of it.
Matt,
Victoria Boutenko studied and promoted this extensively during her green smoothie era.
At one point she sourced and resold a very, very tough rubberized clear retainer with prongs on the inside. It promised to create whiter teeth, better facial structure, better sleep, etc. She found lots of supporting research. I had it and really liked it and it left my entire head sore.
Later she moved to a new design that looked similar to a small barbell and I found this one useless. I misplaced both years ago.
Also, I bought some unflavored tree sap gum online and did that for a while.
At the time I don’t remember getting any results, my face and teeth just kept getting noticeably worse and worse, but this is also during the time when I was a hardcore raw foodist and my body simply would not respond to any kind of exercise or hypertrophy training compared to now where I can just stand next to a gym and make ‘dem gains.
Anecdotally, I developed crummy, dingy, crowding teeth even while emphasizing “whole fresh ripe raw organic” foods and literally chewed for hours a day. (1-2 gallons of nighttime salad anyone?!)
When switching to a more WAP diet, fatty foods and refined grains, the type of meals I could swallow effortlessly whole, everything dramatically improved, especially my teeth. I went from being called a pencil neck or bobble-head to getting constant compliments on my “greek god jaw”. But then again I went from a bodyweight of 147 lbs to 220+lbs and deadlifting over 500lbs (neck strain!) so there are a lot of conflicting factors!
Also, as a kid I grew up with very nice, white teeth and didn’t need braces and was always complimented on my smile. I never had any cavities until much later. I mention this because I also had a reputation for never chewing my food! I have many memories of my grandmother sitting with me at the table and literally like a drill sargent counting 32 chews, “chew, chew, chew,” before I could swallow (haha! grandmothers always know best!); of course moments later I’d be back to shoveling food down my throat without even hitting my teeth. I also preferred to mix all my food together on my plate into one large mass. My mom called it “slop”. “Your slop is ready!”
Just to be thorough, I grew up during the low fat era and my parents were very strict. We ate lots of pastas, white rice, mashed potatoes. We ate lots of meat but it was always the leanest possible. I’m talking about 95+% lean ground beef but rinsed under the faucet to remove every possible trace of “artery clogging saturated fat”! Fat free dressings. Skim milk which I drank religiously. Every meal had a steamed vegetable (which did require a chomp or two to get down). I remember as a kid I wouldn’t eat ice cream, sour cream, butter, etc. I’d turn those foods away for 2nds or 3rds of mountains of meaty-starch-slop. We were all pretty healthy and I was one of the fastest swimmers in my state, even competing against much higher age groups.
A last thought that comes to mind is seeing the diets of rural africans with their big beautiful teeth. Isn’t it mostly overcooked refined cornmeal (just like grits which I had literally every morning of my childhood) or sourghum, etc?
I’d be very interested in getting that old Boutenko jaw exerciser and trying the facial muscle exercises combined with a nutritious diet which is conducive to hypertrophy!
As always, with anything nutritional, I have zero idea what to believe!
I love that you’re backish. :) I’ve always loved following your work and your thought provoking contributions – thank you for sharing!
Great article and something I never thought of before. I was actually born with 4 missing permanent teeth so aside from being extra cautious with my implants I’m always interested in our dental evolution.
I was late to the whole 180 scene so it’s great to see your back.
Man we just need a healthy option now!!!! Lets chew fast and furious!
Haha. Full Motion Picture Film coming soon. Let’s make a Netflix Shockumentary dude. Scare the hell out of people. Make them think they’ll all die of cancer if they don’t chew enough! We’ll get sponsorship from Wrigley’s. I can see it all now. A cheesy pun title like “Chew on This” or “Chew or Die.”
When I was little my mom would chew on pieces of Gulf Wax (for canning) to diet. I tried it too and liked it–for chewing fun. Only thing is it can be tricky to start. Sometimes it splinters and you have to spit it out. Just try another piece. I don’t remember what made a difference…maybe soften with saliva first before starting to chew?
Great to read your post, Matt. I hope you’re doing well.
I’ve seen some of Mew’s stuff and the clamingpower site, but the idea of chewing for up to 2 hours a day was daunting. Your *HIT for the facial muscles* approach makes more sense.
For anyone who orders mastic gum, be sure you order the RESIN (Chios Mastiha), which is very hard (and expensive). There’s also a soft Chiclets-style that’s also called “Mastic gum” that’s just a regular chewing gum.
?Actually, some of the most malnourished people in the world have some of the best bones, teeth, nostrils, and jaw formation. Vegans, for example, LOVE to point out that low bone density is more common in countries with the highest calcium consumption, while the best bone density can be found in places with a nutrient-poor diet. Like Africa.
This is news to me. Like who? I’d like to see documentation on it.
I have a hard time with the idea that macronutrients and micronutrients don’t really matter if you simply eat enough food, especially if that food is processed/refined/industrial food.
Here you go: https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/dec/13/foodanddrink.weekend
Tl;dr–North American and Nordic women get the most dairy and the most osteoporosis. Bantu women in Africa get barely any calcium and have the strongest bones
Jason and Skeptic,
Dietary needs depend upon the particular nutrient. So for example, iodine is rare but essential, so the human body is designed to absorb every atom of iodine it takes in. Calcium is a different story: It’s concentration in the blood must be maintained within narrow, critical limits. For fish, since there is so much calcium in sea water, the critical hormone is calcitonin, to make sure there is not too much in the blood. For us land lubbers, there is still plenty of calcium in all kinds of food, so the body is designed to absorb only a fraction of what is ingested. Vitamin D determines how much of the ingested calcium is absorbed from the gut.
Osteoporosis is another story. It is actually due to a sort of bone inflammation, specifically, the hyperactivity of bone macrophages, giant cells that actually chew up bone to remodel it. Before menopause, their activity is kept in check by estrogen (just as inflammation is kept in check in the arteries before the menopause, explaining how premenopausal women don’t get heart attacks like men of the same age do). But after menopause, if the diet is deficient in glycine (the amino acid which is the main regulator of the macrophages, the cells which cause inflammation), women get osteoporosis, heart disease, and other diseases rooted in chronic inflammation, like diabetes heart disease arthritis and cancer.
Meanwhile, back in Africa, most Bantu people have largely vegetarian diets which are supplemented by occasional meats (especially during pregnancy and lactation), and also eat animal foods in the form of insects and insect eggs.
But in the West, the animal foods we eat so much of are muscle meats (We throw the bones, which have most of the glycine, away) and dairy products. Muscle meats and dairy products are glycine-poor, but methionine-rich, so the net effect is actually glycine stripping (This was just proved, btw, by a group at Oxford in 2016), so chronic inflammation abounds.
Bottome line: you need to eat whole animals, not just whole grains. (And as for dairy, that food is made for kids, literally. It’s amino acid balance is optimized for growth–not for maintenance and longevity.)
Bollocks. Maybe Americans have osteoporosis and inflammation from eating lots of PUFAs and acidic soft drinks. Isolate variables and stop acting like you have all human problems figured out by reading some studies. Ray Peat disagrees.
Rancid grains and flours may could in USA problems too. We can maintain ourselves fine on dairy and muscle meat. Avoid most bread and vegetable oils.
Bruce,
I have been a university professor of biology and endocrinology for 32 years, and a professional medical researcher for 46 years, with my PhD in basic medical science from NYU. Just because you say ?Bollocks? instead of ?BS? does not make your ad hominem comments civil or useful. What I have to say is different from the usual academic boilerplate because, as a fellow traveler of Matt’s, I use common sense to reason through the bewildering myriad of academic studies, commercial claims and prevailing medical dogmas. When I have something useful to share, I am thankful that Matt has provided this platform, if only intermittently.
Meanwhile, the comments of mine to which you were responding, were largely textbook endocrinology. The mention of one particular paper from Oxford re: dietary glycine was in reference to the following paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4705437/
(This is a link to the full text, BTW.) When you read it, you will find that the disconnect between dietary glycine intake, which was highest among meat-eaters, and plasma glycine levels, which were lowest among meaters, was a finding the authors could not explain. In fact, they proved my hypothesis (although they did not know it), which I articulated in my earlier comment here. I also articulated it in an e-letter published in the British Medical Journal last month:http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k134/rr-1
“Ray Peat disagrees” lol. The God Emperor has spoken! I don’t give a rat’s ass what Peat thinks. Hes made good contributions, but I can’t take anyone who says your diet should mostly be milk and OJ seriously.
What do you think about taking BORON?
I don’t know much about boron’s physiological role(s), but it seems to be an essential trace element. It’s presence is so widespread in foods that no one has ever identified any specific condition that can be traced to boron deficiency, to my knowledge. There are certainly reports about boron’s being beneficial for such conditions as osteoporosis, but you may be more familiar with such studies than I. As far as boron supplements go, a popular organic boron complex is boron glycinate, which, like magnesium glycinate, is actually mostly glycine by weight. So it might be difficult to discern which nutrient is helping.
Joel, Increasing glycine:methionine ratio by eating the whole animal sounds great, but…if dairy is metabolically appropriate only for kids, how can we account for societies with good teeth/bones for whom ruminant milk is a staple? I’m thinking of the Masaii and the Loetschental Valley-ers. Surely these people ate far more dairy than your average westerner’s daily Yoplait and glass of 2%, but they seem far healthier than we are.
I think there would need to be a careful study of the amino acid intake of such societies before generalizing. I have based my conclusions on studies of Westerners’ diets, which such compositional studies have been done. So for example, in the Oxford study I cited here, the researchers studied healthy UK men in their 30s and 40s, divided up into 4 groups (98 per group): meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans. I would hypothesize that a careful study of the Maasai diet would reveal patterns consistent with what we know about the interplay of the different amino acids, including glycine-methionine balance.
?Eat ?Whole animals? , and not just ?Whole grains??….brilliant, and hardly Bollocks (love that UK term though )
And with all due respect Prof., just to be scientifically accurate, the evidence that you cite does not actually ?prove? your hypothesis as you say, rather, it maybe supports it; in order to be valid/validated, any hypothesis must be both supportable and refutable, so, one or a few seemingly supportable studies, or refutable ones for that matter, actually ?proves? nothing within the educational framework of the scientific discovery process.
A good point, Dr Boyd, in that one study does not prove anything absolutely, although there are many standards of proof. The Oxford study I cited does not in isolation prove my hypothesis; rather, completing a circle of proof, if you will, from many different perspectives. So for starters, we have the known biochemical relationship between glycine and methionine (the former being used in the process of clearing excess amounts of the latter); the role of glycine at much higher levels than are needed biochemically, to stabilize the membranes of macrophages (the cells that cause inflammation) so that they are not activated by mere tissue injury (backed up, btw, by years of self-experimentation on my part), and the key fact that, despite the higher overall protein intake–and therefore, glycine intake–of the typical modern Western diet, the incidence of chronic illness (diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer) is higher than ever.
Now, the Oxford study was the perfect set-up for a critical test of my hypothesis. If they had found–as they had expected to–that glycine behaved as the other amino acids, such that those with the highest intake (the meat-eaters) had the highest plasma levels, it would have refuted my hypothesis. That would be because meat-eaters (omnivores, actually: those who eat meat fish and poultry–not paleo diet adherents), if they had higher glycine plasma levels, would therefore need to exhibit better health; lower incidence of inflammation-based chronic disease; not higher, as they do.
Then there are other avenues of proof, such as the clinical trial–now 10 years old–done in Mexico city, which found that 15 g/day of supplemental glycine could reverse type 2 diabetes. (Among 37 type 2 diabetic men and women, mean A1C levels went down from 8.3 to 6.9). Importantly, the Mexico City study (Cruz M et al., J Endocrinol Invest 2008;31:694-99) was a well done, randomized placebo-controlled trial. So my final point is that the quality of the study is also critical in evaluating any hypothesis.
Very good Kevin! You pointed out that “BIG” mistake the professor committed as if he does not know that studies cannot prove but only support…but hey, if your ego feels better… then go right ahead and educate us all on how well-informed you are.
But I should also add that my hypothesis for which I have claimed proof by the Oxford group, is quite limited: It merely states that a typical omnivorous diet, rich in meat fish and poultry should produce plasma levels of glycine which are lower than those of vegans, even though the total daily intake of glycine be higher than that of vegans. The Oxford study did in fact prove that to be true, at least for healthy UK men in their 30s and 40s. Of course it will take more studies by other researchers on other groups of men and women to corroborate the Oxford study, to provide convincing proof that it is generally true.
If we rely on scientific certainty or irrefutable proof that we should eat this or that, we could be waiting until half past never.
It seems to me that it’s very difficult to control factors not being studied when you are talking about human beings who a) arrive at the study with distinct metabolic histories, and b) routinely eat food that they didn’t prepare from scratch themselves. In a study of low fat vs. high fat diets, for example, how do you control for B vitamin intake, minerals in drinking water, gums and stabilizers, protein quality, starch vs. sugar, etc. consumed by the groups? Truly controlling such things would make the study insanely expensive. Right? I actually don’t know much about the process, so feel free to enlighten me if I’m off base here.
My point being – studies have their place (I’m particularly intrigued by the amino acid balance stuff), but so do tentative observational theories.
I agree, Ashley, which is precisely why self-experimentation is an important part of the mix. There is a false idea out there that one needs large numbers of subjects for scientific validity, but this is not necessarily true.
There is also a little too much emphasis on empirical data, as opposed to the proper relationship between theory and data. So nowadays, if someone wants to study diabetes and look for markers in the blood that will predict it, they take a blood sample from each of 100 diabetics and 100 matched non-diabetics, and put the blood through an array which can measure literally hundreds of metabolites simultaneously. Then they see what metabolites are at different concentrations in the two groups, and try to generate hypotheses to explain the differences. This is called “data-based science”. Back in the day, when I was a junior scientist in the 1970s and 80s, this was called a “fishing expedition”, and no funding source would give anyone a dime to do such research! You had to have a darn good reason to look for the very few substances that it was possible to measure in a reasonable size sample of blood. Now, it’s often get the data first, and ask questions later.
Bad science, in my view (but I do use all that data they generate to test my hypotheses, as in the Oxford EPIC study I cited here). And btw, there was a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of blood markers to predict diabetes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4839172/ and whaddya’ know? In no less than 46 studies published in just the 5 years between 2011 and 2016, low glycine (among other differences in various metabolites) was found to be a specific predictor of diabetes later on. But alas, the researchers were basically epidemiologists (from Harvard, no less), and appeared to know nothing about the role of glycine in inflammation and the role of inflammation in causing diabetes!).
In my rather traditional scientific view, experiments (or observational studies, for that matter) are done to test hypotheses. But now it’s all too often: “I wonder what we’ll find when we measure x, y and z”.
Just for fun…
From /www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4572812:
“It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.”
Angell M. Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption. The New York Review of Books magazine. Available from: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/jan/15/drug-companies-doctorsa-story-of-corruption
“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.”
Horton R. Offline: What is medicine’s 5 sigma? http://www.thelancet.com. Available from: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960696-1.pdf
Angell is no angel herself. She has always been a big critic of drug companies, but totally blind to the ideological corruption of science in general, and her beloved NE Journal of Medicine in particular. Now she is selling a new book. Her bias has been most extreme toward alternative medicine. Here’s what she co-wrote in a 1998 NEJM editorial:
“It is time for the scientific community to stop giving alternative medicine a free ride… There cannot be two kinds of medicine ? conventional and alternative. There is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work. Once a treatment has been tested rigorously, it no longer matters whether it was considered alternative at the outset. If it is found to be reasonably safe and effective, it will be accepted.”
Right. So all you have to do is pay about a billion bucks to the FDA and invest 10 years of testing time, and maybe get a new drug approved. And of course these drugs are new chemicals foreign to the human body–otherwise you couldn’t get a patent to make a buck on it–so often they do more harm than good. That’s especially true after the approval, when the drug Co. must make back its investment. So it brainwashes clinicians through intensive lobbying and advertising (not to mention the kind of corrupted science Angell bemoans) to sell their poisons (Fentanyl, anyone?).
But I’m not one to demonize the drug companies–especially since they have also come up with many life-saving miracle drugs–but the system is thoroughly corrupt of necessity, because of the stupid government regulatory approach Angel champions.
Note (from my quote of Angell above) how, even ideally, the FDA is necessarily required to work only in the rear view mirror. It takes the art out of medicine, and the theory out of science. All we are left with is “Evidence Based Medicine” (EBM) a reliance on mountains of mindless data, and that can be so easily manipulated and falsified, especially when so much money is at stake. In my view, good medicine and good science comes from the exercise of serious study, keen observation, common sense and innovative thinking, and the courage to try things that make sense logically. (That’s what I like about Matt. But I still have my doubts about ABC gum…)
Dear, Dr. Brind:
Many thanks for your excellent follow-up to my post that quoted Angell!
I certainly didn’t intend for the quotes I posted to be the end-all, be-all. I simply meant to share the quotes, in response to the other commenter’s remarks about hallowed “science.” But, I had no other background or knowledge of Angell. So, your counterpoints were very enlightening!
As for the rest that you wrote, again, brilliantly-stated! “Conventional” medicine does a lot of great and heroic things. But, as with “Alternative” medicine, not everything works for everyone all the time in every scenario. I’m sure the quote “The dose makes the poison” applies to many supplements, too.
Finally, as for “ABC gum,” I share your doubts. :-)
Fascinating can you recommend more reading/advice for women entering menopause?
No discussion of this topic is complete without consideration of face pulling:
http://jawpain-tmjtreatment.com
http://www.facepulling.com
The focus here is on a retruded maxilla as the culprit, whatever its initial cause. While juvenile bone is much more amenable to remodeling, it does work on adults also–behold the melted face of the late Stephen Hawking and observe the result of adult bone losing the influence of muscular tension and succumbing to gravitational pull over decades. Similarly, facial (or any other) bone will respond to the consistent application of gentle force in any direction.
A retruded maxilla also forces the mandible back, since the lower and upper dentition will align themselves vertically. The retruded mandible in turn compresses the airway, forcing alleviation via an unconscious upward/forward adjustment of the head. Each inch of forward extension reportedly adds about 10 pounds of stress on the supporting musculature and bones, and these forces ruin posture and create a cascade of problems over time. Look at anyone with kyphosis (Dowager’s Hump)–notice the turtlish head extension. The head should be neutrally balanced on top of the spine, instead of needing to be constantly supported by skeletal muscles.
In my case, the underdeveloped maxilla appears to have caused TMJ disorder. The popping and slipping vanishes if I extend my mandible forward and work my jaw, indicating that the temperomandibular joint has been forced into an unnatural misalignment at rest. However, I can’t function with a continually extended mandible, because my upper and lower teeth no longer align–my lower front teeth are out ahead of the upper. Although I have experienced some improvement in breathing and facial structure by means of chewing stiff mastic and maintaining proper tongue posture and nose breathing mechanics (and probably by abandoning any shoes that elevate the heel even slightly), I doubt the TMJ will resolve unless I can shift my mandible forward and maybe expand my palate. This could conceivably happen through tongue action, but I don’t know that I have the discipline to apply the appropriate pressure on a constant enough basis. So I’ll need to get a retainer with some hooks made to proceed with the face pulling self experimentation. It’s on my list :-) .
Related and interesting topics are Neurocranial Restructuring and Starecta–google them for some fascinating reading.
Once again, another comment that just blows me away. So interesting Vic. Can’t wait to explore this further as well.
Hi Vic
I agree almost completely with all you say about Class IV (a new Angle!) Malocclusion (maxillo-mandibular retrusion)…..however, what you state about how a retrusive maxilla contributes to airway compression via its (the maxilla’s) impact on mandibular retrusion into the posterior airway, seems incomplete to me; that is Vic, after maxillary retrusion is corrected(with surgical or non-surgical midface protration), nasopharyngeal airway space becomes larger(on CBCT) with associated relief of SDB/OSA symptoms per improved nasal breathing. McNamara published on how non-surgical maxillary protraction (with RPE and reverse pull headgear) actually advances the entire maxillary complex, which includes the posterior nasal spine (to which the soft palate is attached). So, the maxillary position (relative to anterior cranial base) can affect naso-pharyngeal airway competence in at least two ways I’d say; 1. By what you described per mandible being forced posteiirly into the oro- and hypo-pharynx, and 2. By the soft pakate’s encroachment into the naso-pharynx.
Kev
Great discussions here Matt!
Kev
I know! Still the best health blog on earth, and it’s mostly because of you guys, not me! :)
Really enjoying the discussion.
Kevin, I’m sure you’re right about the soft palate thing. My arch is narrow and my palate high, and although I don’t think I have apnea or bad snoring, I can feel the soft palate encroaching, especially if I relax in a supine position where it’ll make me snort. It may be one reason I intuitively sleep on my side.
My orthognathic dysfunction isn’t too extreme and I think even small changes would yield big improvements. I was a mouth breather for many years, until I had septoplasty when I was about 35. Just breathing through my nose for the next few years seemed to remodel my airways to a significant degree. I would have tried alternative methods if I’d have been more informed back then, since I understand that this surgery can adversely affect the nasal cilia if proper technique isn’t employed. But it did resolve the mouth breathing, which vastly improved my overall health. Only recently have I been able to maintain good oral posture, because my upper teeth were slightly misaligned to the left, disrupting the natural lip seal. I had them straightened and was astonished to discover how much easier speech became, even though the correction was minor. It also permits me to get a persistent oral vacuum, with the tongue plastered on the palate, since my lips are now symmetrical and seal properly.
A few years ago I had a course of Neuro Cranial Restructuring sessions, and that seemed to help equalize various intracranial tensions. There was popping and cracking and a definite sense of release…like chiropractic for the headbones, I guess. All this stuff together can help, I think. Modeling bone and changing physiology isn’t a quick fix by any means, and obtaining results can be expected to take discipline and maybe some extreme and unorthodox methods. Not many doctors are going to be down with it, and many if not most will vehemently object. We see online how that most of this stuff is basically DIY. Some people have been incredibly persistent, like the guy on Claiming Power who decided to expand his palate and reopen spaces for the four teeth that the orthodontist pulled so he could get implants and restore his function and facial structure. He posted casts of his mouth before and after, and even though it took a few years, he prevailed. That’s pretty amazing. So who knows what is possible? Only those who decide to find out.
Vic, Did NCR hurt? I went for a consultation and the doc told me that the procedure involves a tremendous amount of pressure, and that for someone who has formerly experienced a broken nose (and therefore has weakened structures?) the pain would feel “like you’re dying.” What did you think?
Ashley, it didn’t hurt much; it was like a bad sinus headache, but it only lasts a few seconds, and was immediately followed by a feeling euphoric enough to trigger spontaneous laughter. I’ve never had a broken nose, so I can’t speak to what difference that would make, but it seems to me that NCR would be beneficial in such a case, even if it causes some pain. I had four sessions on consecutive days. Each time, there were popping and cracking noises, but the final treatment elicited a huge crack that the practitioner could feel through the bulb. It seemed like something released. If I didn’t have to travel from Alaska, I’d do it regularly. There are Advanced Biostructural Correction practitioners here, but the one I see only does the nasal inflation if the diagnosis indicates the need, and mine apparently doesn’t, at least for the issues ABC addresses. But I’m interested in it for facial structure reasons, which is outside the scope of ABC.
Ahh, Kevin! It’s great to see you on here! I loved chatting with you at AHS in 2013, and the dentistry panel last year was awesome. Do you have a link handy for the McNamara study? I’m just starting a similar treatment (using a DNA appliance and reverse-pull headgear), so I’d love to read it.
Hi Alyssa!
If someone will tell me how to attach a pdf of the McNamara study to this thread I will gladly send it to you; otherwise, the paper (‘Components of Class II Malocclusion in Children 8-10 Years of Age’; McNamara, 1981, J.Angle Orthod. 51(3):177-192.) can be accessed on MedLine or maybe even at McNamara’s website of GoogleScholar…..or email me at my website (dentistry4children.net)
Awesome, thanks Kevin!! You can email it to me at luck (dot) alyssa (at) gmail (dot) com.
So is chewing gum a good idea or not???? I seem to be getting mixed messages.
post more matt i love you
Hi Matt I have been following you and the online health scene for years, but have found that about 80% of the benefits seem to come from exercise rather thsn diet. These day I am very relaxed about what I eat.
I discovered Mewing through the claimingpower site a few years ago and it probably had the single bigest effect out of any heath intervention.
I had an extreme forward head posture that was getting worse every year with a posture like a question mark and a very narrow face.
The first day that I moved the tip of my tongue to top of my mouth, I immediately stood up straighter and my head moved back. A girl that I knew on sight took one look at me walking past that day and said “Oh my God” good times.
At the begining my upper jaw was too narrow for my tongue to fit, but after a few months I was able to fit more of it as my upper jaw seemed to expand.
My cheekbones seem to be coming out and my lower jaw is moving forwards.
This was great, Matt! Have missed reading your honest insights.
I remember Turkish Taffy as being one of my favorite treats–now THAT used major jaw effort. You slapped the wrapped bar on a hard surface, and ate the pieces; my favorite was vanilla.
Please keep posting!!
This is why I never unsubscribed. I soak this stuff up like a sponge, making you……spongeworthy!
My teeth are fragile so I don’t want to strongly chew. Am hoping facial exercises will help. I do facerobics, chosen for its similarity to T-Tapp as in both, proper positioning and form are crucial and give more bang for your buck.
Hello, Matt, I’d have a question that doesn’t really belong on this article but I don’t know where to ask, so here it is. What can you say about really coated tongue (yellow, white or even gray sometimes), chronic bad breath and chronic post nasal drip that gets worse after eating, and all of it despite good hygiene ? I’ve had it for as long as I can remember, perhaps since I’m 7 or 8 years old and I’m 23. I know it’s all related to my various digestive disorders such as GERD, dysbiosis, various food intolerances, etc, but would raising my temperature help for this issue ? Sometimes my tongue is almost clear, for a day or two, mostly when I’ve avoided sugars and starches for a few days and added probiotics food I think, but it’s never perfect and it always comes back anyway. And I don’t tolarate well probiotics. I don’t know what to do. Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Julie. Is your temperature low and have you tried raising it?
Thank you so much for answering! Most of the time my temperature is somewhere between 36.2C (when I wake up) and 36.8C (when I eat). Sometimes lower, sometimes a bit higher. My pulse is generally below 75. I’ve tried eating more but I ended up feeling so unwell for a few weeks that I stopped. I could barely function. Usually, the less I eat the better I feel, the more I eat the worse I feel, so even though I try different things, I always end up restricting quantity and variety by fear of getting even sicker. When I tried eating more, I felt like I was going to explode or vomit after each meal, I could not sleep either and had too much reflux. I also think I was eating way too much fiber and probiotics. It really helped my chronic constipation, but it slowed my digestion way too much and caused me even more bloating. Now I’m back to the beginning, trying to eat a low to moderate fiber diet with more animal proteins and mostly easily digested foods and carbohydrates, and at least now my stomach doesn’t constantly feel like I’ve just eaten a ton of brick after each meal to the point I can barely walk, but the terrible constipation is back, and I still suffer daily with bloating, heartburn, reflux, hiccups, bad breath, coated tongue, LPR, etc, etc… Like I’ve almost always did since I’m a child. I also have fibromyalgia, and supesct I might have endometriosis but I didn’t test with a laparoscopy yet.
I am sure there is more medically going on with the reflux and bloating, but I did want to mention what has worked for me for improving oral health. I use Uncle Harry’s Toothpaste which has worked wonders with my oral health– I used to have a persistent white coating on my tongue, but since using the tooth powder, I haven’t even seen a hint of it. I used both powder and paste and they both worked well. I doubt it will cure the reflux, but I did find it helpful for oral healthcare :)
At 55 seconds into the first video, Dr. Mew said my mother and my sister IS a physio-therapist. (Emphasis in the original.) That sounds like some weird incest, like Chinatown. She’s my sister AND my daughter!
Haha. Nice catch!
When I read this post I remembered that I always saw ads in different magazines for Wawles tandgummi (Directly translated; Wawle’s tooth’rubber’ ;-) ) when I was younger. I didn’t pay much attention to it since the ads looked kinda’ corny and it seemed to be for old farts. ;-D I had to google it and yup, it still exists! I have to look it up now, for sure! (Getting in to the Old fart’s club I guess…hehe…;-) )
http://www.wawle.se/Sv/index_sv.html
Old fart’s club! FREE TAFFY UPON INDUCTION! :)
This is good stuff, and I think pretty obvious when you give it much thought, though I’ll echo an above comment and point out that certain nutritional deficiencies in utero can certainly impact jaw development.
I have an extremely narrow jaw, crowded itty bitty teeth- of which I only have 26 regular adult teeth, 2 baby teeth hanging on, and 1 wisdom tooth. I also have TMJ and a lil’ Dowager’s Hump. I do love chewing though, but awhile back, while experiencing jaw tension exacerbated by politics and using the computer too much (politics on the computer…) I enjoyed a very thick roast beef sandwich and a crisp apple followed up by some gum. I awoke to pain in the TMJ (the actual joint) like I have never experienced pain before. I had no idea if it was my ear or my jaw and neither did the ER doctor but an injected anti inflammatory they give to people with kidney stones did not touch it.
It turned out it was my jaw. My face swelled up for honest to god 8 months. I had to take prednisone and wear KT tape on my fucking face. That was October 2016 and I just started eating raw apples and carrots and chewing gum again recently. The number one most important thing for me was learning techniques to relax my jaw, using a special pillow, doing massage, etc. If you have a weak jaw, as I obviously do, you’re liable to feel strain in it regularly as is so be careful you don’t go and overload it trying to strengthen it and fix it because the reality is, you can hurt yourself and hurting your jaw is NOT fun. Take it from me. There are tons of nerves in there. So if you’re like me and your jaw is built for eating whatever my immediate ancestors ate, I guess spaghetti and meatballs probably, be careful! I don’t think this is only something attributable to our own habits. Raw vegetables, beef jerky, and pen caps were my favorite foods as a kid. I regularly emptied entire containers of Bubble Tape into my oral cavity all at once. I loved biting things, including some of my friends which is why I got punished and missed Trick Or Treat ’93. And I have a seriously narrow jaw, a lisp because my tongue doesn’t fit in there, and on and on. Lisps and crooked teeth and Dowager’s Humps run in my family, on the side I take after so I accept to a degree that this is what I am. I would like to try and make some space in there though, mainly to ease jaw pain and prevent mouth breathing at night. But imma do it REALLY SLOW and gently.
As a side note, I lived on pur?ed fruits and vegetables and protein powder mainly for about six months during this ordeal, consuming nowhere near my regular calorie intake, and did not shed a pound. Let’s hear it for weight set points!
Oh man that sucks. I was going to include a joke in the post about how people can take this advice or not, and not taking it is probably smarter as we’ll all be here complaining of severe TMJ in 6 months!
Cod liver oil is bad for people in any amount. The research is there, check it out: https://youtu.be/AzfU10Pv36c
It is the oral/ingested Vitamin D that damages and kills people. My 180D radio podcast with my main man Matt Stone himself is nearly four years old now and is still true: http://180radio.com/180degreehealth-8-dont-supplement-vitamin-d-youre-heard/
Finally, the damaging supplement/oral Vitamin D fad has happened before, with WAPF-type folks leading the way, eating tons of cod liver oil, dairy, and Vitamin D supplements: https://academic.oup.com/cardiovascres/article/36/3/293/298591
Read it and weep. The western world is killing itself through “eating” Vitamin D. The proof is in the pudding…bone disease, heart disease, and cancer have undeniably only gone UP since the Vitamin D fad started. It is killing people.
Here’s another great referenced article: https://thepeopleschemist.com/stinky-sulfur-award-unapproved-drug-disguised-vitamin/
I raise people’s Vitamin D levels to the proper range through light exposure and the 7 nutrients (so far) that are totally necessary to make Vitamin D in the body. It works and they feel better…the opposite of cancer and heart disease.
Beware of “nutrition” being pushed on you from the mainstream.
What can I do then as a person from the northern parts of Sweden, 6 months of winter and even in the summer I avoid sun bcs I’m very sensitive. I used to have colds and infections all the time and that changed significantly when I started supplementing with vit D. I don’t do crazy amounts and I have also tried a D+K2. Don’t know if it makes a difference. Don’t know what to do now then when you say that supplenented vit D is dangerous. What should I do then? Best regards from a chilly Sweden
Cammi,
Dr. Smith is a naturopath with clients all over the world. If you would like to contact him, his website is nutritionrestored dot com — There are a lot of testimonials at his website. He has helped me immensely with things I never dreamed could be addressed. Best wishes to you!
Hey, Garrett! Good to see you are back in the blogosphere!
I took a look at the youtube video you linked to, and have a few comments. Surprised?
First off, I could not agree more with your comments about natural not equaling good. This comes up all the time with my students, and I make the point you do, with statements like “My favorite natural fiber is asbestos.” or “Poison ivy in your salad, anyone?” I also often recall an event in my own experience from about 1978. At that time I lived in Manhattan, and would typically go shopping at the Integral Yoga Society’s (Don’t even know if they are still around) store around 13 St and 8th Avenue, to buy all manner of nuts and seeds and natural whole grains for my wife and me to eat. So one Saturday in August, I went to the store, and it was over 90 degrees outside. It was a bit hot and humid in the store, as they had no air conditioning.
As was my habit, I went over to start to fill my bags with whole short grain brown rice, when I noticed what looked like cobwebs at the top of the bulk bins I would be taking from. Then I looked a bit more closely, and noticed that ALL the bins had these “cobwebs”.
Then, I put down my bags and walked out of the store, and never went back there again, for I realized (being a trained biologist) that those “cobwebs” were the mycelia of the mold Aspergillus flavus, makers of aphlatoxin, the most most potent carcinogens known to man. So that experience gave some temper to the “no preservatives!” mentality I had embraced. Yes, natural, whole, fresh foods are better than those kept with preservatives, but there is a reason for preservatives, and whole, natural foods can turn to poison without them.
But I digress!
I really wanted to talk about Vitamin D and cod liver oil (CLO). As far as Vitamin D that is consumed and not made endogenously by sunlight acting on 7-dehydrocholesterol, I think you would be hard pressed to explain the survival of human populations such as the Inuit of the far north, who would not have survived with their brown skin, semi-annual total lack of sunlight (and cold temperature, requiring their skin to be covered all the time), except for a diet rich in Vitamin D-rich fish oils. And I have to say I am skeptical of your warnings of oral Vitamin D, especially when even us palefaces who live over 40 degrees north lattitude (Forget about our dark-skinned brethren, who are at a worse disadvantage), who need to function awake and active for 18 hours a day all year. (Full disclosure: I take 3,000 units per day of Vitamin D during the winter only.)
But your warnings about CLO are indeed well taken. The only thing I would add is that the “POP” acronym) Persistent Organic Pollutants) is too vague to be of any use. However, we know enough about endocrine disruptors (especially environmental estrogens, which are indeed wreaking havoc with both wildlife and human populations) to know the main culprit: It is not DDT or PCBs, but rather, 17-alpha ethinyl estradiol (aka EE2), the synthetic estrogen drug in every formulation of combination oral contraceptive.
First of all, in order to be effective orally this drug needs to be resistant to biodegradation. Otherwise it would be neutralized by the human liver (the first place orally ingested substances go, once absorbed by the gut). So EE2 is therefore actually much more potent than the natural hormone, estradiol (E2). In fact, E2 is the most potent of all steroid hormones, active in the human body in concentrations in the PPT (parts per trillion) range.
So, because it is largely non-biodegradable, and because there are hundreds of millions of women using them daily around the world, EE2 is the main culprit wreaking havoc with wildlife and human populations. You can find EE2 and feminized fish and other wildlife downstream of every major metropolitan area around the world where it has been looked for.
And if you really want to eat a lot of this major disruptor, there is probably no better way to get it than CLO! So i think we certainly agree about CLO.
But I would question the idea that ingestion of appropriate amounts of uncontaminated Vitamin D is harmful, specifically, that is causes arterial calcification, for example. In order to be activated, Vitamin D needs to go through the kidneys, where it is acted upon by parathyroid Hormone (PTH). Depending upon the concentration of PTH, every molecule of Vitamin D is either activated or inactivated when passing through the kidneys. The concentration of PTH is directly responsive to the level of calcium in the blood. So I think there is adequate natural control over the level of active Vitamin D (calcitriol) to prevent ectopic (ie., outside of bone, where calcification belongs) calcification.
Rather, I would say that atherosclerosis is what happens when the natural turbulence at such branch points as where the coronary arteries branch off from the systemic aorta, produces natural micro-injuries, which naturally heal–unless one is glycine deficient, in which case the micro-injury produces inflammation. The attempt to repair the additional damage done by the inflammation produces a vicious cycle of damage and attempted repair, resulting in atherosclerosis. (And btw, even if calcification and atherosclerosis are already present, glycine also inhibits abnormal platelet aggregation.)
So that’s my story, and I have yet to see any reason not to stick to it.
Joel — I’ve been reading with great interest your posts here and your article in the bmj about glycine. I have some signs of what could indicate low glycine levels (e.g. weak bones, ligament laxity), yet my homocysteine levels are low (= 6.60, range: 7.70 – 12.60). If I understand the process correctly, that would also indicate that I have low methionine levels. So if that’s true, does that mean that my glycine levels are actually high, not low, and that I should not supplement? In other words, is there an inverse relationships between the two? Thx much.
turtlegirl,
The inverse relationship between glycine and methionine is not absolute. Yes, high methionine depletes glycine, but both can be high or low. You can have low methionine and homocysteine and also low glycine. It may sound confusing, so maybe I can explain it a bit better:
Almost no one has too little glycine for its required biochemical functions, like making protein (especially collagen) and also as an intermediate in making DNA, creatine, et al. The deficiency of glycine shows up in a hyperactive innate immune system (excess inflammation), because there is not a high enough glycine level to regulate the behavior of macrophages, the cells that cause inflammation. That’s not actually a biochemical function; rather a cellular physiological one, whereby glycine acts as a cell membrane voltage regulator for macrophages. For this function, glycine levels need to be in excess of about 500 micromolar, whereas, for biochemical functions, 100 micromolar will suffice.
However, one of the biochemical functions of glycine is the clearance of excess methionine. So when methionine intake is chronically high, it depletes glycine, leaving less glycine available for its immune regulatory function. Make sense?
Practically speaking, the best way to see if you are glycine deficient is to try a glycine supplement (like the sweetamine I sell) for a couple of weeks and see if any benefit is apparent. It will certainly not hurt you (nor cost you, if it doesn’t work, if you buy it from sweetamine.com), and it’s way cheaper than getting a blood test to see what your glycine levels are.
Great response, Joel — thank you! 2 questions: 1) you say that a “deficiency of glycine shows up in a hyperactive innate immune system”. Does that also apply to something like Graves’ Disease, (which I thought was an adaptive immune response)? and 2) I’ve read that taking amino acids in isolation can disrupt the Krebs Cycle and possibly contribute to kidney stones — and that L-glycine is less taxing on the kidneys. Are those things true?
Good questions, turtlegurl,
1) Likely, yes. Adaptive immune responses always start with macrophages, the effector cells of primary immunity. If the macrophages overreact to something like minor injury, they can do damage which then may trigger adaptive immunity. So, at least theoretically, in the case of the thyroid (Graves disease), damage to thyroid follicular cells may then expose the immune system to thyroglobulin and parts of the TSH receptor protein, that normally are invisible to the immune system.
2) Possibly, although I am unfamiliar with the evidence. What I can say is that the term “amino acids” is often an unwarranted generalization: they are all different and have different effects when taken apart from ordinary protein consumption. As for glycine, it is the opposite: Glycine is protective and restorative for the kidneys, not something which is “taxing” at all.
Excellent! Thank you, Joel. Maybe you’ve written about this elsewhere, but I’m wondering how I would determine my optimal amount of glycine supplementation? With Graves’ Disease (or any other autoimmune condition), is it likely that the person would need more than 8 grams — and how would I know what’s enough, since the episodes are spaced years apart, i.e. my immune system isn’t constantly attacking my thyroid?
turtlegurl,
the best way to tell if you are eating enough glycine is to try different amounts: It’s cheap enough and totally safe. Most customers of mine who are plagued by inflammation in some way or another find that 8 g/day works fine, although some tell me that 16 g/day works better. I’m not sure more than that would add any benefit, generally.
Excellent! Thank you, professor :)
Come on Joel, you know that glycine isn’t “totally safe”. Nothing is. I guess you’ve conveniently forgotten Ty’s story of how glycine made his pain much, much worse.
Gelatin/glycine can be purchased in bulk and sweetened with sugar if you need it sweetened. Put in juice, other foods, gravies, etc. and never notice it. Eat gummy candies, Jello/gelatin desserts, marshmallows. Gelatin in my coffee has been my way to make sure I get low cystine protein and glycine for over 5 years now.
I buy 10 pounds of gelatin about once a year from a coop type website (Azure Standard dot com) that has many delivery drops where you pick up from the truck at a specified time the drop organizer gives you in an e-mail. My drop is in the city where I do all my grocery shopping. Or for s/h you can have it delivered to your door.
Not a bad system, AnnB, although by my calculations you are only getting about 3 grams of glycine per day that way (figuring gelatin is about 25% glycine by weight; 10 lbs = 4540 grams/365 days/4). In my experience, most people need about 8 grams per day for optimal control of the innate immune system.
AnnB, glycine is sweet in an of itself, it certainly doesn’t need to be sweetened, nor does one need to eat gummy candies, marshmallows, etc., unless of course they’re hoping to raise their triglycerides, develop fatty liver and/or diabetes.
Marcia, True that nothing is “totally harmless”–not even water. Occasionally someone dies from drinking too much water too quickly. As for glycine, there is a small minority of people for whom the free amino acid causes nausea or diarrhea (don’t remember what “Ty’s story” is), but the discomfort goes away quickly if you stop eating it, and there is no harm done. Such people should get their glycine from bone broth, gelatin “gummy candies, marshmallows, etc.,”, as long as they get it from somewhere.
But your claim that having such foods will cause “fattly liver and/or diabetes” is off the mark: Those conditions only happen to those who are glycine deficient. It is now known that diabetes, for example, is one of those chronic diseases rooted in chronic inflammation: not from eating sugar or being overweight per se.
It works like this: You eat high carbs, and your pancreas therefore produces lots of insulin, to make your liver, muscle and fat store the extra calories as glycogen and fat. Fat (adipose tissue), like most other tissues, has macrophages (inflammatory cells) embedded within it. If you are glycine-deficient, those cells get activated from the mere act of belt-tightening or other normal physical activity, producing systemic inflammation, which in turn, causes insulin resistance in muscle and destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas that make insulin. With time, this “pre-diabetes” turns into diabetes.
If you lose the extra weight, the macrophages will disappear also, and so will the systemic inflammation and the diabetes. But if you take a glycine supplement (somewhere between 5 and 15 grams/day), the macrophages will stop getting activated and causing systemic inflammation, and so the diabetes will go away without losing the weight. This was clearly shown in a high quality, placebo-controlled clinical trial in Mexico City, published TEN YEARS AGO, wherein 15 grams/day of glycine reversed type 2 diabetes in 37 men and women in 90 days: mean A1C went from 8.3 to 6.9, while BMI didn’t budge (went from 28.5 +/-3.6 to 28.3 +/-3.5).
What is different about these documented benefits of glycine, from effects of other nutrients in various disease conditions, is that the mechanism is known with precision. We know exactly how and why it works. Unfortunately, it’s still a very small “we”, with even most endocrinologists unaware of it. New discoveries such as this typically take years or even decades before they are widely known and accepted.
Sorry Joel, but unless you are maybe April-foolin’ us, rather than your ‘glycine-macrophage hypothesis’, I am going to support Marcia’s claim that T2DM, NAFLD and elevated TG’s, etc. are in large part often disease phenotypes resulting from overconsumption of (fiberless) fermentable CHO’s; a good friend of mine has produced a great video lecture (‘Sugar:The Bitter Truth’) about how sugar, mostly fructose, is actually a dose dependent hepatic-toxin….please Google him Joel
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lustig)
Thanks for the link, Kevin. I watched the main 90-minuted Lustig lecture per your suggestion. So why exactly, do you think my view and his are totally or even mainly in conflict?
I think he is quite correct about fructose driving the obesity epidemic (and as a biochemist myself, I well appreciate how he gets down to specific molecular details). But note how I was quite clear here about glycine having no effect on obesity.
So the real difference is the role of excessive fructose in causing all the downstream disease from obesity. And Lustig actually gives us the key. He says: “When nature packages a poison, it also gives us the antidote to go with it” (Although I must say I disagree with his characterization of nutrients as poisons, when the difference is quantitative–not qualitative. He is really making the argument for whole foods, in an odd way.) So that delicious poison we eat as muscle meats is also packaged with the antidote: the collagen from the bones and connective tissues, which has most of the glycine. (Collagen is really animal fiber, analagous to vegetable fiber, except nutritionally, it is absorbed and metabolized. Lustig says vegetable fiber should be listed as an essential nutrient. I could say the same for collagen.)
So when we apply Lustig’s “poison + antidote” logic, we find no conflict with my hypothesis that all the diseases downstream of obesity are really caused by glycine deficiency, for glycine protects against pre-diabetes, diabetes, CHD (Atherosclerotic plaques develop only because the normal microinjuries produced by natural turbulence at branch points in the arterial tree also produce inflammation, due to glycine deficiency. And even if you have CHD, glycine prevents heart attacks by normalizing the behavior of platelets directly) and liver disease (Medline search the brilliant body of research done by Ron Thurman’s group at UNC in the 1990s. Unfortunately, his untimely death in 2001 cut that short: or we would have known about the importance of glycine sooner, in my view.). All these diseases and others, including cancer, are now being seen as consequences of chronic inflammation, but nobody seems to know the cause (It’s glycine deficiency, I am convinced.)
One more thing about Dr. Lustig. Since he’s a friend of yours, and since he also likes to talk about conspiracies in the food industry, and the fast food industry in particular, you might want to ask him what he thinks of “pink slime”. That’s the name the “good guy” activists gave to a product that fast food restaurants had been adding to their hamburgers at up to 15%, to save money. Technically, pink slime is called LFTB (lean finely textured beef). It’s a product made by stripping the bones of the last bits of soft tissue after they leave the slaughterhouse, and packaged into an unappetizing pink mat that gets ground into the hamburger meat. Seen by the activists as a way to cheapen the hamburger by those mean and evil fast food purveyors, the activists actually forced fast food places (I think Wendy’s was one franchise operation that caved in to the pressure) to stop adding “pink slime”. So what’s the net result? much less collagen, and therefore much less glycine, in the hamburger. Now the hamburger is less nutritious (Lustig would say more toxic) than it was with the LFTB added!
Finally, re: Dr. Lustig, why not ask him to take a look at glycine in the context of what I have said here and elsewhere (like on this blog sweetamine.com and attached youtube videos). He’s a very bright and erudite and influential man, and I’m sure he is open to learning new things about nutrition and disease.
Hi Joel
I think ‘very bright and erudite and influential man? also might likely be an applicable description of you…..but I still think, despite your biochemistry credentials, that your enthusiasm for glycine, as a single-nutrient panacea for downstream (from obesity) CNCD’s like T2DM, etc., seems to be somewhat ?faith-based?…..but of course I could be wrong, and will certainly admit my error on this forum if I can be convinced otherwise by sound published evidence. So, I’d like to read the ?placebo-based? study from Mexico that you cited earlier about how glycine supplementation actually reversed T2DM; pleas send me the paper or reference accordingly.
Thanks
Kev
I could only send you a link to the abstract of the Mexico City study by Cruz et al:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed'term=(Cruz%20M%5BAuthor%20-%20First%5D)%20AND%20glycine%5BTitle%5D
although I do have a pdf copy. (And btw, I now have many sweetamine customers that report similar reductions in A1C)
Of course, it sounds a bit “faith based” when you put it that way, i.e., as “a single nutrient panacea”. But then again, it’s becoming quite accepted to say that all roads lead to chronic inflammation, causation-wise, so does it not make sense that a single nutrient, if there is an almost universal deficiency of it, would be the logical answer?
I have likely said it before on this blog, but I believe the most important single discovery I have made on this glycine journey (in its 11th year now) is that even inflammation that is considered normal is not normal. Hence I no longer get inflammation, for example, as a result of blunt injury or sunburn.
In fact, I will draw another analogy to Dr. Lustig’s explanation of how fructose (or ethanol, for that matter: “Fructose is ethanol without the buzz”, he says, and I believe he is absolutely right about this) makes us fat. His correct explanation is quite simple: Fructose is only utilized by the liver among organs, so when consumed, it all goes to the liver. Hormonally, it does not trigger the secretion of insulin nor leptin (the main satiety hormone); nor does it inhibit the secretion of ghrelin (the main hunger hormone–in fact ghrelin is literally what makes your stomach groan when you get hungry for your next meal). Consequently, after a snack or soda or meal rich in fructose, your brain thinks “I’m starving!” even though you are quite overnourished, in fact.
In an analogous way, when you have a sunburn over most of your body from being a bit too long in the sun and you look like a boiled lobster, you just have a widespread general erythema (redness), but your internal fluids are quite intact and sterile. But if you have a glycine deficiency (as most people do), your immune system thinks: “I have a massive skin infection!” and it all gets inflamed. The inflammation, in turn, does all the damage, resulting in pain, blistering, peeling, and maybe skin cancer down the road. If you are not glycine-deficient, it all just fades away.
So the fundamental discovery here is that inflammation is for one purpose and one purpose only: to fight infection. Yes, those same macrophages are recruited in an injury situation to come and clean up the mess, phagocytizing dead cells and cell debris, etc, but they should not get activated to produce toxins like hydrogen peroxide and TNF-alpha, unless there are microbes to kill (and even then, glycine deficiency produces an overreaction which makes the disease far worse. It has just been demonstrated that microcephaly, for example, results from Zika virus infection not because of the virus per se, but because of the macrophage overreaction to it. Same for Hepatitis B virus, Herpes zoster virus–in relation to shingles–and likely even HIV.)
A good metaphor is the cops; the first responders to say, an accident on the freeway or a road rage incident on the freeway. In the former case, they are the first on the scene, redirecting traffic, collecting accident reports, calling in the ambulances and the tow trucks, but they never draw their guns. In the latter case, they draw their guns and might start using them.
Finally: What’s a “CNCD”?
For Joel (“Always sellin’) Brind and others, you might be interested in reading Ty’s disasterous response to glycine that he discussed a few years ago at this link. And he’s not in any way the only person that’s had this response:
http://180degreehealth.com/glycine-insulin-resistance/
As for heart disease, check out the work of Dr. Lester Morrison M.D. on the use of chondroitin sulfate:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1969.tb02328.x
Marcia,
Just so everyone knows what you are talking about, Ty said this re: his glycine experience:
“My experience is that a dose of 1 teaspoon or greater results in kidney stones and gravel. The event has been painful and visible. I have tested this consistently during many days over the last two months. I realize there is a degradation pathway from glycine to oxalate.”
Now, you call Ty’s experience “disastrous”, and say glycine “made his pain much, much worse.” Don’t you think that’s a bit hyperbolic in describing someone who saw fit to test this repeatedly “during many days”?
Yes, a small minority of people do not react well to taking several grams of glycine as a free amino acid. (a teaspoonful contains about 5-6 grams) In my experience, I have heard of nausea, dizziness and diarrhea, and Ty’s story was the first time I had heard of the kidney stone effect, and said so in the ensuing civil and informative conversation I had with him re: his comment.
Meanwhile, webMD says the following:
“What are the risks of taking glycine?
Glycine appears to be safe, even at doses as high as 60 grams a day. But glycine’s safety has not been fully tested or studied. Particular caution should be taken when considering glycine for young children, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people with liver or kidney disease.”
and it also says this:
“A few people have reported nausea, vomiting, and upset stomach after taking glycine. Such reports have been rare, and the symptoms have gone away after glycine was discontinued.”
So I can only say that I am not aware of any case in which trying glycine as a supplement in any quantity has done anyone any harm–only temporary discomfort at worst.
Joel dear, you conveniently left out a lot of his history. Quoting Ty:
“My experience is that a dose of 1 teaspoon or greater results in kidney stones and gravel. The event has been painful and visible. I have tested this consistently during many days over the last two months. I realize there is a degradation pathway from glycine to oxalate.”
“I have experimented with various free form amino acids over the last few years in various ratios, and glycine has been the most recent and the only one so far to produce this result.”
Joel says” Now, you call Ty’s experience ?disastrous?, and say glycine ?made his pain much, much worse. Don’t you think that’s a bit hyperbolic in describing someone who saw fit to test this repeatedly ?during many days??”
Hardly. I doubt anyone would consider “spending a YEAR bed bound unable to walk, talk or function mentally in 2004” as being a walk in the park. The fact that he had the courage to test the glycine experiment several times only shows his determination to prove it was the glycine causing his pain.
And as noted earlier, there are many, many more who have this issue that you’re apparently still unaware of. The ‘Trying Low Oxalates’ group on Facebook is a start. Perhaps you’d like to ask questions over there?
Are you saying that ‘spending a YEAR bed bound unable to walk, talk or function mentally in 2004? was a result of glycine supplementation? I rather understood that was Ty’s condition, and that he tried a number of amino acids, and glycine made the condition worse, at least when taken as more than 5 or 6 grams per day of the free amino acid. In fact, he wrote about testing glycine thus: “I have tested this consistently during many days over the last two months.”–not a year. (In fact I am totally puzzled over your claim that I “conveniently left out a lot of his (Ty’s) history.”, and then you proceeded to quote the relevant paragraph that I had just quoted verbatim in its entirety.)
At any rate, I’ll accept that Ty had this adverse reaction, and that indeed, there is likely a small but significant number of people who have a similar reaction to free glycine, possibly due to a genetic variant in one of the glycine metabolic enzymes.
At any rate, I will take your suggestion and take a look at the “trying low oxalates” group online.
I’m glad you’re finally back Matt! Great to see another interesting article :)
Anyways, this might sound kind of off topic, but I recently saw a video that explained the cause of baldness in men and the cure for it. The narrator explained that having a high estrogen and cortisol level is the cause, advising people to reduce estrogen by avoiding estrogenic substances, reducing extra body fat above 15 percent, and managing stress to cure baldness. What do you think about this, especially about getting rid of body fat?
Also, after ditching the effing diet for one year and three months, my weight gain has pretty much stopped and I’m maintaining the same physique for the past few months. The only problem is, I’m really busy now and have a really inconsistent eating pattern, making me eat much less food overall. Personally, missing even a single meal reduces my appetite and makes me cold, which really sucks. Should I carry around food with me all the time so I won’t miss a meal?
Juan,
If you’ve had your hormones tested and find high estrogen (estradiol, estrone, estriol), you might benefit from using a high-quality progesterone cream like KARUNA PROGESTERONE PURE and/or an estrogen-blocking supplement like SINEST or MYOMIN.
Work with a knowledgeable and qualified healthcare practitioner, of course! I mean, hey, I’m just some guy on a blog! I might be nuts! :-)
Good luck,
Buck
CNCD’s-chronic and non-communicable diseases…a.k.a., ?diseases of civilization?, ?Western diseases?, ?lifestyle diseases?, etc.; basically, the diseases that neither extant hunter-gatherers, nor our pre-industrial and agricultural ancestors, frequently suffered.
ChewiGems or similar chew toys for antsy children from whatever cause. Check the website and then see all the other brands and variety of shapes, sizes and densities.
I gave one each (tires) to the youngest two grandsons. I’ll get one for the 14 yr whose face is too narrow and chin receded. Didn’t used to be.
And one just in case husband with implant dentures could benefit from chewing on a softer one instead of grinding and continually breaking his denture teeth.
I’ll also get one for myself.
What about chewing bones? After making soup with it, the bones are a just a little more soft and could be a great tool in my opinion.
I’ve been reading on how honey is actually good for teeth, and wondering about chewing on honeycomb in particular.
This article is really hitting the mark for me. My son (6)was brought up on raw milk, raw honey wapf based toddler drinks. He doesn’t eat well and is very fussy with food. His teeth are super strong, but crowded on the bottom jaw. He gets plenty of good nutrition. I’m really excited to try some chewing therapy of sorts with him and see if it fixes the problem.
Cheers!
Matt have you read “The Hungry Brain” by Stephan Guyenet? Highly recommend it, one of the few intelligent people left in the nutrition community. Standout idea: that high reward foods by themselves raise your setpoint…
Been also digging into circadian rythm stuff like Satchin Panda, Rhonda Patrick and Bill Lagakos. Good stuff.
Matt have you looked into “oil pulling?” Lots of benefits, and I never even considered the strengthening of jaw muscles angle. Oil pulling definitely gives your jaw muscles a workout. Here’s a blog I wrote on the subject: http://vegetablepharm.blogspot.com/2016/12/oil-pulling-with-sesame-oil-before-and.html
Tim! Thanks for linking your blog post! Super impressed by the experiment you did. I’ve been meaning to start oil pulling for ages, but I think this is the final motivation I need to actually do it! Thank you!
Guyenet and Rob Lustig are two of the most informed on the planet when it come to understanding and explaining how/why animal nutrition is NOT best viewed and understood from within a reductionist framework; ALL nutrients, which like ourselves are composed of ‘star stuff’….. from the Big Bang, are ‘collaborators’ when it comes to building and maintaining living organisms. As of now, so-called Nutritional Science, is at best ill-informed as to how most metabolic substrates and co-factors (a.k.a., ‘nutrients’) optimally interact with one another, and collectively with internal/external environments (i.e., epigenomically) to produce either health or disease phenotypes.
Kev
I’m not sure what this means, Kev. I certainly agree that “animal nutrition is NOT best viewed and understood from within a reductionist framework”, but I don’t know what you mean by “star stuff”.
In my view, living bodies are essentially complex standing waves, through which physical/chemical matter flows. (If you think about it, that’s just another way of describing homeostasis). A non-living object, like a table or chair, is unchanging in its chemical composition: The very same atoms and molecules that comprised it when it left the factory are the same ones there a decade later. But in a living human body, for example, while there may be no noticeable difference between one aged 25 and 35, virtually all the atoms and molecules therein are different in the 35-year-old than were there at age 25. Yet it is the very same person with the very same body!
So when I hear about the chemical entities (or nutrients) that “ourselves” or our bodies “are composed of”, I am suspicious of being stuck in the reductionist box. For example, if we ask “How is the human body put together?”, we are already stuck in the box: The human body is not put together! That’s not how it grows up from the single-celled zygote, as if assembled on a factory assembly line.
So you can correctly say, for example, that a table or chair is made of wood, but you would be incorrect to say that trees are made of wood, for wood is made of trees. Reductionism tends to get living things exactly backwards.
@Kevin: “ill informed” is far too kind. Nutrition science is a failed science. All this time and research has produced f*** all. No one can even answer basic questions like what should I eat? And how do I lose weight and keep it off? There are hundreds of diets and somehow ALL of them have “scientific research” to back them.
No one can agree on anything. The only consensus I can think of is “trans fats are bad”, but give it time and they’ll be taken off the bad list and maybe even be declared a super food! I can see the titles now “The Trans Fat Advantage” and “The Trans Fat Revolution”. (They’ll blame Ancel Keys for “covering it up”)
Sorry for the rant but I’ve been in this rabbit hole for way too long and I need answers.
There is very little unbiased research that agrees on “what you should eat”. People all over the world eat totally different diets, and within those populations there are people who are thin, and those who are fat. Those who are healthy and those who get illnesses.
And then there’s genetics. You inherit your body frame- endo, ecto or mesomorphic. You cannot change that. Serena will never become her sister Venus’ shape no matter how she diets. That’s a given!
With regard to how to lose weight and keep it off, there is pretty strong evidence that there is no way to do that. Everything I’ve found says that 95%+ of people who diet regain the weight plus additional padding. It resets your weight set point higher.(that’s what happened to me when I started serial dieting at 126 pounds.- insanity!) So if you do lose weight, it’s probably not going to stay off. And don’t blame yourself! Read the Minnesota starvation study!
Matt has shown that by eating less you’re slowing down your metabolism. And by eating more (especially if you’ve been cold for a while) you move it in the opposite direction. That makes sense to me, but it doesn’t work for everyone. I suggest that older people think twice before doing that…
My take on it is this: STRESS resets everything. People on the lower economic scale are heavier- not because of the food they eat, but because of their chronically high cortisol levels that affect all systems in the body.
In England a long term study on civil service workers (all employed) showed those on the bottom rungs were statistically significantly heavier than those on the top.
The long terms ACE study showed that children from birth to age 6 who were abused, neglected or humiliated had higher rates of chronic illnesses as adult- and although being fat doesn’t mean you are unhealthy (HAES studies), obesity was included in their findings.
Bottom line for me: is stop focusing on your YOUniverse. If you are lucky enough to have a long life, your body will change and age. What you look like isn’t the most important thing to the world- but what you can give to others, with your talents, skills and passion is. Be happy and accept what is. It will lower your stress level. You’ll feel better. And who knows, MAYBE you’ll lose a little weight.
Hello, Lianda:
Great comments!
There are probably many factors that play into weight issues, beyond the ones we discuss here on Matt’s blog. Granted, I haven’t read ALL of Matt’s posts and the associated comments, but I’ve read many.
I’m thinking about things like Lyme Disease, vaccines, heavy metals in the body, etc. In mainstream medicine, many of these topics are not usually discussed, because they are not recognized as chronic (Lyme Disease) and/or they are not viewed as valid concerns.
Until I joined the military, back many years ago, when I was 17, I had no health concerns. During boot camp, all four of my wisdom teeth were pulled (despite my not having any issues with them) and I had other dental work that involved amalgam fillings. And, there were various vaccinations.
Boot camp was only eight weeks in duration. Within two months of my leaving boot camp, I started getting frequent, crushing migraines. They were so bad, I was bed-ridden and the military doctors had me on narcotic medications. They were going to give me a medical discharge, but I appealed and stayed for the four years.
Over the ensuing three years, more health issues arose. My next (and, final) duty station included lots of chemical exposures (directly to skin and via vapors) to things like paints, paint thinners, waxes, cleaning solvents, lubricants, lead/tin solder, diesel exhaust, jet fuel/exhaust, etc. And, while in the Middle East, I helped carry (and was in proximity) to depleted-uranium ammunition.
As time passed, I became incredibly sensitive to smells. I could no longer wear cologne or be around anyone wearing cologne or perfume, as it would trigger nausea and a migraine. Diesel fumes had the same effect. I also became very sensitive to light, requiring the aid of sunglasses when outside, with little regard to most weather conditions. Bright lights and/or glare would also trigger a migraine.
Now, over three decades later, I still have all of the same issues. One good thing, though, is the migraines are less intense than previous years. The migraines improved, after cleaning-up my diet. The artificial sweetener Aspartame would causes blinding (literally) migraines within 15-20 minutes.
Since the military, there have been other issues, but this comment is already pretty wordy.
As I try to wrap-up this comment, I’ll mention that I’ve been dealing with poor sleep, fatigue (on-and-off), and anxiety (on-and-off), since around 2003.
In late 2013, the fatigue got MUCH worse and persists to this day. A month after the fatigue skyrocketed, I got what I thought was a cold. But, I was very sick for seven straight weeks. In hindsight, one of my many doctors thought it was probably walking pneumonia.
A year later, I was bitten by a tick. The tick was tested and found to carry the main bacteria associated with Lyme Disease. (Ticks can carry many HUNDREDS of various bacteria.) From that point, everything went downhill with a long list of issues (over 30) that have varied in frequency and intensity.
So, with all that said, many of these things, individually, could screw-up things like our intestinal flora. Which, as you know, can affect things like immunity, mood, hunger, weight, etc. But, having many of these issues at the same time might just multiply the effect. Some of these things could affect the vagus nerve, too, which could cause a range of seemingly-unrelated symptoms — including affecting digestion, as only one example.
So, again, I wonder how many people have one, two, several, or many of these (perhaps “silent”) challenges that are unknowingly affecting them? In addition to all the “regular” things we all struggle/worry with, too.
Here are some posts from a clinic that I plan to visit in the coming months. Perhaps you will find something new or interesting, though you likely know most of it.
http://davidjernigan.blogspot.com/2015/05/low-body-temperature-and-illness-living.html
http://davidjernigan.blogspot.com/2015/05/resetting-your-bodys-thermostat-no-more.html
http://davidjernigan.blogspot.com/2014/07/low-body-temperature-and-chronic.html
http://davidjernigan.blogspot.com/2012/11/cancer-and-low-body-temperature.html
http://davidjernigan.blogspot.com/2014/07/heavy-metal-toxicity-and-low-body.html
Best regards,
Carl
p.s. My apologies for the long, meandering brain-dump. It’s now 5:40 AM and I’m exhausted and yet to go to sleep. I wish this blog had an “Edit” feature, because I will probably spot many things I dislike, once I arise this afternoon. :-)
HI Carl-
Thanks for taking the time (unfortunately, while you couldn’t sleep) with that important information. So sorry for your health challenges! Luckily you caught that tick bite quickly!
I’ve also been reading about how plastics are having an effect on us as endocrine disruptors.
Yes, humans are destroying and poisoning the world’s environment and sickening life forms all the way up the food chain.
You can only do what you can do…. and stress relief.
Be well- be happy… ????
@Lianda: If I was just a little overweight it would’ve been fine, I’m not after six pack abs here. But I’m morbidly obese and have to lose a 120 pounds to get to a healthy weight. I agree with all you said but I can’t really stay at this weight. I feel like s*** 24/7. I’m knocking on diabetes’ door. There’s gotta be a way.
Carl: there’s even a term for it now: nutritional nihilism!
Hi, Skeptic!
“Nutritional Nihilism” — That sure fits! We could start a diet or a religion…not that there’s much difference.
Obviously, I don’t know your background. But, based on what I’ve read in your comments here, it seems you need to get down to a lower weight.
Since I recall seeing your name in previous blog posts, I can probably safely assume you’ve been following Matt and other “unconventional” (alternative? renegade?) sources for a while. That’s true for me, anyway, and likely why most of us tend to flock together — here and elsewhere.
Anyway, while I do have a little too much fat, that’s not my major focus at the moment. I have some other conditions that are plaguing me. But, prior to these issues, I did spend quite a few years going down all the various diet rabbit holes that it seems you may have also explored.
Since this is an open forum, you may not feel comfortable sharing a lot of details. That would be totally understandable. But, if you don’t mind, perhaps we could kick-around some ideas.
I should state, for the sake of clarity, I’m not a healthcare provider, I’m not a nutritionist, and not a weight loss specialist. I’m just an average guy. Though my education and training was in electronics, I’ve spent most of my career in Telecom/I.T. Thus, I’m probably the least-qualified person on this entire forum to dispense health advice!
Now, with those underwhelming credentials and frightening disclaimer, let’s proceed, shall we? :-)
Seriously, I’m just wondering:
1. What things you’ve tried?
2. If anything has worked (even if only for a while)?
3. Whether you have any known/suspected health conditions?
4. If you’re under the ongoing care of a doctor?
5. Which, if any, medications and/or supplements you take?
6. What eating plan/style/template do you follow now?
Obviously, you don’t have to answer any of these. Or, for the ones you may choose to answer, you can add as much or little detail as desired.
Back when I started trying to “get healthy,” I tried so many different diets, supplements, exercise plans, products, and other gimmicks.
As Matt found, as is likely common for many of us, the more I intellectually interfered with matters, the worse things became. The more I knew, the less I knew. I was stuck in “Analysis Paralysis.”
I became fearful of “Bad” foods and started avoiding them. As I researched more, the list of “Bad” foods kept growing. Eventually, there wasn’t much to eat. And, thus, I didn’t eat enough. This, in turn, exacerbated the other health issues I was facing.
Eventually, I would decide that the stress caused by my fear, uncertainty, and doubt about which foods to eat was likely more harmful than actual foods I was questioning. And, so, like many often do, I abandoned my restrictive eating plan and went back to eating whatever I wanted.*
(*The caveat was that I didn’t eat ultra-processed items like Doritos, Coca-Cola, candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, doughnuts, etc. For the most part, I didn’t want that stuff. Perhaps occasionally, I might have a slice of pie, some coconut ice cream, or a waffle. But, the “bad” stuff I did eat was generally made from “good” ingredients, if that’s even possible. Either made at home or purchased from local merchants and containing minimal ingredients. I make a great effort to avoid a lot of the chemicals like artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial colors/dyes, MSG, etc. I’m chemically sensitive and those things have a quick and unmistakable effect on me.)
Then, eventually, I would start reading “diet” blogs and watching YouTube videos again and then swing back the other way and start slowly eliminating specific foods again. They might be the same foods as before or they might be new foods.
Back-and-forth, back-and-forth.
@carl
Yep same as you, been on the diet carousel forever, alternating between a new diet and then nihilistic bingeing after all the effects Matt talks about kick in and weight loss plateaus.
The only thing that “worked” was brute force dieting–starvation made possible with insane amounts of caffeine and two packs of cigarettes a day (I quit smoking though I should say!) Lost a hundred pounds and you guessed it gained it all back plus change.
Currently no illness (unless you count anxiety/depression), no meds, no supps. Researching again. Back and forth has you say.
If you haven’t done so already, you may want to get your Vitamin D blood level checked.
You can read my previous comment on vitamin D3.
Since the bladder leakage stopped, my appetite (volume eaten at a time) decreased greatly. I wondered at first if something was wrong with me, but I just observed and realized my choice of foods also changed. What people call junk food is of no interest.
I had dental surgery mid-January (removed tori under my tongue and two impacted wisdom teeth). When the dentist recommended Coke to soothe the upset tummy from pain meds/antibiotics, I continued a daily Coke in addition or in place of a daily instant coffee/gelatin/sugar.
I had been taking about 5-10 mg Vit D3 since October 2017. In January 2018 I bought Jeff T. Bowles book, then ordered bulk Vit D3 and have been taking 20 mg since the second week in February. The bladder leakage completely stopped this mid-March. My appetite also changed dramatically. I thought I might be sick or becoming anorexic, but just waited.
Now the weight is beginning to reduce without effort. I eat when I’m hungry, even just half a bag of Ramen noodles to satisfaction. If I get hungry in two hours, I eat again what my body desires. No restriction, but more effort to make a great sandwich, if that’s what I want.
I check in with my gut before making quick decisions about what to eat. If I get an ‘acid reflux feel’ I know that food won’t do.
Like Matt says, if your body wants sugar, eat sugar. Be sure to eat on time (when hungry) no restrictions, and if one day you are hungrier than the day previous, just accept it.
Just be observant at all times and check in often to be sure you aren’t ignoring your body’s signals.
Hi Skeptic – The point is: if you cannot change something, should you continue to beat your head against a wall and insist there’s a way, when none has been found that work to this point?
First of all to learn about “healthy weight” it would be good to read “Health At Every Size”. Becoming FIT is more important that losing weight- (and that’s true for Diabetes). And that doesn’t mean over-doing exercise either!
You may never be able to lose and maintain weight loss. That’s what Matt writes about- diets don’t work! The less you eat, the colder you get, and you damage your metabolism.
Look at “the biggest losers” who have all regained their weight. It’s not that you just regain it, in most cases you add ADDITIONAL weight!
I weight a lot more than I would prefer, and that’s because of vanity. And I have given up trying to lose weight in exchange for getting stronger building stamina. I play tennis, do yoga, walk, hike.
These activities, when not overdone, are great stress relievers because you’re using your body, but also enjoying yourself. Stress relief, a daily practice- even multiple times a day is the best thing you can do for yourself! There are many types- and you can do multiple kinds. I practice EFT tapping (it’s almost like magic), HeartMath using biofeedback, Buteyko breathing exercises, and LAUGHING!
To me, the serenity prayer says it all: grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
@Ann: I’ll get tested then. I’m open to anything at this point.
@Lianda: oh there is one thing that works–bariatric surgery. I don’t want to do it but I’m running out of options. I think HAES applies if you’re overweight but not if you’re morbidly obese with 130 pounds to lose. That’s just make believe.
@Skeptic,
Hey, amigo. Your ability to lose 100+ pounds is nothing short of astounding! Truly! That says a lot about your mental toughness and iron willpower. I seriously doubt I would have been able to match such a feat!
As previously stated, after reading your various posts, I know the diet/health/lifestyle thing is hardly new to you. You’ve been around the block, read endless amounts, researched much of the conflicting data, and implemented various plans. So, I know you’re not a novice.
I just wanted to acknowledge those facts, in case I sound preachy and/or a know-it-all! :-) In fact, I’m a don’t-know-much!
As for caffeine, are you still ingesting massive amounts?
If so, that may cause some long-term issues — especially depending on its transport medium! If it’s from coffees and teas, high amounts are still not ideal. If from sodas/colas, however, there’s plenty of other challenging compounds, in addition to the caffeine, that aren’t great for you. Phosphoric acid is one, but, depending on the particular drink, others may include artificial sweeteners (they trigger migraines for me), dyes, preservatives, BPAs, etc.
But, back to just caffeine, it’s long-term use in high amounts can really punish your nervous system, too. It can also mess with your heart, blood pressure, and cause headaches and anxiety.
Thus, if you’re still taking-in high amounts of caffeine on a regular basis, I humbly suggest getting on a gradual reduction schedule to taper-down or taper-off. Sodas/colas really have no redeeming qualities.
As for smoking, I’m really happy you were able to quit! Again, much like your brute-force weight loss, your ability to go from two packs a day to zero is, again, phenomenal! I’m an ex-smoker, too, so I have personal experience with that struggle. Again, it just shows your amazing fortitude.
Also, considering how many people are on medication (often, several at once) today and/or diagnosed with any number of chronic conditions (again, possibly many at the same time), you should feel good about not being on any medications or supplements.
I’ve only dealt with low-level depression and that was bad enough. Anxiety, on the other hand, had been a serious challenge for about 15 years. The last time I traveled in an airplane was 2013. I booked a round-trip flight to see my Uncle. On the way there, I had an anxiety attack on the plane. There’s never a good place to have anxiety, but that was especially challenging. (“Hey, can I step-out on the wing for a few minutes, so I can pace back-and-forth?”) Then for the few days I was visiting my Uncle, I was worried about the return trip. I had another episode on the return flight, but, thankfully, it wasn’t quite as bad. I’ll likely never fly again. Unless, perhaps, I get medicated before (and during) the flight! But, as you know, even that’s no guarantee.
Okay, assuming this long post doesn’t crash Matt’s blog, let’s talk about food.
Given our long history in this game, we (you, me, all of us here) have heard a lot of talk, been made lofty promises, and been exposed to the “secret” knowledge that the experts suggested would lead us to the land of lean with 12-pack abs.
Well, for me, as an experiment of one, I can attest that:
* Eating cakes, cookies, and pies, didn’t work, despite my making them in my own kitchen
* Drinking a gallon of water per day, to “flush toxins,” only made me run to the bathroom every 30-45 minutes
* And, eating lots of butter and coconut oil (because, you know, both are magical and calories don’t matter) only gave me a manly muffin top (sorry for the visual)
However, when I came back to reality, I did find a few things that did cause me to lose weight.
I’m not suggesting that what I’m about to outline is correct, will work for anyone else, or has been scientifically verified by a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and published in a peer-reviewed journal. :-) These are simply things that worked for me, as long as I followed them. The more I followed, the better the results. The fewer I followed, the worse the results.
Here’s what I did:
* Avoided refined/isolated fats (oils, butter)
* Filled 50% – 75% of my plate with non-starchy vegetables
* Added 3-4 oz. of animal protein, if desired
* Ate little-to-no grains/nuts/seeds/legumes/starches
* When thirsty, I drank water — not a lot with meals.
* After a meal, if I desired sweets, I ate some fruit
* I tried not to snack, but would if I couldn’t wait
* If hungry between meals, I ate bigger meals
NOTE: At the time, I was supposed to follow a stricter version of eating, according to this (dys)functional medicine doctor I was seeing. I was actually supposed to eat like the following:
https://bit.ly/2J4vqkn
But, that was too strict for me. So, I made some modifications. I followed this for, I believe, about three months. While not flashy, I lost weight.
Once I got the size of my meals dialed-in, I was never really hungry between meals.
Also, after about two weeks, I lost nearly all cravings for things like coconut ice cream, cookies, and cereal that I would eat on a somewhat regular basis. (More on these snack foods to come.)
Obviously, the eating plan wasn’t magical. It was simply using calorie-sparse foods like vegetables (mostly) and fruits (to a lesser extent) to fill the majority of the stomach. Then, small amounts of calorie-dense foods like beef or avocado to ensure enough total calories to carry one between meals.
Water fills the stomach, too, but it also helps in many other ways. The fiber from the vegetables and fruits supposedly help us feel full for longer. And, allegedly, the fiber that’s indigestible by us feeds our gut bacteria. Hearty soups and stews are highly-touted foods in weight-loss communities like Weight Watchers, due to the volume/water content.
Back to snacks…
Eventually, after about three months on the above eating plan, I loosened-up my diet and started having some of my old snacks. But, as I’ve done for many years, I stay-away from chemical-heavy items. The main reason is because of my chemical sensitivities, as I wrote in a comment to Lianda. But, even if I didn’t have to do so, I think avoiding as many additives as possible makes sense. Who knows what some of those ingredients might be doing to our brains, nervous systems, and organs?
So, when I want to have a snack, I look for items with minimal, recognizable ingredients. The cookies I like have ingredients like butter, eggs, vanilla, etc. The cereal I sometimes eat has three ingredients: milled corn, salt, and sugar. Of course, these are largely empty calories, so I don’t eat them daily.
Now, these are just my own experiences and opinions. I know Matt has read several hundred books on the topic and I’ve read just a few. I’m not an expert and anyone who wants to refute any/all of this is welcome to do so. I will not argue, as I don’t really have a position to defend.
I will just state, in closing, that throwing caution to the wind and eating everything in sight doesn’t seem to work for some people. Did they not do it hard enough? Long enough? Possibly. I really don’t know. Some people claim that doing so DID work for them. So, that’s great. Whatever works. But, at some point, if what a person is doing isn’t working, it seems that trying something different might be worth a try. In all of this, of course, there was no mention of the role of sleep, stress reduction, exercise, etc. All of those things, and many more, are important and play a role.
@Skeptic
As for fasting, in addition to what Sean Smith wrote, YouTube has some good presentations on fasting by Dr. Alan Goldhamer and Dr. Michael Klaper. You may already be familiar with them. But, if not, Goldhamer and Klaper work at the TrueNorth Health Center in Santa Rosa, CA and offer in-clinic, medically-supervised water fasts for up to 40 days.
-> http://www.healthpromoting.com
Next, there’s Valter Longo and his Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD)
-> https://prolonfmd.com
And, no discussion of fasting would be complete, without the interesting story of the guy that completed a medically-supervised fast for 382 days and lost 275.5 lbs.
-> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396
Finally, there’s Australian Andrew Taylor who ate only potatoes for an entire year and lost 120 lbs. Now, I love potatoes, but, crikey…I think I’d tire of that quickly. This, of course, plays into the things about which Matt and Stephan Guyenet have written.
-> https://www.spudfit.com
Funny you should mention caffeine, I’ve also recently put it in my crosshairs. I figured you can’t “listen to your body” and it’s hunger/satiety cues while doing a drug that directly messed with it (not to mention the calories from cream and sugar). Spent the last few months quitting my two liter a day Coke habit, and now I’m working on coffee.
As for the rest, I’ve tried low carb many times (Atkins, South Beach, Paleo), and it reliably makes me feel much worse, mentally and physically. Hard pass. I will however have to deal with my bingeing of dessert foods lol.
I’ve had many panic attacks too unfortunately. I don’t think it’s psychological, at least not entirely. It’s a gut problem. Never had them before I got IBS.
Hey, Skeptic:
I hear you about low-carb diets. I’m actually not a fan of them — or, really, any eating plan that has a name and/or is restrictive of any whole foods. The diet I outlined that I followed helped me lose some weight, but I didn’t stay on it long-term. Only about three months.
Because my follow-up post had some links, it took an extra day or so for it to be approved by Matt. So, if you didn’t see that post (a few above this one), I linked the SpudFit guy in Australia that ate only potatoes for a year and dropped 120 lbs. Again, I’m not necessarily suggesting that plan, because it’s restrictive, I’m merely demonstrating that I’m not against whole food carbohydrates.
I wonder how Gary Taubes would address SpudFit’s success, since Taubes thinks carbs are evil. You know…INSULIN! El Diablo! Like Matt and Dr. Garrett write in their book “Solving the Paleo Equation,” running-away from the solution leads you right back to the problem.
Anyhoo, congratulations on overcoming the Coca-Cola habit! When I was about 10 or 11, I would drink up to a 2 litre bottle a day, myself! We’re kindred spirits! Later, in the military, Sprite was my beverage of choice. No caffeine, but all that phosphoric acid certainly couldn’t have been good for my GI tract.
Later, after the military, I put myself through college. I was so broke, at times, I’d have to choose between putting gas in my crappy car, so I could go to work and school, versus being able to pay one bill or another. Back in the day, I could get two 12-packs of Coke for $5.00 at Kroger. I’d then hit the Taco Bell drive-thru for some cheap calories. My part-time job, while going to college, was a night watchman in an office building. Since it was night, and the building was empty, I would go through peoples’ desk drawers and look for spare change – a quarter here, two dimes there, etc. By the time I canvassed an entire floor or two, I’d have enough change to get some nasty sandwiches out of the vending machine to microwave and eat.
Ah, good times.
As for the panic attacks, I agree with you that I don’t think they’re entirely psychological. I don’t have IBS (that I know of), but definitely have gut dysfunction. It’s been several years, now, that I’ve been passing undigested food. I did have a Heidelberg Gastrogram study that showed low stomach acid, so I suppose that’s part of the issue.
I’m so sick of dealing with the diet wars, food, cooking, digestion issues, etc. I’d like to just stick everything in a Vitamix and blend it to a liquid and drink it. Everything – fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, potatoes, chicken, oatmeal, beef, beans, rice, etc. Gross, I know, but it would be less mentally taxing. Plus, it would probably be easier on my guts.
Now that I think about it, I guess that’s what drove Rob Rhinehart to create “Soylent.” I remember Matt has a post about Rhinehart. I think Rhinehart was nuts, but he raised over $750,000 on Kickstarter. Unbelievable. Even more unbelievable was the $20 Million Soylent raised two years later. I’m in the wrong business.
Well, nevertheless, you seem to be on a good path and I certainly wish you the best! I look forward to seeing you around again!
Yeah I think I have low stomach acid too. I think that’s where it all starts, undigested food getting into your intestines. Stress by itself can cause low stomach acid, so maybe it all goes back to that!
Anywho see you on Matt’s next post (probably a year from now lol)
Hey, Skeptic:
I should have sent this long ago, but just remembered.
http://www.humansarenotbroken.com/about/plant-paleo
If I were going to follow any “diet,” the above one would be it.
Did you ever listen to the “Latest in Paleo” podcast? I really enjoyed it, because Angelo actually ended-up moving-away from many of the generally-accepted (i.e. stupid) versions of “Paleo” and really ended-up more as “Plant-Based” — but not vegan. His podcasts were well-researched and exceptionally produced.
Sadly, though not unexpectedly, the show ended a couple of years ago. Angelo concluded that there would be no point in continuing the show, as it would be unlikely that any new studies, research, or evidence would overturn what he found and what had worked for him. The guy has integrity.
Anyway, he did lose a lot of weight on “Paleo,” over a few years. But, plateaued. It was only after his continual research into the many other dietary camps that he slowly transitioned into his “Plant Paleo” diet. After doing so, the rest of his excess weight melted-away.
With “Paleo,” I think he managed to lose about 80 lbs. Then, the plateau, and, eventually his “Plant Paleo.” From there, I think he dropped another 20 lbs. or so. I may not recall the numbers exactly, but I think it’s pretty close.
So, as you and I both know, not everything works for everyone all the time. Our mileage may vary. But, I figured it was worth mentioning.
Chat with you again next year, when Matt posts again! :)
Be well, friend!
Skeptic:
If only I could give this comment a bazillion thumbs-up!
I share your observations and agree with your conclusion! All the conflicts are not just frustrating, they are *#@% maddening! I understand why some people give-up and just eat whatever they want.
Hang-in there, friend.
Believe me, I feel for you…. but you are just causing more stress in your system when you are trying to “fight” your body.
Are you an emotional eater?
Is your body temperature at 98.6?
My suggestion would be this: a daily practice of stress relief. I would combine using EFT tapping along with a program like HeartMath (using biofeedback that shows you how it’s working).
The one thing I am 100% positive about: it will not hurt your efforts. Let me know if I can be of assistance.
@Lianda: currently I have good temp and everything else that Matt talks about because I’ve been refeeding for a while now. I’ll never do a starvation diet again but I’d like to lose some weight in a slow and sustainable way.
@Sean: didn’t see your post somehow but anyway congrats on the weight loss. Eating lots of fiber is hard for me (IBS) but I try to get some in.
As for fasting I’ve consumed countless books, articles, videos and podcasts on it! Sounds very promising but currently I have poor blood sugar control and so I get dizzy about 5-6 hours in to a fast, so I can’t really do it for now, but I’ll retry when I improve my health a bit.
I’ve been trying to walk but I’m usually dead after work and can’t muster the energy.I agree with you and Carl about ditching processed foods. Only thing that seems to work (starvation doesn’t work).
@Skeptic:
I second much of Carls advise. I lost over 120 pounds over the course of two years, and the foundation of doing so was ditching processed foods for real food, prioritizing sleep (dark therapy at night, cool dark bedroom, sunlight in morning) and moderate exercise. The weight that was stubborn came off when I finally improved my health enough that I could get off the psychotropics the doctors had me on.
So, my advice.
Sleep is critical. Ask your PCP to order or refer you to a sleep physician for a home sleep study. Most MD’s limit their Dx of sleep breathing disorders to obstructive apnea, but there are others such as Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, that they do not Dx because insurance will not reimburse physicians for those Dx’s. As such, in some instances it’s better to just find an ENT/Sleep Dentist who will provide treatment with a Mandibular Advancement Device. And as matt’s article got into to some degree, jaw structure affects the airway, particularly the upper airway (nasal breathing) which can have dramatic effects on sleep quality. With todays epidemic of shrinking jaws the likely of having a sleep breathing issues is almost a certainty unless you comfortably fit all 32 teeth in your mouth and never have a stuffy nose. Treatment is of course, only indicated if the patient has symptoms, such as waking up gasping for breath, snoring (even mild), waking up to urinate during the night more than once, nightsweats, dry mouth, headaches, blood pressure issues, depression, anxiety, derealization, memory issues, brain fog, metabolic issues, gerd, ‘very long list of symptoms that occur in persons with sleep disordered breathing’. It’s really quite something how much chaos occurs in the body when sleep is being adversely impacted, especially with breathing disorders.
As for nutrition, that’s simple. ‘Eat real food, Mostly plants’. Real food has no ingredient list. You know it when you see it. No flours, oils, powders, sweeteners, let alone preservatives. It’s a coconut, not coconut oil. Almonds, not almond flour. It’s Apples, not applesauce. Lots of plants, especially non-starchy vegetables like collards. Eating this way my weight has become so stable that it doesn’t matter how much I stuff my face, I don’t gain weight. In fact, every 2-4wks I’ll stuff my face with ice cream, sometimes downing 5000 calories in one sitting and it’s like a match to gasoline the way my body now lights up. A regular dinner for me is typically ~350 grams of collards, with 100grams of mushrooms, 150grams of asparagus, 400grams of cooked then cooled beans, and 600 grams of cooked then cooled purple sweet potatoes. Frankly, eating real food, mostly plants, I find it difficult to eat enough food to meet my calorie needs not because my stomach gets full and struggles to digest the food fast enough. Eating this way also has had a pronounced effect on my gut; resistant starches, lots of fiber, and then sprinkle on some typical probitiocs/soil-based probiotics.
As for exercise, I just go for walks. That and I don’t sit around as much. My phone tells me I usually get 8-12k steps in a day. Some odd days it’s at 18k. Back when I was losing weight it was more like 4-8k steps a day (all that weight makes moving harder!). I’d recommend just getting out twice a day, morning and evening, for a brief walk of 30-40min, or longer if you feel able, but at least that while making an effort to sit around less. Just committing to cook one’s own meals from scratch will alter a lot of the sedentary habits of modern life at home. I recommend watching presentations/documentaries on a phone/tablet while cooking so as to keep the mind busy and engaged.
And if you’re one of the unfortunate people for whom no amount of lifestyle change helps, someone got infected with one of those chicken retrovirus, or have gut bacteria that promote weight gain and just won’t die, then consider water fasting for 14-21 days while working with a physician to monitor you during that time. I know it may sound an odd suggestion, but give it chance by doing some research into it. There’s a documentary called “The Science of Fasting” on amazon and presentations on youtube by Jason Fung that are ‘alright’ (he’s not the best speaker/presenter). Basically, fasting engages autophagy, which recycles all the misfolded proteins and dysfunction cells, while putting the body into all out fat-burning. It also, preversely, increases metabolic rate. Research even shows it can activate stem cells within major organ, especially healing what was thought irreparable damage. In fact, the 2016 nobel peace prize in physiology/medicine went to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his work in which he “discovered and elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy”. There’s really so much going on with autophagy, and it frankly just makes sense when looking at it from an evoluationary biology standpoint. Hell, even old religions all agree fasting is beneficial. Jesus fasts, Mohamed fasts, Budda fasts, the Greek thinkers fasted specifically for the cognitive benefits – how could we be so stupid to stop fasting and just constantly stuff our faces 24/7. It’s like constantly driving your car and never getting it’s oil changed/brakes replaced/flat tires fixed; it’s no wonder we’re breaking down…
@Sean Smith
Great post! That’s a lot of excellent advice!
I got the ‘Star Stuff’ thing from Neil de G Tyson who frequently states that every atom/element in the known universe had to have emanated from the events immediately following the Big Bang…..which means that virtually ALL of the elements which are continually being turned over in living, and dead, organisms (as you so eloquently communicated), had to have originated from exploding stars (where ALL elements have been/are continually being ‘cooked and released’ to the cosmos for our at-home consumption. That means Joel that maybe a molecule of water that had exited Darwin’s bladders a few hundred years ago, might actually be in the glass of wine you will consume at dinner tonight…..and each of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms contained therein, had to have originated from an exploded sun
Just watched Cosmos a few weeks ago, so I feel you on the Star Stuff Kev-dogg!
Yes, which explains the Holy Communion experienced by Christians: When you have a glass of wine and a piece of bread, no doubt there are atoms therein which were indeed in His blood and body 2000 years ago. (The spiritual part is the remembrance of this simple fact). So I think we agree:-)
Anyone else here experience this weirdness? I used to be able to whistle through my nose with my mouth closed. Sounded like a guinea pig in distress. I had loads of fun with teachers over the years. Does this chewing work for people who are toothless? If so is it best to remove dentures first? I can just imagine I’d look like granny from the Beverley Hillbillies!
Joel, interestingly you (seemingly) inadvertently give an alternative definition to the term ?inspirational?, here, that is, it’s very possible that some of us might indeed now be breathing molecular oxygen that maybe had also been ?inspired? by Jesus….or possibly by some other Hebrew carpenter for that matter.
All of us would be breathing some of the same air, actually. Consider the magnitude of Avogadro’s number: When you consider that an ounce of air (about 30 grams, or one mole) has over 10 to the 23 power molecules in it, the probability is inescapable.
Such crazy timing that you’re posting about this, Matt! I’ve been interested in the factors involved in facial/dental development for a few years, but just a couple months ago I actually got a palate expander made! My goal is to widen my upper palate enough to re-open the spaces where my bicuspids were extracted, and replace them with implants.
Chewing too much right now hurts my jaw because my bite is awful (hence the need for palate expansion), but I’ll definitely be looking into this as a maintenance technique once I get my bite corrected!
(Shameless plug: I’m documenting my whole palate expansion process on my blog, so if anyone is interested in seeing how non-surgical palate expansion works in adults, come follow along!)
Cool Alyssa! Sounds awesome.
Alyssa, Palate expansion is pretty standard fair in orthodontics, if your wrist bones haven’t yet fused. And I’ve heard of biobloc expansion being used up to age 19 for a female, 22 for a male. Is what you are doing any different then the typical?
Hi Nira and Alyssa
A Biobloc Stage 1 expander will only provide efficient skeletal separation at the mid palatal suture in children under the age of 8 or 9. If you want to get skeletal separation in older kids and/or teens and adults, you would absolutely need to use a more rigid appliance, such as a bonded expander in older kids, and for teens and adults of all ages (i.e,, non-growers), you must utilized a TAD bone anchored strategy; Google Dr. Won Moon at UCLA if you want more info on his excellent research in the are of non-surgical maxillary expansion.
Also, a great resource on wrist bone development: http://www.chospab.es/biblioteca/DOCUMENTOS/Atlas_of_Hand_Bone_Age.pdf
Hi Nira! I have no idea if my wrist bones have fused, but I’m 24, and non-surgical palate expansion in adults isn’t standard fare at all! At least according to every dentist and orthodontist I’ve talked to. They’re taught in school that by adulthood, the mid-palatal suture has fused, so true expansion isn’t possible without surgery.
So yes, what I’m doing is quite atypical! I was lucky enough to find a local orthodontist who is willing to experiment with me, and let me mostly direct the process, but unfortunately it’s not commonly done at all. I wish it were!
The Pittsburgh Pirates manager, Clint Hurdle, has to have once been one of the most prolific gum chewers in history. He chewed a big wad for at least 3 hours a day, everyday of the baseball season and spring training! He gave it up a few years ago because of neck pain or TMJ according to various sources. You can see in the video here (https://www.mlb.com/cut4/clint-hurdle-stopped-chewing-gum-wouldnt-explain-why/c-198153156) that he has a broad face and well developed jaw. However, he has a bit of a double chin and definitely does not have 6-pack abs. Pictures of him as a young man show that he always has a broad face and strong jaw (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hurdlcl01.shtml), so I’m not sure he received any benefits from all that chewing. I have a narrow face so I’m thinking of giving gum chewing a try, but I will definitely take this slow and I’m not expecting miracles.
I don’t the right idea is to chew incessantly. I DO think that’s probably a quick route to TMJ City. What I’m talking about is a little bout of intense chewing for 5 minutes or so once or twice a week.
Yeah, I get that. Just wondered why Hurdle doesn’t look more like Jaws from the Bond movie Moonraker. Sorry that’s technically not an 80s movie but close?79. :)
I think his form of chewing is akin to walking on a treadmill all day. That won’t get you looking like Ronnie Coleman. Austin Dunham on the other hand… https://youtu.be/lkV5-UZDV34
AD looks amazing but he recommends doing his exercises every day. In his plug for jawsercize, he recommends using it for 20 minutes a day! Maybe he’s able to do that because he already has a strong jaw. As an aside, I learned his vowel exercise back in the early 80s when I used to go to Elaine Powers “gym”. That place was the beginning of my fat struggles. I was lean when I started. In addition to jazzercise and lame circuit training, they offered some nasty powdered meal replacement drink, which I drank for several months. I lost about 25 pounds and looked anorexic. But I think it’s too bad that I didn’t stick with the vowel exercise regularly. Maybe I wouldn’t have the double chin I have today!
Jeanne- I’m writing my sequel to Diet Industry Lies that make you Gain Weight….. Would you be willing to be interviewed for the book? Your type experience is just what I’m writing about… you can reach me at Lianda@LiandaLudwig.com
Thanks, and good luck –
Howdy, Lianda: I briefly persused your website and Amazon author page. You have quite an interesting background and set of skills!
Because of this, I was hoping to ask about what your diet looks like. Your appearance on Matt’s blog just multiplies my curiosity!
Do you eat lots of Salt, Sugar, Starch, and Saturated Fat? (I think the other S’s are reducing “Stress” and getting enough “Sleep.”)
Many thanks!
Buck-
How nice of you to visit my site!
I have to admit, that reading these comments on this blog post (long overdue) makes me realize that many people have not read enough of Matt Stone’s books- because they’re still talking diet. I strongly encourage them to do so.
Hearing Matt speak on the Paleo Summit about 7 years ago actually changed and saved my life. I know I sound like a groupie, but no one had previously explained so clearly, and in a way that really spoke to my exact situation of being a chronic dieter for decades. Dieting was causing my weight gain!
I immediately resolved to completely stop dieting, and start eating the ?bad? foods that the Diet Industry tricked me into believing were poison (sugar, starch, salt, saturated fat- and sleep). I truly believe that my focus on hating my body, serial dieting and blaming myself for each time I regained weight affected my health and created an auto-immune disease (Hashimoto’s thryroiditis).
Being an older Matt Stone groupie, I have reached out to many women past middle age,and found that they had the same experience as mine. I also realized by speaking with so many others, that they probably would never have dieted if they hadn’t been made to feel bad about their body.
This is especially true for women, who are taught as little girls are complimented for being pretty. Boys, on the other hand were complimented by being strong, or smart. So, dieting and body image is also a feminist issue.
I also discovered, that so many people had a stressful event that precipitated their weight gain. The counselor training in me made me realize that I had an opportunity, and responsibility to help women (and men) stop dieting to prevent them from gaining more weight, by focusing on stress management.
Reducing stress is not just a ?nice thing? to do, it is imperative for our mental and physical health.
I am really very grateful to Matt, and hope, that when I finish my sequel to ?Diet Industry Lies that Make You Gain Weight?, that he will write the introduction (if he’s not too busy). Or maybe I’ll ask you!
Sally Fallon weighs in the Caustic Commentary section of the Fall 2017 WAPF Journal:
“WHAT A CHEESY IDEA!
The great increase in the need for orthodontics to fix tooth crowding and overbites has a lot of folks wondering why. Since it couldn’t possibly be the modern diet’s baneful effects, scientists have grasped at some pretty lame explanations. In Dr. Price’s day, scholars insisted that tooth crowding was caused by race mixing; today the explanation is soft foods that have ?decreased chewing demands. Now a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Volume 114, Number 34) blames one soft food in particular: cheese! According to the author David Katz, ?At least in early farmers, milk did not make for bigger, stronger skull bones. We wonder which ?early farmers? Katz looked at. Did he look at the Swiss farmers of Dr. Price’s day who had wide facial structures eating a diet of raw cheese and sourdough bread? Or the Maasai herders with their brilliant smiles living on fermented milk products and blood? Remember, if even one example contradicts the theory, the honest scientist must go back to the drawing board and come up with another theory. Katz needs to visit some WAPF families where modern children are growing up with beautiful wide jaws on a diet of soft foods like raw milk, raw cheese, p’t?, eggs and cod liver oil.”
Lol. I bet Sally thinks that astronauts could avoid bone loss (they lose bone at 10X the rate of osteoporosis, evidently) if they just ate more cheese.
A nutrient-rich and more “natural” diet and lifestyle are certainly good things. I’m sure they help in some way. But natural breastfeeding and chewing are probably bigger factors in facial development than nutrients alone, much in the same way that no amount of nutrients can keep a person from losing bone and muscle mass if they are floating around in zero gravity doing nothing.
Have you browsed lookism.net?
Just lol
The identification of soft food as a potential cause of tooth overcrowding and limited jaw development has been around for decades. It has been also been misinterpreted by dentists and orthodontists to give damaging and destructive advice to their patients. For example, I have heard of cases where orthodontists prescribe a soft food/ liquid diet in the case where jaw development is oversized or there is TMJ with inevitably disastrous results. The brilliance of Mews is in identifying the factors that drive normal facial development and creating a methodology for re-establishing those factors when they are disrupted. In that sense, the many types of malocclusion are signs that the factors that regulate and drive facial development are disrupted on a mass scale. While I would agree that soft food is part of the picture and strengthening jaw muscles is part of the solution, identifying this as an epidemic of shrinking jaws results in problematic misinterpretations in the medical community.
And, what’s very new to this Mew-driven discourse on jaw-facial development is the connection to nasal-airway competence /incompetence, that is, anything genetic and/or epigenetic that might positively or negatively affect jaw-facial growth& development, will unequivocally also affect respiratory G&D. This was not originally a significant component of the ?Mew hypothesis? I think, or at least a much discussed component anyway.
My experience with water fasting has been excellent. I’ve done at least one per year of a week or longer for decades, and have gone up to 21 days. It takes some self discipline, but once a person overcomes the natural craving for food, the rewards are high enough to produce a sense of positive anticipation. My metabolism hasn’t been negatively affected, and I believe the rest it furnishes to the digestive system, kidneys, liver, and other organs is very beneficial. It’s important to break long fasts gently, though–something I had to learn the hard way. Medical supervision is probably wise, although I’ve never had any (partly because I don’t want to deal with the medical establishment’s negative attitudes towards what they consider “fringe” therapies).
Fasting is an ancient practice that has been tried and tested through the ages. Paracelsus called it “the physician within.” Hippocrates said “Everyone has a doctor in him; we just have to help him in his work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. …to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.” Benjamin Franklin: “The best of all medicines is resting and fasting.” Ohsumi’s research on autophagy, cited above, elucidates one salutary mechanism fasting initiates, and there are doubtless many others yet undiscovered.
Fasting is a hard sell in these affluent days, where we are constantly bombarded with temptations to stuff our faces 24/7. I love feasting on good food…but I also love fasting to balance it out and would recommend it to anyone interested in good health.
I’ve always been a biter.
For as long as I can remember I’ve felt the need, at times, to bite down on things as hard as I can. My item of choice was always a wet washcloth. When I would first get in the shower, I would wet my washcloth and just bite down on it as hard as possible 4-5 times. Afterward I always felt satisfied.
I haven’t done that regularly in years. My teeth have gotten more crowded in the last few years than they did in the previous 20 years since I had my braces removed at about the age of 14.
Maybe this will work better than the raw milk diet that Matt’s dumb ass put me on about a decade ago.
Oh and check out my new show on Youtube. There’s no biting. Just me kicking ass. It’s good to be back on TV, and here at the blog too. I dominate wherever the hell I go pretty much.
Haha. Johnny makes an entrance! Kobra Kai lives!
So glad you are back Matt! Your blog needs to have an online reunion party at some point. I wanted to share a brief glimpse of my story. I guess I’ve been following you since 2010 (can’t believe how long ago that was) and I am so thankful that I discovered you when I did. In 2010 I was an anorexic teenager struggling with weight gain. I went through the aggressive re-feeding process, gained a ton of weight. Never dieted, and finally started losing weight and my weight balanced off by 2011/2012 and I became pretty lean (my body was so much more proportional after that too). I no longer have weight-gain issues, I follow no diet (I admit it includes quite an abundance of pizza and ice cream lol), but I do try to eat relatively well. I had a healthy pregnancy (didn’t really gain any excess weight) and my daughter is now 18 months and strong and lean. I am excited to raise her with no fear of food. In the meantime my husband continues to be impressed by my appetite. So, thanks again for your work!
Now just want to say, in one of the videos it mentioned posture and abs. And I haven’t worked on my chin posture specifically, but I can testify that posture is so important to body health. I actually had pretty drastic diastasis recti following my pregnancy and it was a literal hole in my stomach (3-4 fingers wide) for nine months. I finally followed the Mutu system which taught the biomechanics of posture and just changing posture, my diastasis is significantly improved (almost closed now) just with posture. Not diet, not exercise, just posture.
Nice Caroline! Thanks for sharing. 20 year reunion party is a must in 2027, haha.
Interesting. My face was more defined when I was bulimic and quite often eating massive quantities of food. Now its more rounded/ less defined now despite having less bodyfat.
I figured it was due to my teeth moving when I lost my retainer, or just getting older. This is a different way of thinking, maybe I’ll take up chewing gum.
Fellow Stoners,
The 180D forums are still alive…
http://180degreehealth.com/180forums
And this crap gets passed off as science: please. Who knows who is correct when it comes to health? But to say tooth health all boils down to chewing is ridiculous. Maybe it’s a component, but it’s not the whole picture.
I could easily make the case for vegetable oils and “enriched” grains contributing to tooth decay.
People who seemingly have all the health answers takes advantage of all the people who want to stop asking questions and come onto a blog like this and bow down to some guru.
Health is individualized. Do what works for you. Not what works for someone else. Science cannot be applied to nutrition. The body is too complex.
That’s why we have a comments section with 222 comments and going. I write an article. Then we continue to discuss the ideas openly and freely. Thanks for your dogmatic absolutism. It really furthered the conversation here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQCU36pkH7c
dogmatic absolutism as in chewing IS the root of tooth decay. not sure how my position is absolutist. i promote individualism. matt, you, like all the other health soothsayers, promote dogma. ive read your books. your opinion is not truth. it’s merely just opinion. i’m not into weston price, paul jaminet, stephan guyunet, mark sisson, ray peat, you name it, because its their way or the highway garbage. you know how people discover true health? by picking up a generic logbook and recording their responses to food, to sun/light exposure, to EMFs, to sleep, to meditation, to exercise, etc.
to say there is only one variable relating to tooth decay is quackery. i can see how tooth density could be related to chewing, but gum disease and cavities? you think cavities appear because people arent chewing enough?
to say i know the truth regarding tooth decay is ridiculous, but there are strange connections to tooth decay and the enrichment of refined grains and the surge of PUFAs in the human diet. hell, i even get pains/sensitivity in my teeth if i go too far with unrefined whole grains.
Weston Price may not be totally correct, but he was partially barking up one of the right health trees.
Colin, you are truly an angry man….me too bro; but, please confirm…, per your mentioning, ‘to say there is only one variable relating to tooth decay is quackery?
Please cite a single reference in the peer-reviewed literature to a study where tooth decay has been produced in humans, and/or any other mammalian animal model for that matter, in the absence of frequent dietary intake of fermentable carbohydrates, a.k.a, fiberless sugar (i.e., ?one variable?). You will not/cannot be successful here Colin;,hint:gnotobiotic studies.
But your rant and logic are both understandable/logical I think…..you quite simply just chose the wrong model(i.e., you might actually become (errantly) thought of, as what it is you seem to despise…..a quack!
“People who seemingly have all the health answers takes advantage of all the people who want to stop asking questions and come onto a blog like this and bow down to some guru.”
Is that what brought you here, Colin?
I’m going to change the header on the site to say, “Tired of asking questions about health? Well look no further than 180DegreeHealth! Your home for unquestionable health advice!”
I like it.
You can also mention that 180DegreeHealth.com is “peer-reviewed,” since your “peers” have reviewed it. That will just further support your “unquestionable” health advice.
“Four out of five ‘doctors’ surveyed recommend 180DegreeHealth.com to their patients who read health blogs.”
“Nine out of ten doctors agree: 180DegreeHealth.com has health advice for which bowing-down is warranted. Come bend-over with us.”
I like that last one a lot!
science will never work in the world of human nutrition. the body is much too complex. you want me to cite studies? you want me to cherrypick some studies to support my side? i don’t have a side, that’s the point. i haven’t joined a team. studies want to make this seem like all humans are alike. they aren’t. there are only individuals with different requirements and numerous variables pressed upon them. not angry in the least. just find articles like this to be laughable because it’s another case of the “miracle cure” that is going to save humanity somehow. gurus push answers. sheep want answers. critical thinkers have questions. real health seekers look inward and perform their own personal science experiments to find their individualized health protocol.
Lol. This comment reads like the introduction to one of my books. My whole “studies are not science” schpiel, how all real scientific conclusions should be tentative, yada yada.
I agree wholeheartedly that my books and this blog are not filled exclusively with “facts.” They are filled with tentative evidence-based speculation, observation, and ideas, which is the best anyone can do when discussing health and nutrition matters to a general audience.
Sure, there are plenty of irrefutable facts in there as well. For example, most people, when eating more food, will see a rise in body temperature and such. And most who see a rise in temperature will also notice symptoms associated with a low metabolism being alleviated. That’s just reality. What that means and whether that is a viable long-term approach to metabolism or health is purely speculative.
“Science will never work in the world of human nutrition.” That’s the kind of shit I’m talking about when I say you’re speaking in dogmatic absolutism. I mean, you even used the word “never.” Not much wiggle room in that statement.
You’ll find, especially as my work has evolved, that there is more and more wiggle room in everything I say and write, and a lot less absolutism.
You seem to think I’m proclaiming that chewing is the only factor in tooth decay in this article? Really? That’s a bad mis-reading of the article.
May I suggest some additional carbohydrates to calm you down? :)
Just want to emphasize that Matt is totally right about not going overboard with chewing.
And yes it’s only one component of an overall health. Not going to get to into that (have a toddler to chase), but wanted to make you guys think further. The posture part that Dr. Mews discusses is pretty cool. I just want to talk a bit more about my diastasis recti for a bit. After giving birth to a giant baby, my diastasis was pretty profound. For about 6 months I was doing a bunch of exercises to close my diastasis (mainly squats) and while it improved I continued to have a gaping whole about 3-4 fingers wide above my belly button. Did more research, and I realized my ribs were out of alignment. Fixed my rib alignment, my diastasis quickly changed within days and is continuing to close to less than a finger now. This was just fixing posture, not doing squats. I do wonder what happens when changing tongue and neck posture. Very interesting. Maybe it has more affect on jaw health than chewing?? Things to ponder.
Oh and seriously, let’s not let this happen this to us:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3183266/I-chewed-gum-seven-hours-day-need-operation-fix-jaw.html
Dear Matt,
Hi Matt, my name is T.J. I found your website over a year ago since I messed up myself with dieting. A lot of things improved since implementing your approach to raising metabolism, but I’m currently facing some psychological issues as well. For example, I tend to lose confidence to a level where I have a hard time to socialize with others because of having a negative body image (Being fat is sort of a minority in my country, and people tend to dislike overweight person). I’m in my early 20’s and young people here are usually on the leaner side, and having a big gut is certainly not fun. Also, my super health-conscious grandmother always talks about my overweight physique, asking whether I’m going to diet again or not, and this stresses me out so much. Could you please help me out before I go back on another weight loss program? I still really want to thank you for pulling me out of the weight-cycling regime.
Sincerely,
T.J
Hey T.J. That’s the hardest thing for sure. Being young, you will very likely pull out of this and naturally and effortlessly return to a healthy weight, and be able to maintain that without doing any dietary restriction or unwanted exercise. That is an amazing thing to achieve. Few that ever get on the diet hamster wheel ever get back there.
I will be putting out some info from Kayla Rose Kotecki soon that will hopefully be very helpful to you. Immersing yourself amongst those who understand this instead of socializing with people who don’t can be a good temporary solution until you return back to your normal (but better) self!
Hey Matt, thanks for the reply. It’s kind of weird how people believe that calorie is the root cause of the weight issue, while there are tons of people who prove that wrong. I know of a few friends who eat around twice the amount of what is considered “average” amount of food in my country, and they are all lean.
Also, thanks for the great advice. It’s really interesting how body image influences my behavior in social situations. I can guarantee that if there was no extra blubber on my body, I had no problem socializing with others to begin with. I also want to do activities like calisthenics, but there’s no way of pulling up my heavy body with my current strength, haha.
I will definitely check out Kayla Kocketi. Like you said, I think it’s very important to communicate with people who had similar experiences as I did.
Hi TJ-
Society has been very hard on people who don’t fit into the mold of thin. Although I write about women’s body image issues, the same applies to men. https://stresseatingsolutions.com/cant-stand-your-body-2/
There are a few things I recommend. The first and most important thing is changing your mindset about yourself. If you don’t agree with the things that people say about you, it’s a lot easier to reject their opinion and stand up for yourself.
Remember, anything that ANYONE says is only their opinion. I like repeated this statement:
?Your opinion about me is none of my business?
It’s important to understand that you are not at fault for your body size. Beyond the diversity in the human frame, there are reasons that some people gain weight and others can eat tons of food and remain thin. (like my friend Yolanda I always write about?. She ate like a Sumo Wrestler while I ate rabbit food. She’s still thin, and me?. I’m not!)
Gaining weight is not the result of sloth and a poor character ? or lack of will-power of discipline! We’ve learned that maintaining weight loss is next to impossible for 95% of the population that attempt it. And every time a dieter ‘stops? a diet, and sometimes DURING a diet, they will regain weight; an oftentimes add additional weight from your starting point.
So, the question is: IF it is nearly impossible to lose weight, are you still going to beat your head against a wall so you fit into everyone else’s one size fits all body size? It’s like saying you want to be tall and you’re going to do everything you can?. But you’re still your height- but you feel like a failure! Don’t do it!
Once you feel at least neutral about your body, it’s time to be assertive. Tell people that they may think they’re helping you, but it’s not, and you’re not interested in their suggestions, and will not engage in conversation about it. If they persist, set boundaries and refuse to discuss issues related to weight.
If they persist it’s time to find new friends. If it’s a relative, walk out of the room, put on head phones, whatever it takes to let them know you’re not interested.
With regard to calisthenics- damn, I hate that- it’s not fun. Find a physical activity that you enjoy and do it because it’s fun- NOT to lose weight! Yoga will definitely help you feel more comfortable in your body.
And most important, find stress relief that you enjoy and will do at least 1x per day.
You must accept yourself before you can expect anyone else to do so. People who judge you because of your body are mean and shallow. There are plenty of others who will appreciate you for who you are?.
Hi Lianda,
Thank you for some great recommendations. Nowadays, I can feel the entire society in my country (and maybe rest of the world) is brainwashed by “intentional weight loss=healthy” type of ideas. It’s very common to hear someone talking about weight loss and dieting at least once a day, and this is not an exaggeration. They talk about low calorie, low carb, glycemic index, cardio and the list goes on.This is so insane.
I’ve seen you mentioning your idea of accepting yourself several times here, which encouraged me not to stop the process of Matt’s metabolic rehab. Still, it’s really hard for me to accept my current self, since I can’t ask a girl out just like other guys out there, haha. Luckily, most of my friends and relatives don’t judge me by my appearance, but the society as a whole is still harsh against the “fat” individuals.
For calisthenics, don’t worry, I’ll never do it to lose weight(though I know some people recommend this for dieting).I’ll try it out for a recreational purpose and immediately quit if it was too harsh. My other favorite activities are fishing, walking, and weight lifting sporadically. For stress relief, I love to draw and compose music on PC.
Again, thank you for some great advices, and I’ll try my best to accept myself.
Thanks,
T.J
TJ-
I’m glad if my suggestions help you find peace within yourself. Society is brainwashed about a LOT of things- and some are easier to reject than others.
Cleaning out that conditioning starts with replacing negative statements you say about yourself with positive ones. EFT tapping is amazingly effective as well.https://stresseatingsolutions.com/efttapping-away-pain/
And finally, I’m CERTAIN that there are heavier women out there who are feeling the same way as you about their body, and feeling that no one will ask them out. So you have an open field!
Good luck- and listen to Yoda: Do or Do Not- there is no TRY! You can do it… it takes time and practice.
Nice of you to take the time to send such lengthy and heartfelt replies Lianda!
Okay. I can understand this to a degree, but what about children born with narrow palates? Three of my kids have had narrow jaws since birth (thanks, WAPF for the wasted years and money!) One had such a narrow jaw, she couldn’t nurse properly until she was about three months.
Hi Kim
Narrow palates and retrognathic (retrusive) lower jaws (mandibles) are often present at birth and ALWAYS persist and worsen thru infancy, early toddlerhood and later childhood, before the permanent molars (6-year molars) and lower permanent incisors erupt. This often coincides with the habitual mouth-breathing that is now well understood to coincide with impaired sleep and brain development (lower IQ, inattention, ADD/ADHD, risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease…..and many other so-called ‘adult onset’ health problems of later adulthood). This has been understood described since the middle 19th-Century in the medical and dental literature. I will be presenting one this topic in Paris next week at the International Pediatric Sleep Association’s(http://ipsa2018.com/scientific-program-symposia/) annual meeting (Rediscovering the relationship between mouth breathing in childhood and malocclusion: What has been understood for over 100 years Kevin Boyd (USA). The bottom line is, parents need to get their kids evaluated for behavioral traits(snoring, bedwetting, teeth grinding, etc.)AND physical traits (narrow palates, retrusive mandibles, crowded teeth, etc.) somewhere between 2 and 5 years old.
And then what? My oldest, now thirteen and in braces, has ADD and wet the bed until she was eight. What would an evaluation have done except tell me what I already knew? I was following a WAPF diet, so there was plenty of vitamin A and D and K in my diet. I have perfectly straight teeth, no ADD, and never wet the bed, but my husband has ADD and crowded teeth. Three of my four children have crowded teeth and narrow palates. Two have ADD (not sure about the youngest–he’s only two), one has SPD. Other than that they all have normal IQ and none of the others wet the bed. So, I guess my question is, what’s the point in knowing they have these traits? What causes it? How do we overcome them?
Hi Kimberly
I guess the first point would be to tell you that most orthodontists nowadays do not like to evaluate children for orthodontic intervention, and mostly for the straightening of their teeth, until they have lost most of their baby teeth….say around age 10-12, and those that will evaluate and treat earlier do not pay much attention to how, the reasons for why teeth get crooked in the first place, are also some of the same reasons for why many kids also have poor sleep and breathing problems. I am unusual in my profession in that I am a pediatric dentist who does primarily little kid orthodontics for over 30 years, so I have skills in managing childhood (and parenthood btw) anxiety and expectations within an orthodontic clinical setting. I am also a pediatric Dental Sleep Medicine consultant for several children’s hospitals in Chicago. That said, I have collaborative relationships with several allied health professionals in my area who all understand how important it is to give children the healthiest jaw and airway anatomy at the soonest possible age, that is, as the middle-face, lower jaw and palate (roof of mouth) complex is intimately connected to the respiratory (breathing) complex, what affects one will also affect the other; or more simply stated, if the mid-face, mandible and palate are widened and brought forward in early childhood, say between age 3 thru 7 or 8, then the respiratory complex will also be better developed in such a way that a child will have the easiest ability to breathe primarily through their nose during wakefulness, and especially during sleep. Their is much published on this concept Kimberly….please email me privately if you’d like to learn more (kbo569@gmail.com).
So, in the interest of seeing how chewing might work on my mid-60’s jaw and teeth that are slowly moving apart, I thought I’d try mastic gum.
That stuff is NASTY!!!!! I don’t know how anyone chews it- if there’s some magic way to do it. (Can you imagine needing instructions for chewing gum??-LOL)
It is one one the strongest gooey substances that is sticking all over my mouth- to teeth, and gums. Then when I tried to pull it out with my fingers, it stuck to them!
I’m hoping that the stuff that still stuck in my mouth will eventually dissolve.
Just a warning to you out there who might consider trying this stuff! BEWARE!
Weird, mine doesn’t behave like that. What kind did you get? The Chios mastic is just pure resin, sort of crystalline until it warms up in your mouth; after that its just a super stiff gum. Falan has the appearance and characteristics and is packaged like regular gum, but again is stiffer. Neither sticks to my teeth, gums, or fingers.
Hi Vic- I bought imported medium sized “tears”- from Greece (or Turkey??). The stuff is HORRIBLE!
I got these:
https://www.amazon.com/Greece-Greek-Mastic-Mastiha-Mastixa/dp/B008RT5TRA/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1529189975&sr=8-6&keywords=chios+mastic
No problems with it. I chew the same chunk for weeks.
That’s exactly what I have! ????
Well, either you have a bad batch or a sticky gene…
I feel that you are right Matt. You actually debunked WAP.
Now back to your friend with apples I think it’s fairly accurate to say that fruit is ideal food for this. While we are at fruit back again I have one question for you Matt.
Are you familiar with Tony Wright and his theory about our symbiotic relationship with fruit and tropical forests that enabled rapid growth of our brain(and juvenility and neoteny) and than as we lost that environment things started to decline?
No, not familiar with Tony Wright. The sound of it is silly. Any time someone says “enabled our larger brain size” to justify a dietary belief I immediately lose interest. We didn’t grow larger brains because of some macronutrient, and it certainly wasn’t because of cooking as some others like to say. How were we smart enough to cook in the first place, dumbasses?!
Thanks for the reply. Yes arguments for cooking (and meat)) are dumb.
Before he frightens you with his look you should know that it’s from sleep deprivation(and fasting and drugs) that he was experimenting with in order to test his hypothesis about left right brains laterLisation theory as being inappropriate. I think you should look a bit at his talks (he have you tube channel) before dismissing it . I don’t believe in crazy claims but after reading his book left in the dark(you have free PDF) I am now almost convinced that he is onto something. We actually are craving foods that are resembling tropical fruits…creamy, custardy, sweet etc. He also explains why today fruitarians can’t have expected results(because he saw it on his own example) because we lost true tropical environment with tons of different fruit varieties.
Presumably if the problem with jaw structural is mostly mechanical, you would expect children weaned via baby led weaning (pick up & chew normal foods) to have better facial structure than those weaned onto mush? My eldest has terrible facial shape – very high palate, narrow mouth and now an overbite. I think most of that was due to the tongue tie which wasn’t corrected until he was 3 (and still needs doing again as it didn’t all get cut). My youngest has much better mouth shape; his tongue tie was corrected at 2 weeks old.
I’ve noticed that for myself and my children, desire to chew things or put things in the mouth seems to correlate with poor blood sugar regulation and generally poor health. It’s gone away with things like reducing PUFA, supplementing zinc, adding a better form of thiamine to a B complex that didn’t have a good form of it.
Feed your kids beef and steak…not easy to chew hamburger. Also pork, etc. Meats that make your kids have to use their facial muscles.
And meat contains all the vitamins and minerals for bone and muscle health.
Zero Carb – no plants 9.5 months
I’d have to agree with every touting mastic gum. I’ve personally had great masseter growth using https://steeljawlinegum.com
No tmj or negative side effects at all
Hey Matt — good to see your comments again on the ol’ 180! I’m still hoping for our compound someday.
Re: this gum — a while back, you said that teething rings were working better for you than mastic gum (in terms of not aggravating TMJ). Are you able to do mastic gum now because of having built up your jaw muscles with the teething rings first? What kind of daily or weekly schedule gave you results but no/minimal TMJ problems?
I tried the mastic gum. It was very expensive and it just stuck to my teeth! It was awful trying to peel it out of my mouth!
Then I tried that rubbery Jawcersize. It is so large that it makes me gag! I wish I could find something instead of grinding my teeth- too bad that’s not strengthening my jaw!
You gotta go on Amazon and get some Chewelry Lianda! That’s the best I’ve found by far.
Thanks, Matt! Those look really good- and there are smaller choices!
I tried teething rings, but far better is chewelry! Amazon has all kinds of fun shit to chew on, lol. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=chewelry&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
I don’t use mine very often. I say I average once per week for about 10-15 minutes with breaks. I like biting down REALLY hard. I feel like this really stimulates the jaw bone, locks the teeth in super tight. My bite force has increased tremendously, and teeth are crazy strong. But no problems with TMJ or anything, and no major hypertrophy of the jaw muscles. I chewed a piece of celery today and honestly it felt like a saltine in my mouth, lol. It ruined Twizzlers for me though. They were fun and chewy and now my teeth can hardly sense any resistance. They feel like overcooked spaghetti noodles when I bite down on them now, haha.
180 Compound 4ever! I’ve watched lots of cult documentaries and I’ve got some really great ideas. Volleyball court on site is a must. And the 180D “Hot Chicks Club” will now come with a 180D brand right in the pube region, lol. I will also administer all hot chicks temperate tests with my official rectal thermometer, lol.
Cool — thanks for that info.
As a self-appointed founder of our future 180 Compound, I’m vetoing the pube-branding and rectal thermometer ideas. But, 2 thumbs up for the volleyball courts (1 outside with a sand court, 1 inside for harsh weather). Gotta be able to play year-round.
Well I’m a little let down. Keith Raniere is a hero of mine. He starved his cult slaves, but I’d feed mine really well!
I guess I could try giving members “the knowing” and shake their heads around while I strut around in my Speedo. That’s what my 2nd favorite cult leader of all time was all about, but he was into pounding dude butt. That’s not really part of my guru happily-ever-after, lol. https://youtu.be/2f2BG43JW0o
I’m fascinated by cults too and have probably watched most of the documentaries. They are hilarious and tragic and bizarre, like people. I’ve been thinking lately if it would be possible to design an intentionally self destructing, anti-belief cult, drawing on the phenomena of human behavior that makes them work at all, in order to rewire people’s brains to be less susceptible to being someone’s bitch. OMG, that’s the nirvana equivalent, “bitch proof”. It would be totally transparent, kind of like Scientology, but more so. It just might work…. Keep all those busy bees hopped up on baynuts 24/7 and get some shit done. I would lean toward mandatory spankings, but whatever the case, no self respecting male is going to design a cult without getting a lot of ass, whatever the flavor :D Fun fact, my dad once told me I’d make a good cult leader. Aptitude test- cult leader.
Yeah I’ve thought about cults a lot too and it seems the most susceptible to being swept away are those who are really eager to improve their lives and find a better way to live than the status quo…AND… they have low to moderate self-esteem, making them prone to fully believe there is someone way better/smarter/more spiritual than they are.
I really loved the Keith Raniere shit, because I was once part of a new agey group that awarded people with the exact same little sashes. I was the only one who didn’t get one! I think the leader could tell I wasn’t bought in at all. I think the only reason I wasn’t susceptible was because I inherently believe that no one is better than me. But wow the others, mostly women, would like cry tears of joy when they got theirs, lol.
And that’s what makes me more susceptible to being a cult leader than a cult follower! A cult leader is merely someone who has an exaggerated sense of self and therefore isn’t afraid to speak with certainty about damn near everything.
But really, everything with a leader-follower orientation is a cult. Liberals are a cult. Republicans are a cult. Many companies are cults (Tesla for sure, lol). All religions are cults. All health and fitness philosophies are cults. And all of the cults where the leader is living has a heightened potential for mass destruction.
And yes dude, you’re a prime candidate for cult leader. Smart, confident, more knowledgeable than the average person about 1,000 different things, and you’ve got a great look for attracting people who are looking for “alternative” answers :)
On the subject of cults.. I’m wondering if you would consider this a cult: Vegan and vegetarianism? I watched a very interesting movie last night: The Game Changer (Netflix).
Yes, it addressed professional athletes who claimed that avoiding ALL meat products made them stronger. And then went on to discuss inflammation and other health issues.
I’m sure you commented on this in the past- I wish you would come back and keep in touch with all your groupies- you Cult Leader!
I was in a cult, persuaded by an experience so powerful I was physically overcome and found myself on the floor, simultaneously weeping and laughing while every cell of my body felt like it was electrified by an irresistible manifestation of love, peace, and joy. It’s easy to clinically speculate about the motives and personalities of cult victims, but I doubt anyone could just blow that off and pretend nothing significant happened. The whole thing caught me by surprise, since I’ve always been highly skeptical of woo and contrarian to the point of borderline Oppositional Defiant Disorder (I was a “willful child”). The people I was trapped with came from every conceivable social, racial, and economic background, and many were overconfident to the point of narcissism (those were the ones who advanced from prey to predator in that system). It was 15+ years before I got disentangled, because it wasn’t just some dude spouting off; there were continuing waves of associated physical sensations. Once I broke free, some research indicated ASMR; everything I was feeling is apparently triggered in others by watching Bob Ross videos. Shit, 15 years of my life! But it wasn’t all bad; I had epic adventures and learned that cults are ubiquitous–most are just less abusive (as Matt noted–religions, corporations, political entities, etc.) and therefore unrecognized. But I can smell them ten miles off now! I still get the braingasms, which is a pleasant bonus. At least it wasn’t the koolaid drinking kind of cult–more of a “we’re going to take your money and live like sultans while you grind your life away for us” thing. Glad to be free. I got a wife out of it, anyway, even if it was basically an arranged marriage with an almost polar opposite. That’s been illuminating too.
I’ve just always assumed that you strut around in a Speedo 24/7/365.
I believe the plan was that you were going to start stripping, in order to earn extra starter money for our compound. Those volleyball courts aren’t going to pay for themselves.
Thanks, Matt! Those look really good- and there are smaller choices! Do you chew on the sides? front? any recommendations? And I thought I was weird – but apparently I’m not alone. LOL
LOL. I have one that’s shaped like a hippie crystal necklace or something. It’s the thickness and shape of like a fat pen or something. I bite down hard on it with all of my teeth. Start with a softer one and get firmer ones as your bite strength and teeth become stronger.
Hey Matt, I need your help — I subscribed to a couple of your comment threads awhile back, and now I want to unsubscribe. But the link on the unsubscribe page doesn’t work at all. Can you please unsubscribe me from everything? Thanks!
I can barely function on the internet, much less figure out how to unsubscribe someone from comments. I’m not even sure how one subscribes to comments in the first place. That’s already above my level, lol.
This is making me lol, why are any of us getting emails about these comments? Unless Matt is going to unfuck the blog, that is.
On the subject of cults.. I’m wondering if you would consider this a cult: Vegan and vegetarianism? I watched a very interesting movie last night: The Game Changer (Netflix).
Yes, it addressed professional athletes who claimed that avoiding ALL meat products made them stronger. And then went on to discuss inflammation and other health issues.
I’m sure you commented on this in the past- I wish you would come back and keep in touch with all your groupies- you Cult Leader!
Should mention a mobile app for mewing http://mewing.app/
A huge help for anyone who wants to start mewing