A quick glance at the self-help and diet selection in your local library or bookstore will reveal that there is no shortage of ideas on how to improve ones life. Currently in the United States the rate of overweight and/or obese Americans is almost 70% and the rate of tooth decay after 40 years of declining is once again on the increase. The only conclusions that can be drawn from that is that the majority of people are not following a diet that leads to optimal and that these self-help books cannot be the answer as they all advise different philosophies.

1. am e e rro sic.co m
http://www.ameerro sic.co m/which-diet-is-best-fo r-me-to -save-tho usands-o f-do llars-fro m-the-dentist/
Which diet is best for me to save thousands of dollars from the
dentist.
100
0 0 in
A quick glance at the self -help and diet selection in your local library or bookstore will reveal that
there is no shortage of ideas on how to improve ones lif e. Currently in the United States the rate of
overweight and/or obese Americans is almost 70% and the rate of tooth decay af ter 40 years of declining is
once again on the increase. T he only conclusions that can be drawn f rom that is that the majority of people
are not f ollowing a diet that leads to optimal and that these self -help books cannot be the answer as they all
advise dif f erent philosophies.
Which diet is best f or me to save thousands of dollars f rom the dentist
T his begs the question, “Which diet is best f or me?” T he answer can be somewhat complicated but in short it
leads to optimal health. It does not lead to:

2. Diabetes
Heart disease or hypertension
Obesity
Tooth decay
Any other non-contagious chronic disease (NCCD)
Yet these diseases are all too common in modern America and much of the industrialized world. I suggest
looking back in order to move f orward. Some answers may be f ound by examining not only the f ossil record,
but also current populations not eating the Standard American Diet.
Fortunately teeth are made of enamel, the hardest substance in the human body. It f ossilizes and preserves
very well.
At a recent conf erence an anthropologist showed me a human skull that was over 50,000 years old. I noted
that it had room f or all 32 teeth and they all met in a perf ect bite. He then told me that he had an entire room
f illed with skulls f rom the pre-agricultural era and none had cavities or crooked teeth!
Clearly there is a mismatch between modern diets and what our teeth are designed to do.
Where is the Evidence?
More evidence may be f ound by looking at current
populations as such as the Inuit of the f ar north or the Masai
of Af rica, as long as they are on a traditional diet there are
little or none of the NCCD that seem to plague the rest of
us. Certainly no one is going to adopt the diets of either
group, nor is that my point. What we need to do if we want to
maintain the ideal and minimize risk of NCCD is to look at
what these two groups have in common, how they dif f er f rom
how most Americans eat, and f inally gain what knowledge we
can f rom the f ossils.
While the traditional Inuit diet contains very little plant material
and is heavy in f ish and sea mammals such as whales and
seal. T he Masai eat tubers as well as cattle and some dairy,
nothing f rom the ocean.
T he Inuit have almost no f iber in their diets. T he Masai have some, but not nearly as much as we are advised
to eat so this does not appear to be the issue. Neither has much sugar ref ined or otherwise. No surprise that
both groups living thousands of miles apart in completely dif f erent climates both have perf ect teeth.
Sugar is everywhere in Western diets. Even when you are eating cereals or other starches remember that they
are just polymers of simple sugar molecules. Your body is a biochemical machine that is very ef f icient at
turning these into simple sugars.

3. T here is no one correct approach, but rather a f amily of dif f erent approaches depending where on the planet
you live and the resources that are available to you at the time you are living. T he mosaic that makes up
humanity has f ound many dif f erent ways to do it. It seems that the question of “which diet is best for me” is
based on a whole f oods approach that does not include sugars or substances that turn into sugar are best.
T hat is what our pre-agricultural ancestors ate.
Current populations f ollowing this model have given themselves immunity to these diseases. Why can’t we
replicate what they did? Humans have been walking the planet f or 2.5 million years yet no one had a cavity until
10,000 years ago.
Everyone knows that diabetes is at epidemic levels and it is a disease af f ecting carbohydrate metabolism.
Teeth are not designed to eat sugars. Perhaps this is an indication that they are not good f or the rest of our
body? More and more scientists are studying the linkage between carbohydrate/sugars and obesity. Now
some are looking at the linkages to other NCCD.
I hope soon we can have a day when these scourges of Mankind are wiped out by modern medicine but in
looking at evolution it appears we already have a vaccine against them. T he solutions are there f or the taking.
If we learn f rom the past perhaps, we can relegate these diseases to the pages of history.
About the Guest
Dr. John Sorrentino
www.sorrentinodental.com
Dr. John Sorrentino started his practice in 1991 with a commitment to patient care through
education. He believes that with proper care everyone can maintain their teeth f or a lif etime.
Dr. Sorrentino grew up in the Hudson Valley. He received his Bachelor’s degree f rom the
State University of New York at Binghamton and his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)
degree f rom the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine. In 2003 he was
awarded a Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry (FAGD.) T his award is earned by
less than 5% of all general dentists and is symbolic of Dr. Sorrentino’s commitment to lif e-long learning and
bringing the highest quality dental care to his patients.
1 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 1 Google+ 0
Pin It Share 0 LinkedIn 0 inShare Filament.io Made with Flare More Inf o