A study published this week in the peer reviewed medical journal, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finds that vegetarians are much more likely to suffer from tooth decay, lower (more acidic) salivary pH levels, and lower stimulated saliva flow than control subjects that were matched by sex and age.
The study confirms what Dr. Weston A. Price DDS in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, discovered on his 10 year journey around the world studying isolated, traditional societies still untouched by what he termed “the displacing foods of modern commerce.”
Dr. Price found that indigenous vegetarian cultures suffered from tooth decay at a higher rate than either the omnivore or the almost completely carnivorous cultures he studied.
The published study concluded that eating a vegetarian diet does not in any way impart a dental health advantage over non-vegetarians.
Tooth decay is an indication of lowered immune function and a higher susceptibility to degenerative disease in general. Ever heard of the term “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”? This refers to the well known historical practice of examining a horse’s teeth and gums to assess overall health elsewhere in the body. People can similarly assess their level of general health and whether it is improving or declining by observing the health of their teeth and gums.
Rami Nagel, author of the book Cure Tooth Decay, states that the dentinal-fluid transport mechanism is how the body controls the rate of tooth decay including whether or not it occurs at all. When tooth decay is present, Mr. Nagel says this is a sign that blood sugar levels are askew and that certain critical nutrients such as the fat soluble activators A, D, and K2 are lacking in the diet.
Vegetarian diets are typically much higher in grains and sugars (from fruit) than non-vegetarians, and when the body senses too much sugar at one time, this can initiate demineralization of the teeth. Ever noticed how your teeth can get a bit sensitive for a period of time after a very sugary dessert or a day that included too many grain based foods and treats?
If you are vegetarian and have noted a problem with dental decay, incorporating grassfed meats, raw grassfed dairy, wild seafood, and high vitamin cod liver oil into your diet will introduce the critical nutrients that are necessary to reverse this condition and prevent further problems. Moreover, whenever sweet foods such as fruit are consumed, they should always be eaten in the presence of a healthy fat like cream to maintain stable blood sugar and not disrupt the body’s ability to transport minerals.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Source: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 27 Dec 2011, 712-738
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{ 63 comments… read them below or add one }
I can hear vegetarians out there, screaming in outrage. Great article.
The Bionic Broad\’s last post: A food-for-all
I love the name of your blog, by the way!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
This is ONE vegetarian who’s not screaming at all! I’m in my 40′s and have zero fillings and zero cavities! Can YOU make that claim? Or are you screaming, in pain with your own cavities?
Good article except for one point. The reason you check a horses teeth is to check it’s age, not for a general health assessment.
PattyLA\’s last post: Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Sauce
A new study reveals vegetarians are more likely to suffer from tooth decay. Has eating Paleo improved your… http://t.co/bugs8Yu5
One reason, besides Price’s assertion that animal products provide nutrients necessary for healthy teeth and bones, is that vegetarians eat a lot of grains and fruit, therefore have more sugar in their system.
Emily\’s last post: What to expect from the Crunchy Coach Blog
Not all vegetarians eat more grains and fruit than meat-eaters. I for one, don’t
I’d be curious to read the study to see what kind of vegetarian diet (there are so many kinds of vegetarians, you know!), the people in the study ate.
Andrea (@FrSeed2Stomach)\’s last post: Top From Seed to Stomach Recipes of 2011
I agree! This vegetarian has no filling and no cavities….and I’m in my 40′s! Not all vegetarians are the same….good point!
Are you ovo-lacto? That alone could explain it, if you’re eating a fair amount of eggs and cheese. I find it telling that cheese is the number one vegan cheat food: it contains vitamins A, B12, and K2 analog mk-4, all of which are lacking in the vegan diet.
(You can get K2 analog mk-7 from natto, but that analog does not cross the human placenta in a pregnancy, which would indicate to me that adults don’t have much use for it either, compared to mk-4. And we have even less use for K1, if the Rotterdam Study is to be believed.)
Very true. After indulging in less healthy foods over the holidays, including more bread than normal and sweets/chocolates, I can feel 2 sensitive spots in my mouth that were not there 2 weeks ago. I need to throw the leftovers of all that junk out!
Great article! I’m starting to wonder if tooth decay and mouth health is directly related to the microbes in our gut? If we have gut dysbosis, aren’t those same microbes also reflected in our mouth? Just my theory. . .I have no real science on this point.
I think you’re absolutely right.
I find studies like this one that actually confirm actual anthropological evidence such as what Dr. Price found on his travels to be most compelling. When science verifies what traditional societies practiced it is to be ignored at one’s own peril.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
In other words, there is zero anthropological evidence that vegetarians have less heart problems!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
Here is a good link to read. It basically re-inforces what you have stated.
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2010/08/24/to-the-vegetarian-evangelists/
We knew it all along! Now I have to convince my big wig colleagues at whole foods what we are missing! Wish me luck!
Jennifer\’s last post: Michael Schmidt……Farmer…….Human…….He Just Wants To Sell Milk!!!!
YOU GO JENNIFER!!!!!!!!!! All the best intentions go with you from the readers of this blog! Fight the good fight for all of us!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
Whole foods will never change because there’s no money for grocery stores in a Real food economy. Whole foods makes the bulk of their profit on organic junk food made from soy, wheat, and corn just like the rest of he grocery stores do. They just slap a “certification”
On it and call it healthy. There’s a reason the impulse sections at the register are filled with candy and chips. They wouldn’t make a profit off of grassfed beef steaks over there.
True, whenever I start consuming sweets again I can feel my teeth hurting. Few people would relate this to diet and would probably think they have cavities without ever wondering what caused the cavities.
Another reason not to be a vegetarian..
A study published this week in the peer reviewed medical journal, The… http://t.co/M2m6ITFB
Here’s a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showing how vegetarian diets can… http://t.co/7ZN6ugVz
I haven’t eaten meat in 3 and a half years (although I still eat fresh fish a couple times a month, so I’m not a pure vegetarian) and my dental check-ups have never been better! I actually had a routine cleaning/exam this morning and the dentist said my teeth looked perfect (I used to get cavities pretty often when I ate meat). I stick to mostly fresh, local, organic produce and lots of nutritious beans and avoid refined carbs and unfermented soy products. For grains, I mostly eat rice, quinoa (a seed), millet, teff, and corn. I use sprouted grain flour when I bake and soak/sprout grains whenever possible and eat very little sugar (using raw local honey, maple syrup, and dates to sweeten things occasionally). I eat grass-fed cheese and yogurt and consume most of my fruit with oatmeal or in smoothies with flax and/or chia seeds and/or yogurt and/or nuts (through a straw!). During my routine physicals, my doctor always comments on how wonderful my bloodwork is (especially compared to 4 years ago!), and I take the right mix of supplements (a whole food multi, B12, D, and clinical grade liquid Omega 3s). I’ve never felt better!
Andrea (@FrSeed2Stomach)\’s last post: Top From Seed to Stomach Recipes of 2011
You’ve dropped refined carbs, it looks like you are avoiding wheat and you are getting enough eggs and dairy (grass-fed, no less) that it helps make up for the lack of meat.
Now try keeping healthy teeth as a vegan.
Sarah,
I am a big fan of your blog and of the Weston A. Price foundation. I like, as much as the next guy, any chance to show that a vegetarian or vegan diet is lacking. However, I suggest you change the title of this post. It is misleading. Your post even states:
“The published study concluded that eating a vegetarian diet does not in any way impart a dental health advantage over non-vegetarians.“
That vegetarians have more tooth decay (than whom, by the way?), as claimed in the title, is proven neither in your post or the cited study.
agreed! sweeping generalizations aren’t healthy for anyone!
Andrea (@FrSeed2Stomach)\’s last post: Top From Seed to Stomach Recipes of 2011
I’m not following your point, Joel. The title implies that nonvegetarians have less tooth decay. This seems obvious to me. The study found that vegetarians have more tooth decay and more acidic saliva as stated in the first line of the post.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
Vegans are also non-vegetarians. Do they have less tooth decay than vegetarians? I did read the part about more acidic saliva, but as the study states, when coupled with good dental hygiene, this is not a threat to dental health. Do all vegetarians have acidic saliva coupled with poor dental hygiene? In the link you cite in the post, the conclusion of the study was that, “vegetarian diets do not provide any distinct dental advantage over nonvegetarian diets.”
My point, as Andrea picked up, was that you are making a generalization that is not helpful. If it were true that vegetarian diets promoted more tooth decay than all non-vegetarian diets, then I would be ok with the title of your post.
Um, vegans are vegetarians. They just happen to be stricter than ovo-lactos.
Please don’t tell me you call fish-eaters “vegetarians” too.
I read the journal article and I’m afraid I have to agree with Joel.
Specifically the paragraph about dental health opens with, “There is little evidence that vegetarians have better dental health than do nonvegetarians.” You can’t just turn that around and say that there is then evidence that nonvegetarians have better teeth.
The only thing that the article says is that in ONE STUDY the researchers found that lactovegetarians were much more likely to have dental erosions, lower saliva pH and lower saliva flow.
I like your posts, but be careful to not read more into what was written than is really there. You turned OINE study that found something about lactovegetarians into all vegetarians. But that’s not even the study you referenced. The authors of the study you’re basing this article (per the reference you list) on deemed dental health differences between vegetarians and nonvegetarians as a whole inconclusive.
This is not just one study Audrey. You are completely discounting the work of Dr. Price which provides historical evidence of the same thing.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
I don’t disagree with you here, but you shouldn’t claim that the “new study” proves this.
I am not discounting Dr Price at all. I’m saying what you wrote as you wrote it doesn’t agree with the study you’re referencing.
You state: “A study published this week in the peer reviewed medical journal, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finds that vegetarians are much more likely to suffer from tooth decay, lower (more acidic) salivary pH levels, and lower stimulated saliva flow than control subjects that were matched by sex and age.”
But that is not what that study (the one you gave a link to) found.
I am a big fan of Dr. Price’s work.
i can not oppose the opinions of the author but the true is that human teeth for vegetarianism. our nature are for vegetarianism, decay of teeth depend on oral hygiene, such reports will promote the non- vegs will be more harmful for the health.
Oral hygiene can help slow down the decay of the teeth but since the rotting is primarily from nutritional deficiency, ultimately even teeth that are meticulously cleaned will rot if the diet is insufficient in the fat soluble activators which supercharge mineral absorption to the teeth.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay
No, our nature is omnivorous, sorry, with a heavier emphasis on meat-eating than most modern people want to admit. The human brain is too large for its energy needs to be supported on an all-plants diet with the length of the human colon being what it is. (The colon is the only part of the intestine that even deals with plant foods!)
A healthy human with a properly working GI tract is a very efficient digester of animal protein, which is why human diabetics must inject insulin rather than take it orally; insulin is a peptide hormone, peptides being segments of protein molecules. Also, we have several hormones that raise blood sugar, but only one that lowers it. As toxic as glucose is in the human body in excessive amounts, you would think we’d have several hormones for the purpose of lowering blood sugar if we were meant to consume that much sugar-forming food.
I’m trying to get at the science here rather than the ideology. Last I knew, India has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world. High vegetarian population. But I’m sure that’s a coincidence.
@sadhu vedant muni jain — decay of teeth does NOT depend on oral hygiene. Dr. Price found that in certain cultures in Switzerland people did not brush their teeth at all. They had very, very little incidence of tooth decay (like 4/100, if I remember correctly) and their teeth were covered in “green slime”. …and yet, they had such low rates of tooth decay! They ate very well, however. They consumed lots of raw dairy and cheese! If you consume a very nutrient dense diet, you will find that your enamel will not only harden, but also repair enamel that has already been damaged!
Tiffany\’s last post: Raw Homemade Eggnog
I won’t try to dispute the study. However, I have been a vegetarian for many years and before that, I did not consume a whole lot of animal protein. I have NO CAVITIES and NO FILLINGS! I’m in my 40′s and my dentist says I have the teeth of a teenager!
Once again, I wonder why those who are NOT vegetarians feel the need to malign those who are. Granted…..there are also plenty of vegans and vegetarians that have plenty of studies “proving” (please note the reason for the quotation marks) how meat eating detrimentally affects one’s health. I had this discussion with others before. There needs to be less food “elitism” and maligning and more discussion on how find the best choices for each of our diet preferences. For instance, eating meat from very ill animals from the CAFO industry will ulitmately make us sicker in the long run than a vegetarian diet.
By the way….how many of you out there are filling and cavity free? This vegetarian is!
Eating a vegan diet would kill you in six months to a year if you took no supplements.
Ovo-lacto is somewhat better but still not ideal, unless you consume LOTS of eggs and dairy.
And you can only eat ovo-lacto in the first place if someone else is eating your meat for you. On this count, at least, the vegans are correct about inherent hypocrisy in the ovo-lacto philosophy. You’re really *not* saving any animals, sorry. Animal reproduction is *required* in order for milk in particular to be produced, and what in the world would we do with all those extra cattle and goats and so on? We’d be overrun with them. So someone’s got to eat them.
I should probably point out here, too, that while vegans and vegetarians routinely refer to omnivores as unhealthy animal-murderers, the reverse is generally not true. Although I have taken lately to pointing out that even if you never touch animal products again, your eating habits still require the killing of animals, since pesticides are used in the growing of crops, and plowing fields always kills some rodents and other vertebrates.
YOU are the ones, though, who made this a moral issue. Don’t be surprised when some of us start fighting back. No one likes being called undeserved names. It is no more murder when I eat a hamburger than it is when a lion downs a zebra. And “being more intelligent” or “being more moral” is no excuse. It’s stupid and immoral and hypocritical to complain about cows eating Fritos in dairy barns because that’s “not species-appropriate” and then to expect a hunting ape to eat like a rabbit.
(Insert usual disclaimer about understanding that some people don’t believe in evolution–nevertheless.)
Wow…..you’re making some really crazy assumptions about me!!!! I said I was vegetarian, NOT vegan. I made zero claims about why I have chosen a vegetarian diet. You simply confirmed my belief that many in the food “elitism” are too busy promoting their own way that they’re incapable of really listening to what others are saying.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years and have never even had a cavity.
I think that is part of mainstream-manipulation. who’s been vegetarian or vegan for a while see lots of these studies come around, we know they aren’t true. tooth decay is caused by sugar, no matter if u eat or don’t eat animal products. I can prove that green stockings prevent cancer, with a properly set up study.
@Laura that is partially correct. Vegetarians do tend to eat more sugar (fruit and grains) than nonvegetarians but also have a harder time getting adequate Vitamin A, D, and K which contributes greatly to tooth decay. This is not just one study but corroborates anthropological evidence as researched by Dr. Price.
Personally I know of several vegans who all have terrible teeth. I too suffered from gum disease at 29 despite eating what I thought was a very healthy vegetarian diet while brushing and flossing religiously. Looking back on it I mostly blame the soy products I was eating which is really bad for mineral absorption, etc. My gum disease is mostly in remission now and overall feel 110 % better since I’ve embraced the Weston A. Price philosophy on eating. I’ll never go back to being a strict veggie.
Eat Meat, save your teeth (and health!) New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay http://t.co/u2GncPEP
It also has to do with your teeth. I have twins they are only 7 and I recently took them to the dentist. The one with no caries and in need of only preventative treatment was the one who had a poorer diet (I literally have to force feed her veges) and doesn’t brush her teeth well (although she tells me she does) the other one has horrible enamel so it has made her more prone to cavities even though she brushes religiously and who eats a well rounded diet and doesn’t refuse anything.
As a former vegetarian, I can testify that I did not have any(!) tooth decay but that was also because I hardly ate any sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. and consumed very little gluten. I know tons of “meat-eaters” who have constant trouble with tooth decay and cavities because they load up on potatoes, bread and cereal – in fact, they have an emotional connection to these foods because their mother or grandmothers used to prepare them often . Their notion of healthy is eating a lot of white meat chicken, whole grains and hardly any fats, organ meats, seafood or red meat. One crucial mistake a lot of vegetarians make other than ignoring their protein and fat intake is that they load up on grains instead of veggies.
I ate meat for most of my life and had numerous cavities. Do not plan to go that route again. There are certainly other ways to stay free of cavities!
I ate meat for most of my life and had numerous cavities. Do not plan to go that route again. There are certainly other ways to stay free of cavities!
This is interesting but hardly a reason for vegetarians to eat meat. There have been countless studies proving that Vegetarians on average live longer than their meat eating friends so whilst this is interesting to read it’s more spin than substance.
Did you read those studies yourself or did someone tell you about them?
I ask because, for example, vegans in particular love citing T. Colin Campbell and his China Study, but the man did not read his own data. Know which food was most strongly correlated with early mortality in the Chinese groups he studied? Wheat. Not meat.
In fact, animal protein had a much lower correlation with several types of mortality than plant protein did. Fish performed even better.
Go figure, huh?
Sarah… this makes me so sad. You have such a WONDERFUL website and such great information to share. But this study does not say that vegetarians have more tooth decay. The entire study (all 27 pages of it) are about the health benefits of vegetarianism! Why not just stick with the Dr. Price information that does agree with the point you are trying to make? The study says, “In summary, vegetarian diets do not provide any distinct dental advantage over nonvegetarian diets.” That’s not even CLOSE to “Vegetarians have more tooth decay.”
So disappointed.
My pet hypothesis about this stuff is that K2 is the most important element missing here, that and possibly some minerals. In the latter case, fiber consumption in excess of fat consumption, especially saturated fat consumption, reduces absorption of minerals. This is particularly true (as in, documented in research) of calcium. Here’s a study:
http://www.ajcn.org/content/72/2/466.full
As for K2, it is known to contribute to osteocalcin production. Osteocalcin is like a concrete matrix in your bones and teeth; it makes your bones strong and is a major component of dentin. You could lose all the enamel on your teeth tomorrow and they still would not rot as long as the dentin was healthy, or at the least they would take a LOT longer to decay. Enamel helps, but it is not the be-all, end-all.
Also, FYI, osteocalcin is metabolically active. It stimulates your fat cells to produce a substance called adiponectin, which in turn stimulates greater insulin sensitivity all over your body. Obesity is usually a disease of insulin resistance, the opposite of insulin sensitivity–and type 2 diabetes always is.
So now you know why tooth decay’s so strongly correlated with diabetes. It also explains why tooth decay correlates with heart disease, since type 2 diabetes and heart disease are pretty much two sides of the same coin.
I pretty much consider all the fat-soluble vitamins miracle substances at this point. The more I learn, the more amazed I am.
Quit worrying about your diets and use the everything in moderation system for a change ya freaks. Your future is predetermined for you before you are born so just deal with it best you can instead of spending too much time trying to figure out something that is waaaay beyond anyone presently alive. So you are a vegetarian with great teeth??? boo hoo obviously if you ate sugar all day and didn’t brush that would change so don’t do it!!!!!!! Any diet that is specific in any way is good in some ways and lacks in others so use common sense and stick to eating everything as the once mobile human did daaaaah. too many cheese burgers=health problems, too many “healthy” foods=other health problems. If things were that simple someone woulda figured it out by now instead of these having these stupid debates that are forever ongoing …….bahaha go get some bk (but don’t do it everyday) daaaaaah
My husband just told me that he commented using my name! The above response. I dont know how to erase it???
My kids don’t eat a lot of grains and those they do eat are (mostly) soaked and/or sprouted. They do get raw milk, grass-fed butter, milk kefir, raw egg yolks, lots a grass-fed beef, and bone broths. They don’t brush often or well.
Sarah – I thought you filtered out the crazies (ie Raquel and a couple others.)
The peoples studied by Dr Price over ten years had perfect teeth and no decay. if they ate the diet of their ancestors. None of these diets were vegan, or vegetarian. Some were very meat heavy. In fact, one group ate nothing but wild game.
None of these groups ate refined modern foods, or sugar. Wnen ,members of these groups moved to more modern areas, and ate processed food and sugar, their teeth rotted away.
Stanley Fishman\’s last post: Using the Whole Goose, the Traditional Way
New Study: Vegetarians Have More Tooth Decay http://t.co/mbV9K3FE
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This article is a good example that it is important to determine the right diet for one’s biochemistry in order to… http://t.co/NKv79RVl
Interesting article here, matches many of our blog articles, too. http://t.co/RYK8GgV1
Another point against vegetarianism! http://t.co/FSDQpXa8
I think it is always important to just read the data, and draw your OWN conclusions on any subject. We are ALL tied to OUR own experiences; we learn differently; we grow in knowledge at different rates and we come to conclusions when ALL of the differences come together to help us understand the world around us. I really enjoy this blog, because there is always at least one person who makes a comment that just “connects a dot” for me! As long as the author of the comment is polite and only asks consideration of their ideas, I have no problem with it. As a society, we must allow ideas and information to FLOW! Thanks Sarah, for allowing that on your blog! Just an aside: while we were at the WESTON PRICE CONFERENCE in Dallas, one of the speakers, (a lifelong scientist) noted that another speaker made a statement that was the last piece of the puzzle for something that she had been studying for YEARS! She was so appreciative! That just thrilled me so much, to see that EVERYONE is trying to figure things out and sometimes we help each other without even knowing it! Keep it coming Sarah! I love it when you make us THINK!!!!!
Vegetarians need to pay closer attention to their oral health http://t.co/9bKhox6S.
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