You know how your diet can affect your physical body and how you feel, but did you also know that your diet choices can also determine the physical structure of all your bones and skeleton – including your those of your face and teeth?!! 
Yup!
I felt compelled to share with you a fascinating and very important book I came across by a holistic dentist, Dr. Steven Lin, who’s research shows what we eat can actual determine not only the health of our teeth but also the shape and function of our face which affects not only our looks but our breathing ability, voice tone and pitch and hearing and vision!
In his book, The Dental Diet, The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health, Dr. Lin shows how diet and some very key nutrients that we need to consume, determine the shape and symmetry of our face and bone structure (which determines our physical looks and aesthetics), as well as the proper function of our sinuses, nasal cavity, ability to breath, jaw function and the shape and crowding/space of our teeth!
Our teeth and our gums are a very important part of our overall health. Without teeth, we can’t chew. Imagine that. No more crunchy raw veggies and fruits! No more nuts! I mean, it’s strange because we need healthy teeth and gums to eat nutritious foods. And we need to eat nutritious foods for healthy teeth. Does this make sense?
Yet dental health is way more important than most people realize. And our daily choices of nutrition plays the biggest role in this. Starting from prenatal health and until we die, our what we choose to eat and not eat, influences not only how our teeth develop but how our facial bones continue to form, rebuild and reshape as we go through the natural process of breaking down and rebuilding bone throughout our lives. I’m sure you’ll agree, this is very empowering information!
Dr. Lin believes that most breathing and sleep disorders (like sleep apnea, for instance) are a direct result of an underdeveloped jaw. When the jaw is underdeveloped, there is not enough room in the mouth for all of the teeth, nor is there enough space for the tongue to rest comfortably in the right position in the mouth (which can result in the tongue blocking the airway when a person is sleeping.)
Through ancestral medicine, epigenetics, and an examination of the oral and gut microbiome, Dr. Lin has developed food-based principles for a holistic health approach that is literally top-down. Merging dental and nutritional science, Dr. Lin lays out the dietary program that prevents painful cavities and dental treatment, and gives you the resources to raise kids who develop naturally straight teeth. According to Dr. Lin:
The 4 Principles of Good Dental Nutrition
- Keep the jaw, face and airways healthy and strong. Chewing properly, and enough (!) is critical.
- Give the mouth (and bone structure) the nutrients they need by eating plenty the fat-soluble vitamins D, A, E and K2 and ensuring a proper calcium balance. (*sources below)
- Keep the microbiome balanced and diverse.
- Eat foods with healthy epigenetic messages.
*VITAMIN D: Sunshine (directly on your skin and not with sunglasses on!),free-range, grass fed and finished animal products like fatty fish, liver, cheese and pasture-raised egg yolks.
*VITAMIN A: Organ meats, Liver, Cod Liver Oil, pasture-raised egg yolks, butter and Ghee (my personal favorite to cook with!) from grass-fed cows.
*Vitamin E: Salmon, avocado, shellfish, lobster, trout, raw, organic, unsalted Brazil nuts and almonds.
*Vitamin K2: Pasture-raised eggs, butter from grass-fed cows, organ meats, shellfish, Emu oil, fermented foods like sauerkraut, etc.
There you go – I hope you find this as helpful and empowering as I did! I love discovering things that are simple yet extremely powerful ways to change our bodies, minds or how we function…and this is one of them. I just wish I knew this before I got braces as a kid! 😉
The Dental Diet: The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health; Dr. Steven Lin
4 thoughts on “How Food Shapes Your Face: The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Your Facial Beauty, and Eating Real Food”
Wow, Amy! Thank you for this post:) In a matter of minutes, I found out some vital information about jaw, face, and mouth health that I didn’t know before. I think I just might add The Dental Diet to my summer reading list.
I appreciate the time you take to educate women on how we can improve our quality of life.
Very best,
Pam
Hello Pam!!
You are so very welcome!! Thank YOU for taking the time to write to me and let me know it helped you! Knowing this helps me to know that someone actually benefited and it helped. Big kiss and hope to see you soon – xx Amy
I turned vegan and had a bone loss on my face and seems like my jaw has moved or shrunk
My face looks different and It changed my look.
Can I fix it again with this dental diet
Oh wow Sanya…yikes!
I would certainly expect so!
Please give it a try:)
xo
Amy