|
  
|
|
Tea and Oral Health
The mouth is where a lot of bacteria and germs live constantly. In fact,
millions of germs live there throughout the day, and sometimes we see the
effects of these germs and bacteria in the form of mouth ulcers, oral thrush
or yeast infections and other oral related health problems.
Even people who seem to have healthy mouths, however, still have plenty of
germs and bacteria. They also have plaque, of course, which comes from the
foods they eat and the germs which live in the mouth. Plaque in the mouth
causes tooth decay as we all know, but tea appears to actually help prevent
that decay too.
In fact, not only does tea help prevent plaque from forming in the mouth, it
prevents the development of cavities in the teeth and it can kill bacterial
infections in the mouth too.
The flavonoids in tea actually appear to inhibit the growth of plaque in the
mouth, and tea is showing promise for helping bolster healthy tooth enamel
too. One study in New York was done on hamsters. Some hamsters were fed water
each day, while others were fed Black tea extract. The hamsters who were fed
Black tea developed as much as 63.7% less tooth cavities than the ones who
were fed water.
There are also studies that show tea not only fights infection causing
bacteria within the mouth, but it also can help as a treatment against oral
cancers. Hamsters, for instance, were given a cancer causing topical
treatment on the inside of their cheeks for six weeks. After the last
treatment, they were then given green tea to drink instead of water. Some were
given no treatment and others were given a treatment of green tea mixed with
a spice known as curcumin. At the end of eighteen weeks, the combination of
green tea and curcumin was said to have significantly reduced both the number
of tumors visible, as well as the size of those tumors. Both green tea by
itself and in combination with curcumin showed an increase of cancer cell
death as well.
For general oral health and wellness care, just swishing or gargling with
black or green tea daily will help kill the bacteria which causes plaque in
your mouth and the tea will also help prevent or reduce the risks of
periodontal disease.
|
Sitemap
|
| |
|
|
|
