What does oral heath have to do with fitness?
Here are your top three daily tips to take good care of your oral microbiome.
- Rinse your mouth with warm salt water.
- Brush and floss daily, especially before bed.
- Breathe thru your nose, not your mouth.
This week I caught the flu that’s been going around and was in bed for a solid two days. When I got a tickle in my throat, the first thing I thought of was my grandma who used to tell me to gargle with warm, salty water. Sometimes just doing this will keep me from getting sick. Unfortunately, this time I was too late.
I spent my sick days resting, meditating, and listening to podcasts. One was Andrew Huberman’s recent episode on oral health.
You may have heard about the connection between poor gum health and heart disease. Daily brushing and flossing can not only keep your teeth and gums healthy, but may improve the health of your whole body. At night we produce less saliva than during the day, so by prioritizing brushing right before bed, you’re giving yourself the best chance of reducing plaque buildup overnight.
Now on to mouth breathing. Notice your breath right now. Are you breathing through your nose or your mouth? Unless you are eating, talking, or sprinting you should be breathing through your nose. If you can train yourself to primarily breathe through your nose, your mouth will stay moist, and your nose will be better able to do its job of filtering and warming the air before it gets to your lungs. If you struggle with mouth breathing at night, watch this interview with James Nestor about sleep taping.
Similar to your gut, your mouth is filled with bacteria. For a balanced microbiome, we want to encourage the growth of healthy, or “good” bacteria. A quick, easy, and inexpensive tip Dr. Huberman recommends is rinsing your mouth with salt water. This encourages production of healthy mouth bacteria. Put a little warm water in a mug, add a spoonful of table salt, stir, swish the saltwater around your mouth, and spit it out.
You may be surprised to learn that traditional, commercial mouthwashes no not support oral health. Mouthwashes containing alcohol or chlorhexidine may cause “dysbiosis” or killing off the “good” bacteria, leaving the “bad” bacteria to take over.
Were any of these tips surprising to you?
Which of these can you incorporate into your daily habits?