Weekly Musings: Your Body Is Talking To You
After years of uneventful dental visits, my dentist, Dr. Leonard Tom in Belmont, MA, informed me I’d developed several cavities and that my pre-gum disease had progressed, not gotten better. Conscientiously, he probed for more details about my overall health and emphasized that a change in oral health could signify other health issues in the body, recommending further testing.
I was surprised that my mouth had morphed from relatively problem-free to high maintenance rather quickly, but it certainly got my attention. Remembering the root canal article in the last issue of Spirit of Change, I checked the organ meridians associated with the cavity teeth to give me some clues about which organs to focus in on more specifically and maybe some ideas about helpful foods and supplements to try.
Shortly thereafter I read an article about vitamin C and its long association with oral health benefits. Among its many vital functions, vitamin C is a wound healer, immunity booster and maintains the health of your bones and teeth. I absorbed the information like a tall drink of water after a long, hot workout and couldn’t wait to purchase some C and put it to work.
Humans do not produce vitamin C in their bodies, however it is abundantly available in many fruits and vegetables. Just half a cup of broccoli contains 50mg of C. The US recommended dosage of vitamin C is 60mg per day, though many holistic practitioners would recommend levels at 200 to 500 mg/day to maintain steady absorption and take advantage of all the benefits C has to offer.
I purchased 500mg capsules and decided to take one in the morning with breakfast and one with dinner to meet the product’s 1000mg recommended daily dosage. This was also the dosage recommended by the late famed vitamin C advocate and researcher Linus Pauling, whose controversial claims about the healing power of vitamin C that were rejected 45 years ago are being validated today.
For me it’s been two weeks, however, and I’ve yet to remember to take the second 500mg dose with dinner. Since I faithfully remember the breakfast pill daily, I assume that 500mg is the right dose for me now or my body would remind me at dinner to take another. After all, it was my body that alerted me to the deficiency in the first place!
Each body has its own inner healer whose job is to do everything it can to help maintain health and homeostasis. This includes steering us towards the right practitioners with the right tools, like Dr. Tom, and whispering the secrets of everything we need to know for good health if we are listening.
Carol Bedrosian is the publisher of Spirit of Change holistic magazine.
See also:
Weekly Musings: Every Little Bit Helps
Weekly Musings: Expo Afterglow
