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first thing we need to
remember is that there are no problems in the body that are experienced
in isolation. If someone is having dental issues, there will be
other negative effects being felt too. Cavities are a result of
systemic problems in the body that can't happen if a person is doing
everything right. There is a myth that permeates not only
conventional health philosophy but also alternative medicine and even
the raw community that a person can be doing everything right, diet and
lifestyle-wise, and still be 'victimized' by disease or
deficiency. The medical communities blame 'germs', and the raw
community blames fruit and/or the 'deficient' modern food supply.
Regardless of what uncontrollable factor you're talking about -- germs
or food -- this idea is part of the false ideology that underlies
medicine, which even raw fooders stubbornly cling to -- that sickness
is inevitable, it has no cause and strikes indiscriminately. It
isn't so. If a person is experiencing symptoms of any sort,
including dental decay, mistakes are being made. Primarily
dietary mistakes, but others will contribute as well. I'm sure you know if you've read my website that deficiency fears are a pet peeve of mine. When people experience symptoms, the first thing they think of is deficiency when what they need to do is look at the more likely source of problems. This person you're referring to has no doubt made lots of progress with his diet, but the fact that he is experiencing symptoms means he's doing something wrong. There is no effect without cause, and vice versa. For the purpose of being more explicit so people will understand what I mean, an intermediate raw fooder who is otherwise doing very well might have problems if s/he is still eating complicated combinations, or food flavorings, or eating too late at night, too early in the morning, etc. Or a person could be making none of these mistakes and eating a very simple diet, and still be making the biggest mistake of all, which is overeating. Overeating is the last frontier for raw fooders who are doing everything else right. It may seem like a small thing but if eating for reasons other than hunger continues indefinitely, problems will be experienced. The body gives us lots of chances to clean up our act, so nobody who is just starting need worry about any of this. People just need to keep in mind that dietary improvements must keep pace with healing in order for a person to continually progress, and the biggest improvement of all is learning to NOT eat in response to the stimuli that have always caused us to eat. I can't speculate specifically about why anyone has dental problems. There are factors involved that first come into play even before we are born that help determine whether we will have dental problems later in life. So, there's the predisposition thing again. One person will make dietary mistakes and have joint pain or digestive discomforts, and another will have dental issues. It's a matter of where your relative weaknesses lie. However, none of these problems occur without a cause. The only way to identify the cause is to take a look at the person's diet and other lifestyle habits. Dental issues are not the Achilles heel of raw food eating, although some would apparently like us to think that. It's not universal, it's not even common among long-term raw fooders who are doing things correctly. I'm not doing everything correctly, I still have bad habits I'm working on, yet my teeth have never been healthier in my life. If I did start to have problems, however, I'd know that it is the mistakes I'm still making that are responsible, not deficiencies. (from Raw
School forum)
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