Your Mouth Runs More Than You Think
No, I am not talking about running your mouth in the way that gets you in trouble… This post is about your oral microbiome (the bacteria in your mouth) being responsible for a whole stream of effects in your body. It is literally the gateway to your gut. And it turns out both your mouth and your gut play a big role in things like oxygen delivery, mood regulation, mental resilience, and motivation.
What is Your Oral Ecosystem
The oral cavity houses the second largest and most diverse microbial community in the body, only second to your gut. It has over 700 species of bacteria! Traditionally we have only thought about this area in terms of dental hygiene, but it is possible your efforts at preventing cavities might be disrupting your body in other ways.
Current research has really changed the way we look at the oral microbiome. It is a powerhouse that serves as the upstream regulator of our gut. Think of this as a superhighway for all of those bacteria to pack up and move from their home in the mouth down to the gut. And if we are disturbing their home in the mouth, it disturbs this whole move for them.
Every day you swallow roughly 1.5 liters of saliva. When you do this, you are transporting billions of bacteria directly into your gut. A healthy oral microbiome acts as a symbiotic guardian. However, when the oral ecosystem falls into an imbalance, sometimes the bad bacteria can make their way to our gut. Once in the gut, these oral invaders can disrupt the delicate intestinal. balance and do things like increase intestinal permeability (leaky guy) and trigger systemic inflammation.
It Isn’t Just in Your Head
The connection between gut health and mental state is well established. Your gut produces over 90% of your body’s serotonin — which makes sense, this hormone plays a big role in appetite and digestion. But it also plays a big role in mood and sleep. Your guy also produces about 50% of your overall dopamine, ya know the one we are all trying to get more of because it makes us feel happy. If our gut is out of balance, both of these hormones are impacted thus impacting our mood, appetite, and even how well we sleep at night.
Your Mouth is a New Link in This Chain
If you have poor oral health, you are effectively seeding your gut with inflammation-causing microbes. Recent studies have shown that lower microbial diversity in the mouth was associated with greater symptoms of depression. The bad oral bacteria that is linked to gum disease, has been shown to trigger systemic inflammatory responses that affect more than just your mouth. This chronic inflammation can have an effect on both depression and anxiety.
How Are You Unintentionally Sabotaging Your Oral Microbiome?
So many of us have daily habits that we think are a good idea, but are inadvertently disrupting our precious mouth bacteria!
High Carbohydrate Intake — We are generally a carb loving society. Candy, soda, chips, bread, cookies… it is all delicious. But these foods are often packed with simple sugars and can be highly acidic. They provide an all you can eat buffet for acid producing pathogenic oral bacteria while eroding protective enamel.
Mouth Breathing — Nobody likes a mouth breather, but there is actual science to support your feelings now! Jokes aside, most of us WILL mouth breathe during exercise and often when we sleep. This dries out the mucosal tissues, reducing the slow of saliva. Saliva is your mouth’s natural defense system and contains antimicrobial proteins. Without it, pathogens thrive.
Stress and Immunity — If you are an athlete who has a high training volume, you are putting your body under a large amount of physiological stress. This can temporarily suppress immune function, making it harder for your body to maintain an appropriate balance of good to bad bacteria.
Thanks Elizabeth, Now That I am Stressed Out What Do I Do?
To protect your mood, safeguard your gut, and maximize your performance you need to start treating your oral microbiome with the same strategic focus as your macros.
Smart fueling and rinsing
You need the carbs for energy, but you don’t need the cavity-causing environment. If you are consuming sports gels, sports drinks, or other sugary foods that stick to your teeth try and rinse your mouth with plain water immediately after. I tell all of my athletes to alternate during sports drinks and water during training to maintain proper hydration without overdoing it, this is a great strategy to also protect your microbiome. This strategy helps to wash away sugars before bacteria can begin the fermentation process.
Ditch the Antiseptic Mouthwash
Stop using the strong, alcohol based antiseptic mouthwashes. They are indiscriminate killers, wiping out the beneficial bacteria along with the bad ones. Instead, rely on brushing and flossing to remove plaque. You could also consider a gentler mouthwash alternative but I will let you discuss those specifics with your dentist.
Feed the Good Guys
Just like you would take probiotics to feed your gut bacteria, we need to think about the foods that we are consuming to help feed our oral bacteria. These bacteria thrive on fiber and polyphenols. Make sure you have a variety of plant foods that provide plenty of prebiotics for the microbiome of your tongue and gums.
On that note I am going to get myself some polyphenols with a glass of wine :)
xoxo,
Elizabeth
P.S. If you are ready to start dominating your health goals, go here to set up your free discovery call and book a package.
