Preventing Cavities

I had a dental check-up this morning and discovered that I have two cavities. Ugghhh.

What can you do to prevent cavities besides trying to avoid eating too many sugary foods and consuming too much pop? I did a bit of research and learned the following:

Regularly drinking green or black tea helps to kill bacteria in your mouth and cuts back on plaque. http://www.naturalnews.com/025133_cavities_tooth_decay_prevent.html

Nutritional deficiencies can cause cavities. If you get a lot of cavities, you may be deficient in calcium and phosphorus. In addition, Ramiel Nagel lists in his article “Can We Heal and Prevent Tooth Decay Naturally with Food?” four foods that can help to heal your teeth–grassfed spring and summer butter, organic animal liver, fermented cod liver oil, and raw grassfed milk. http://www.safbaby.com/can-we-heal-and-prevent-tooth-decay-naturally-with-food

Drink a lot of water so that your body is producing adequate saliva to cover and protect your teeth. http://naturalsociety.com/how-to-prevent-cavities/

If you’re going to eat sugar, eat it with your meal instead of on its own to cut back on cavities. http://www.fyiliving.com/diet/nutrition/qa-how-do-i-prevent-cavities-with-my-diet/

Self-Published Teens

This afternoon I spoke to a high school writing club, and as I was preparing for the presentation, I came across a couple of teens who have self-published. I thought you might like to check out their websites:
Oliver Dahl
http://thedreamersadventures.blogspot.com/

Christopher Paolini (no longer a teen, but he was a teen when he wrote his famous book, Eragon)
http://www.alagaesia.com/index.php

I think this article about kids and teens self-publishing their books is encouraging and inspiring as well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/us/young-writers-find-a-devoted-publisher-thanks-mom-and-dad.html?_r=0

Editing Your Self-Published Work

If you decide to self-publish a book, keep in mind that having a lot of typos will draw attention to the fact that your book is self-published rather than traditionally published. If you choose not to pay a professional editor to comb through your work, consider trying some of the ideas in this article to improve your writing: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/02/10-proofreading-tips-for-self-publishers-058.html

“Healthy” Jelly Beans

For everyone who is tempted by displays of Easter candy (I admit that I’m tempted by them, too), you should check out Surf Sweets jelly beans! Surf Sweets jelly beans do not contain artificial colors; instead, they get their colors from things like black carrot juice concentrate. They do not contain any high fructose corn syrup and do not have any genetically modified ingredients. Here is the most important question…do they taste good? Yes, they do! I tried them and had my parents try them, and we all think they taste good.

Where can you buy Surf Sweets jelly beans? I bought them from a health food store for $3.99 per bag (the bag is 8 ounces), but if you don’t have a health food store near you or simply want the convenience of shopping online, go to www.surfsweets.com. On their website, Surf Sweets lists links to several online retailers that carry their products.