[Dan2112]

Why does food (specifically juice) after you brush your teeth???

From Yahoo News:
http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/...ves/19516.html
(clicking the link is worth it just for the picture....)

If you have no idea why we’re pondering that question today, go brush your teeth real quick and grab a drink (orange juice, iced tea, beer—anything except water). Awful, isn’t it?

You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants – wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid – that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they’re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).
While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.
So, anything you eat or drink after you brush is going to have less sweetness and more bitterness than it normally would. Is there any end to this torture? Yes. You don’t need foam for good toothpaste, and there are plenty out there that are SLES/SLS-free. You won’t get that rabid dog look that makes oral hygiene so much fun, but your breakfast won’t be ruined.

[Michelle98272]

I love these type of trivia type "Hmmm...I wonder why.." questions. I always did wonder why OJ tastes terrible after brushing teeth. I thought it was from the artificial sweetener mixing with real sugar in the OJ and tasting funny.

Thanks for the interesting tidbit.

[petitelapin]

On the topic of toothpaste and Dan having mentioned rabid dog look, my facialist told me that all these new toothpastes discolour your face around the mouth. He said the bleach actually bleaches your skin around your mouth.
Tan

[Repo girl]

I make my own toothpaste because of all of the chemicals in commercial toothpaste. The same stuff is in shampoo and conditioner if you are not watching out for it.

[Dan2112]

Recipe??

[Repo girl]

Well, I take a small glass jar with a lid, a little baby food jar is perfect. I fill it up with baking soda, then add about 10 drops of liquid stevia (to sweeten), a few drops of a mint essential oil, then pour in enough hydrogen peroxide to make a good paste. After the peroxide has been added, I usually have to add more baking soda so that it is not too runny. I remake it once a week. My husband and I think that this toothpaste gets our teeth cleaner and whiter than commercial toothpastes, plus it is much less toxic. Also, keep the lid on tight or it dries out really fast.

[Dan2112]

That's really cool.. I'm going to have to try it.. Thanks!