News for Now Update: Week ending June 11, 2022

Oral Hygiene Mistakes—and What to Do Instead
Dr. Kami Hoss, co-founder of The Super Dentists in San Diego, CA, shares common oral hygiene mistakes (and what we can do better) in his book, If Your Mouth Could Talk. He especially discourages brushing directly after meals (when the mouth is most acidic) and using antiseptic mouthwash, which disrupts the oral microbiome. For these and other important tips, read more at the Today Show.

Connecting Native American Preschoolers with Their Culture—and Healthier Eating Habits
Fawn Youngbear-Tibbetts at the Wicoie Nandagikendan Early Childhood Urban Immersion Project in Minneapolis has made it her mission to feed and teach preschoolers about Indigenous foods, from large game to native plants. With nearly half of Native American children suffering from obesity, due largely to limited access to healthy food, she sees this as critical to connecting them with their culture while bolstering their nutrition. Read more at Kaiser Health News.

World Ocean Day: “Blue Food” for Better Nutrition, Health, and Sustainability
On World Ocean Day, we shared about the Blue Food Assessment’s  Blue Foods: Better Choices campaign. The BFA, made up of 100 scientists across 25 organizations worldwide, seeks to increase awareness among public officials and corporate leaders about the opportunities presented by “blue foods.” Expanding our palates to include more of the 2500 aquatic species they identify poses great benefits to our nutrition, health, and sustainability. Read more at Food Tank.

USDA Announces Broad Healthy Agriculture Initiative
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a $2 billion initiative to build a more resilient food system and combat rising prices. Special aid goes toward smaller producers and underserved communities (including $300 million for organic farming transitions), support for urban agriculture and food deserts, and reducing food waste and carbon pollution. Although we also hope to see support for soil regeneration increase, this federal shift is encouraging. Read more at Food Dive.

Pioneer Archives Post: Royal Lee, DDS’s Discussion of a “Low-Stress Diet”
A “low-stress diet” is the eating pattern followed by uncommonly healthy, isolated communities throughout the world, as Dr. Weston A. Price showed in his extensive field studies. In this article, published in 1962, Royal Lee, DDS discusses low-stress eating—a diet that tastes good and is simple to follow. He identifies the importance of defining (and eliminating) foods that create unnecessary stress in the body due to excess of various kinds. To that end, he identifies four basic qualifications to consider when evaluating excesses in foods and the three primary consequences of dietary excesses. Read more in our Pioneer Archives Post.