Wisdom Tooth Extraction, How it Went Wrong For Me

Speaking from personal experience I don't thinking pulling a wisdom tooth is necessary if it is not bothering you. Obviously it is necessary when there is a risk of infection, but if you have a dentist like I had that pressures you into seeing an oral surgeon to get a tooth extracted and then you wind up having to have a plastic surgeon perform surgery on you a year later, is it really worth it? Hell no!

That's what happened to me. A little over a year ago I had a cleaning appointment at my dentist and of course no cavities as usual, but my dentist asked me why I still had my bottom wisdom teeth. I explained that the oral surgeon that pulled the upper teeth said that the bottom should not be pulled because they are too close to the nerve. Well the dentist pressured me to go see an oral surgeon so I listened. I decided after having a consultation with the oral surgeon to go and have my left bottom tooth pulled. I scheduled the surgery for when I came back from Venice.

I came back from an amazing trip to Venice and then I had the left tooth pulled. No sedation, just novocaine. I had a lot more swelling than I thought I would and after two weeks after the surgery I still had some localized swelling that wasn't going away. I went back to the oral surgeon and he had not clue. Wow that's comforting, when your doctor doesn't know what is wrong! He opened the socket back up and when he did he applied extreme pressure to the outside of my cheek and in the socket. I was numb so I could only feel the pressure, no pain. I swelled up again and then the swelling finally went down, but I did notice a red dot on the outside of my cheek. I ignored it and figured it was scar tissue.

Then ten months later I came down with the stomach flu and the "dot" grew into a big ugly looking sore that felt like it was filled with liquid when I touched it. I thought for sure it would shrink once I got better, but no it didn't, it stayed big and every time I did hot yoga it got more red. I went to several doctors to try and remedy the situation. I went to two dermatologists, and ENT and then finally I found the right person, a very well know facial plastic surgeon. He did not know what it was and not doctor did, but he was able to excise it out of my cheek.

I now have a permanent scar on the outside of my face from getting a tooth pulled. The bottom line is don't be cavalier about any part of your health and don't let health care professionals pressure you into getting a procedure done that may be unnecessary. The wisdom tooth never bothered me, but the ugly red sore I got as a result made me self conscious and having to have surgery made me anxiety ridden. Of course this incident is freaky and I may be the only case in history to have this happen and it's unfortunate, but listen to your gut. 

Why Barcelona is One of My Favorite Cities

I came back from a trip to Barcelona two weeks and it was probably one of the greatest cities I've been to, on multiple levels. The food was amazing, the food markets were a foodie's paradise and the scenery was magical. I did not take public transportation any day of the week and as a result walked about ten miles a day. Therefore the splurging on torrone and drinking Fanta Zeros daily still allowed me to come back five pounds lighter.

My favorite place to go in Barcelona every morning for breakfast was St. Joseph's Mercat de la Boqueria, off La Rambla, which is one of the largest food markets in the city. Every morning I got some samples of torrone, and ordered an amazing Spanish omelet (La Tortilla), which was the best omelet I have ever tasted in my life. This omelet was available at a cute place in the market called Bar Boqueria. I also went to Carrefour grocery store daily and picked up a glass jar of a mushroom medley mix that is made in France. If bought in the US it would have cost like ten bucks, but there it was only three. I managed to get past security with two of them in my suitcase! 

I will say that the nice thing about vacation is being able to truly enjoy the local food and some things that may be off limits usually. I feel that everyone needs to allow themselves some culinary fun. 

Supplements That Are Good

I am a huge fan of green superfood powders. I use them at least once a day and I like to mix it up. I use five-ten different ones in any given week. I don't like my body get used to anything and with a very veggie-dense diet I do not need to take a multi. I see countless people however buy the wrong supplements and supplement the wrong way. One-A-Day vitamins are obviously total garbage that wind up at the bottom of the toilet, but there are some other things people really need to pay attention to.

Here are my top products that I think everyone should look into for different reasons. I am not including protein powders because that is a separate post.

1. Green Superfood Supplements  Rock

- Green Vibrance by Vibrant Health

This is by far one of the best Green Superfood products on the market. The taste isn't fantastic, but I don't care about that. It mixes great and I like to mix it into Vega electrolyte packets or Ultima electrolyte drink with filtered water because it hides the taste and makes a delicious treat. I drink this at least five times per week. I also add Bragg's apple cider vinegar to make it really alkaline. The version you want of Green Vibrance is 10.3 not 10.1, the older version has 80% of you DV of iron and for men especially this is not a good thing.

- Macro Life Naturals Macro Greens and Junior Coco Greens

Both of these have superb taste and mix easily. I love the chocolate one mixed into some grass-fed whey protein powder and a tiny bit of canned coconut milk for a protein pudding. Delicious.

-Food Science of Vermont Superior Greens

The taste of this greens is amazing. I absolutely adore the taste, I could drink this straight without any issues.

- Amazing Grass

I love Amazing Grass products, they are fantastic in taste and I believe this a brand of greens that works for everyone because it is very palatable, yet still has a lot of nutrition. The Chocolate Superfood is my favorite, followed by the Creamsicle.

-Tonic Alchemy

I feel so good when I drink Tonic Alchemy. Tonic Alchemy has 71 amazing ingredients and all natural. It is one of the best supplements I have ever tried.

- Sun Warrior Greens

-Green Magma

-Barleans Greens Powder (not the capsules)

Best Green Drink Recipe for restoring nutrients

Ingredients:

-1 serving of your preferred green superfood powder

-1 packet of electrolyte mix, i.e. Vega or Ultima, NOT Emergen-C, please never use Emergen-C or for a higher protein beverage use 1 scoop of protein powder

-1-2TBSP raw apple cider vinegar

-1 TBSP bee pollen

-1TBSP chia seeds, I use Bob's Red Mill

-1 TBSP aloe vera juice, I like Lily of the Desert

-1 raw egg yolk

Shake and enjoy

2. Bee Pollen

3. Gelatinized Maca Powder

I like Navitas Naturals Gelatinized Maca powder, it absorbs more easily.

4. Calm Plus Calcium or just Calm

I take the Calm Plus Calcium every night before bed to help me sleep and helps reduce muscle soreness.

This is by far the best supplement ever

5. Fish oil/Krill Oil

 

6. Grass-fed Beef Gelatin

Beef Gelatin, My New Favorite Cooking Ingredient

Since no longer being vegan or a vegetarian, I have forgotten how much I used to love Jell-O and all things jiggly, except for abdominal obesity, that's the only jiggle I don't like. If you look at the ingredients of standard Jell-O, it is junk and then you look at the sugar free version and it gets even worse. That's where pure gelatin powder comes in.

Gelatin also has numerous benefits when it is consumed in a clean way and not a sugar-laden fat producing way. Gelatin can improve metabolism, joints and skin. I know since I've added gelatin to my dit I have had a ton more energy. I eat gelatin everyday.

I started off buying Knox gelatin, but then I switched to Now's Beef Gelatin because it comes in a bigger bottle, it's more cost-effective and it is from beef. I usually avoid anything and everything pig-derived, except for the occasional greasy strip of bacon, mmm. Another great brand of gelatin is Great Lakes because their gelatin is from grass-fed cows, even better. Below are some great recipes I have come up with for gelatin. One I use as a snack, one as my post weightlifting meal and the other is something I eat for breakfast.

Chocolate Protein Gelatin

Ingredients:

-5 g cocoa powder

-10g beef or pork-derived gelatin or one envelope Knox gelatin

-2-3cups boiling water

-1 TBSP coconut flour

-5 drops liquid stevia or 1 packet stevia

-1 TBSP protein powder of your choice, I use this one

Directions:

1. Boil 2-3 cups water

2. Once boiled, pour into a bowl and mix in the gelatin. Stir until completely dissolved.

3. Stir in the cocoa powder, stevia, coconut flour, and protein powder.

4. (optional), I like to drop in a tsp of nut butter, so after it chills I have a surprise when I'm eating it!

 5. Put in the refrigerator and refrigerate until the desired consistency is reached.

Makes 1 serving

Nutrition: 114 calories, 16g protein (depending on protein powder),  8g carbs, 2g fat, 3.5g fiber, .5-1g sugar

Pumpkin Gelatin

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup serving canned pumpkin

-10g beef or pork-derived gelatin or one envelope Knox gelatin

-1 TBSP coconut flour, I only use Bob's Red Mill

-2-3 cups boiling water

-5-6 drops liquid stevia

-1 tsp ground cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice

 

Directions:

1. Boil 2-3 cups water

2. Once boiled, pour into a bowl and mix in gelatin. Stir until completely dissolved.

3. Mix in the canned pumpkin until it fully assimilates into the water and is no longer clumpy

4. Mix in the rest of the ingredients

5. Put in the refrigerator and refrigerate until the desired consistency is reached. 

Makes 1 serving

Nutrition:  93 calories, 10.5g protein, 10.5g carbs,  1g fat, 5.5 g fiber, 2.5g sugar

Tea Gelatin

Ingredients:

-2-3 cups boiling water

-10g beef or pork-derived gelatin or one envelope Knox gelatin

-2 bags of your favorite tea or more if you desire

-5-6 drops of liquid stevia

Directions:

1. Boil 2-3 cups water

2. Once boiled, pour into a bowl add the tea bags

3. Let the tea steep for 5 minutes

4. Mix in the gelatin until it is completely dissolved

5. Mix in the stevia

6. Put in the refrigerator

 Makes 1 serving

Nutrition:  8-9g protein, 0g carbs, 0g fat, 0g sugar = 32-36 calories per serving

For the Tea Gelatin I usually make a hibiscus/green tea or rooibos flavored gelatin, it is really great. I add coconut flour to the others because it adds another dimension to the texture. The coconut flour tends to sink to the bottom, so the bottom layer has a nice mousse texture where as the top layer is more like standard Jell-O. 

Natural Expo West

One of the myriad of benefits of working in the natural food industry is getting to attend Natural Expo West, which is a mecca for health food fanatics like myself. My favorite companies are there such as Bob's Red Mill, Tanka, and Rhythm Superfoods, as well as some companies I had never heard of before. There is an opportunity to try every type of health food and supplement product under the sun. I think I probably ate my own weight in nut butter and chocolate over the entire weekend. 

I also discovered that Fabio makes his own protein powder and I also recently found out that Montel Williams makes one as well. Here are my images from expo west and it was without a doubt the best food show I have ever been to, I was in heaven, lol!

Fabio has his own protein powder

David Wolfe, raw food guru

With Bob, the founder of Bob's Red Mill