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If you hate going to the dentist, you may want to start eating more pickles – Sichuan pickles, to be exact – to keep your teeth healthy.

Pickles, cheese, sourdough bread and other fermented foods are great sources of probiotics. Probiotics are a group of microorganisms considered beneficial for gut health. These good bacteria help keep the gut free from bad bacteria that can cause infection.

Groundbreaking research from China suggests that good bacteria in traditional Sichuan pickles can help keep disgusting plaque from lingering on the surface of the teeth and along the gums. If left untreated, plaque can lead to dental caries and gum disease.

According to the research, eating more probiotic-rich foods can help protect teeth from plaque buildup, eliminate dental caries and eradicate bad bacteria in the mouth for good.

Dental caries: A global health problem

Plaque is a colorless, film-like substance made of bad bacteria. In most cases, plaque is the result of poor dental hygiene, but it can also form as a result of eating sugar-rich foods a little too often.

This happens because bad bacteria in the mouth eat these sugars (and other food bits stuck along the gums) for nourishment. Once the sugars are all eaten up, these bad bacteria then produce acids that burn through tooth enamel.

It might not sound like such a big deal at first, but plaque can lead to dental caries, one of the most common oral diseases in humans. In fact, dental caries is a major health problem around the globe, affecting both children and adults.

Besides damaging the tooth itself, dental caries can also cause pain and difficulties in eating because the nerves in the tooth are left exposed. In some cases, dental caries can also affect self-esteem if it damages the teeth out front.

So, to eradicate dental caries, it’s important to keep bad bacteria in the mouth from producing acids in the first place. But prior to this most recent research, scientists had been hard-pressed to determine specific bacterial strains that can help fight dental caries.

Sichuan pickles can help protect teeth from plaque buildup

Past research had suggested that probiotics can, to some degree, reduce the amount of odor-causing bacteria in the mouth. For this reason, some commercial dental products feature added probiotics.

Now, recent research has confirmed that certain probiotics, like Lactobacilli plantarum K41, are capable of fighting dental caries.

These findings can lead to dental treatments in the future that use probiotics instead of artificial substances. L. plantarum K41 itself might also become a promising anti-caries supplement to be added to foods for better oral health.

Making Sichuan pickles

You can enjoy some Sichuan pickles right in the comfort of your home. These pickles are more about the fermentation process than it is about the produce used. Here’s a quick and simple recipe for making Sichuan pickles:

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp Sichuan pepper
• 1 piece star anise
• 2 pieces peeled garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp vodka
• 1/4 round cabbage
• 1/4 Chinese radish
• 1 carrot
• 1/4 kohlrabi or German turnip
• 2-3 pieces red radishes
• 2-3 pieces green and red chilies
• Salt

Preparation:

1. Rinse the cabbage, Chinese radish, carrot, kohlrabi, red radishes and chilies.
2. Cut the cabbage and radishes into manageable chunks. Peel and cut the carrot and kohlrabi into thin slices.
3. Let the vegetables air-dry for a couple of hours. This step is fundamental to making pickles that are just like those found in Sichuan.
4. Clean and rinse the pickling jar to be used. Make sure it isn’t moist before using it.
5. Make the brine solution for pickling by boiling one tablespoon of salt for each liter of water. Make sure the salt dissolves completely before turning off the heat, then let the brine cool to room temperature.
6. Pack the vegetables into the pickling jar.
7. Pour the brine into the jar, making sure the brine covers all the vegetables.
8. Toss in the Sichuan pepper, star anise, garlic cloves and vodka to add flavor to the brine. You can also use other liquor as long as it is 40–60 percent proof.
9. Place the lid on the jar and cover it in cling film. Leave the jar on a plate to catch leaks during the initial fermentation stage.
10. Set aside the jar in a cool area safe from direct sunlight. The vegetables can take up to 14 days to ferment depending on the season. Don’t panic if the brine turns cloudy as the pickles ferment. This is normal, and it indicates that the pickles are fermenting fine.
11. Eat the pickles straight from the jar or incorporate it into recipes. Use clean chopsticks or utensils to take out pickles. Doing so helps keep the brine and pickles safe from contamination.
12. Save the brine for future use. You can keep adding vegetables to this “master brine” later on.

Good bacteria from pickled foods help protect teeth from plaque that can lead to dental caries and other oral health problems later on. Eat pickles as a light and nutritious snack, toss them into salads or serve them as a side for grilled meat, steamed fish and other dishes.

Sources:

ScienceDaily.com

WHO.int

WorldIsraelNews.com

Food52.com