Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Homemade Toothpaste

I've been wanting to do this for SO long! For awhile I had a hard time finding a recipe that seemed simple, yet not gross. I also tried straight baking soda for awhile. It's ok, but kinda salty tasting, and was a little harsh on my gums.

I have known for a long time that toothpaste is filled with horrible chemicals that we should not be ingesting, but just haven't gotten around to getting it out of my house (what took me so long??). Even the healthy brands have ingredients I

A) can't pronounce, and

B) have no idea what it is.

Usually if A or B is true, I avoid it like the plague. Chances are it's bad for me. And I don't want to put bad-for-me-things in my body. Just trying to reduce the toxic load here, Folks. Reduce the toxic load.

Most toothpaste also contains fluoride, a poisonous waste byproduct that is known to cause damage to our brains.  You may choose to believe your dentist that unless you ingest fluoride, your teeth are going to crumble and fall out.  I don't buy that though.  I believe the bad faaaaaar outweighs the good when it comes to fluoride.  If there is any good to begin with. 

Did you know that toothpaste is technically a "cosmetic" according to the FDA? Therefore, since it's not considered to be something that will go inside your body, the standards are very low, and there's a lot more toxicity than you'd think. I for one watch my kids swallow that stuff like it's candy! And I get horrified at the thought of those nasty chemicals making their way through their little bodies. Yuck.

So, the other day I had this uber awesome day of being ever so productive.

(Don't ask my kids what they did...

...Um...something had to give, OK?

It was my focused attention on my kids.

And well, they watched a couple videos.)

Anyway...I made lotion (post coming soon on that one), and toothpaste. Here's my recipe. I adapted it from a couple other ones I found online.







3 Tablespoons coconut oil

3 Tablespoons baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon green stevia powder (not pictured above). The white stuff is processed, and not good for you.

About 20 drops of Spearmint Essential Oils (or another flavor you prefer).

I melted my coconut oil in my double boiler. If yours is soft enough, just use it soft. If it's winter, and your coconut oil is hard, melt it over the stove, not in a microwave. Microwaving things changes the molecular structure, and it's then not good for you to consume.


Once your coconut oil is soft enough, mix it with the rest of the ingredients.

I stored mine in this little 4 oz Mason jar I got at a garage sale last summer. This is a picture from before I put the stevia in.






Here's a pic from after I put it in








The taste wasn't that great before the stevia. The stevia makes it slightly sweet, and you taste less of the baking soda. The Hot Contractor is forever ruined over coconut oil (I used to have him take it by the spoonful because he loved it, and we were trying it on him for medicinal purposes.). He now hates it. Sad.

I, however, think it's great! I'm totally going to keep using it (as long as my gums don't mind...I'm hoping that with other ingredients than just baking soda, it won't be an issue anymore). I'm also going to let my kids ingest it until their little hearts are content. Plus, it's actually really good for them! Coconut oil is such a great oil for us to consume in large quantities. And baking soda helps balance the pH of the body, so I say, "eat away, my children, eat away!"