I’ve been on the lookout for a good, clean toothpaste for quite a while now. I’ve tried just about every kind on the shelf of my neighborhood Whole Foods, and each and every one that I tested had sodium lauryl or laureth sulfates in them. This bummed me out, and I wondered why I couldn’t find a toothpaste free of these chemicals.
Last weekend I was driving in West Sonoma County and decided to stop by one of my favorite places to shop, Andy’s Market. As I browsed the health and beauty shelves, a glass jar filled with a clay-like substance caught my eye. The label on the jar said, “Toothpaste”, and my heart skipped a beat. I turned the glass jar over in my hand, and to my complete joy, the ingredient list was free of all lauryl and laureth sulfates.
This toothpaste is from Uncle Harry’s, a natural body care products company in Washington State. I didn’t learn much about the company from their website, but their peppermint toothpaste is incredibly clean. The first two ingredients are Utah clay and sea salt, so it’s not your average drugstore toothpaste. It’s completely free of sweeteners of any kind, and the sea salt makes my twice-daily brushings kind of intense. The peppermint oil does help to tone it down a little, and when I’m done brushing with this stuff my mouth feels seriously clean.
The only ingredient in this toothpaste I don’t know anything about is the colloidal silver. The Uncle Harry’s site says that colloidal silver has natural anti-microbial properties, and supposedly it’s the cure for everything. According to the site, “Such conditions are not limited to and include acne, allergies, appendicitis, arthritis, blood parasites, burns, cancer, cholera, cold sores, cystitis, dermatitis, diabetes, dysentery, eczema, fever, herpes, malaria.” Wow, herpes AND malaria? How could you go wrong?
The only downside to colloidal silver that Uncle Harry’s speaks of is the fact that it inhibits good bacteria as well as the bad, so anyone taking it should boost their acidophilus and/or yogurt consumption to make up for this fact. Granted, I’m not swallowing my toothpaste or anything, but it’s still in my mouth… I wonder what it’s doing to my bacteria?
I adore this toothpaste, so I guess it’s time to bust out the kefir.
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