Ignorance is Bliss

This morning my journey into healthfulness took an unexpected and slightly disturbing turn...(Healthfulness? That's a word? Seriously? Ok spell check, if you say so....)

My sister has recently enlightened me to the evils of flouride, and so I have switched to using natural flouride-free toothpaste. Now any of you who have used natural toothpastes might be aware that as far as flavour goes, a lot of brands are quite hit and miss. Some leave you with a simple fresh mint taste, other's with the aftertastes of strange flavours like calendula and stevia, and still others are reminiscient of those times in your childhood where you used a foul word in front of your parents....

Out of necessity I have been trying to switch up the kinds I use to find one I like. Last week I was in the local organic market after my yoga class (Oh god...I know how that sounds, I am not a hippie. I swear I am not a hippie. I shave and use deodorant just like everybody else and I have NEVER liked patchouli.). I was perusing the natural toothpaste and soaps aisle as I pondered with apprehension the disapproving glances I would receive for forgetting my cloth grocery bag and having to use paper at the checkout, and wondering if there was any way I could carry an armful of celery, a bag of onions, a carton of milk and a frozen chicken two blocks without a bag....

My eyes fell on a promising looking tube of cinnamon-flavoured toothpaste. Cinnamon? Cinnamon is normal right? At least it has to be more normal than "calendula". I don't want my mouth to taste like I got hunger pangs in a florist's shop again.

I bought it, got it home and tried it. It seemed alright. Tasted fine. Seemed to do the job. However, the texture was odd. That and it was brown. Brown. So I got the bright idea of looking at the ingredients.

The ingredients were listed as follows: " purified water, xylitol, cinnamon essential oil, tea tree oil, clay". Clay.

Clay.

Clay. As in the brown stuff in the ground. As in dirt.

...I have been brushing my teeth with dirt.