Question: I grind my teeth at night and I was wondering if there are any herbal supplements or food's I can eat to relax my muscles so i stop grinding?
Answer: My husband had this same problem. He had been a teeth-grinder since he was a little boy. When we got married back in 2000, he was still grinding his teeth at night. So bad that it would wake me up. Not much fun for newly-weds I'll tell ya:). It finally started to lessen about 6 years ago, and he hasn't been chomping at the bit for about 2 years now.
From my point of view, teeth grinding has predominately three causes:
1) Heart Fire
2) Built up of Ama or toxins in the blood stream
3) Mineral deficiency.
Lets talk about number 1 first.
In Chinese medicine, teeth grinding is a condition of the Heart System. I am referring to the Heart in chinese medical terminology. So I am not speaking about circulation, but rather the Organ and Energetic system of the Heart. When the Heart gets disturbed or weakened because of emotional issues, stress, or deficiency, it can "over-heat", causing Heart Fire, which may lead to teeth-grinding as well as insomnia and other sleep disorders.
Think of it like a car engine. If your car was low on oil, and you had been revving the engine non-stop for a period of time, the engine would over heat and eventually parts start grinding. That is what can happen to the Heart under similar conditions. If the Heart is deficient of nutrients in some way, and there is a lot of stress for long period of time, it may manifest as teeth grinding.
The Second possible cause is a built up of toxins or Ama (as it is called in Ayurveda) in the Blood stream. This can also lead to Heart Fire. Toxins can build up in the blood stream by poor diet, vaccinations, lead exposure, heavy-metal exposure (in metal teeth fillings), etc. It is really difficult to avoid toxic exposure these days. And just like it takes a while to build up these toxins, it can also take some time to get rid of them.
Thirdly, poor diet, excessive drinking (of water or alcohol), and too much/frequent detoxing can lead the body to become deficient in many minerals. Minerals help to anchor the Heart and Calm the Spirit. Think of it like a hot air balloon. During the day, the Heart Energy rises in the sky of the mind, like a hot air balloon. At night time, the balloon needs to be tethered to the body in order to sleep. Minerals and other naturally "heavy" substances help to anchor or tether the Heart to the body. Those people who are deficient have a difficult time at this and their "balloon" can remain in the mind causing restless sleep, insomnia, excessive dreaming, and teeth-grinding.
Now back to my husband's case. He didn't have a very stressful childhood, but he was a very active dreamer and often tossed in his sleep. This was probably due to a mineral deficiency. He did (and still does to some extent) have bad food allergies. He was allergic to dairy products and to soy. His family didn't know about his soy allergy until he was an adult. So he was fed a lot of soy products as a child (since he couldn't have dairy): soy milk, soy cheese, tofu-dream ice cream, etc. He was using soy products into adulthood. Then we found out about his allergy and the potential pit-falls of soy. He stopped consuming soy and that helped him to stop grinding at night.
Now, You may not even consume soy. But the point is, for my husband his teeth grinding was partly caused by a built up of toxins in the body by a food he had been consuming that he was allergic to. So you may want to look into what you are eating and see if you grind more at night after eating certain foods.
For my husband, I also had given him a Heart-Fire Chinese formula called "Emperor of Heaven's Special Pill to Tonify the Heart" or Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan. You may want to check with an Chinese Herbalist or Acupuncturist to see if this is appropriate for you. He also nourished the Heart by taking mineral supplements (see below).
To help teeth-grinding you have a few home remedy options:
1) You can use a mineral supplement containing a daily dose of aprox 1200mg of calcium carbonate, 600mg magnesium, and 60mg of Zinc.
2) Chew a handful of calcium-rich white sesame seeds every morning. Other foods have high calcium, like canned salmon (wild caught with the bones), broccoli, and sunflower seeds.
3) To eliminate anxiety and stress before bed, Almond milk helps. Soak about 10 RAW (not toasted) almonds overnight in water. Peel off the skins, and put the almonds in the blender. Add 1 cup warm milk. While blending, add a pinch of ginger and a small pinch of nutmeg and saffron. Or you can buy it from the store, but you'll want to drink it warm.
4) Massaging your cheeks with warm sesame oil right before bed can help loosen up the tendons around the mouth, nose, chin and ears.
5) St. Johns Wort either in tincture or homeopathic form can help if taken before bed.
If your teeth grinding is severe, you may want to see a qualified holistic health professional for a total health assessment and plan for healing.
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