When Ideologies Mean Nothing

A few years back, I was supposed to read a book for a history course I took in college, "How We Survived Communism, and Even Laughed." I didn't, not all of it at least. I've always read a little slow, and in college, it was a reoccurring theme for me to be behind. I kept the book, however. I kept nearly all of my college textbooks. Anyways, this Summer, I thought to myself how I'd like to read it and then get rid of it. I'm always trying to de-clutter my life.

We like to live by ideals and morals. What is right, what we believe is right, etc. One of the smaller points that the author writes upon is this. Her book describes people who believe in the ideals of communism, but as time passed, they realize that ideals mean nothing when your basic needs are not being met. People who supported the new regimes grew disenchanted after forty-plus years of broken promises. It's true. For example, we like to think that we are good people and that we wouldn't commit crimes, but if our situation and livelihood depends on it, we will ditch our beliefs...

It's been at least a year and a half that I've been experimenting with food ideologies. There are two main off-beat theories that I've been leaning towards, stuck at the fork-in-the-road where they diverge from each other. I can say I've had some measure of health improvement. I've lost those twenty pounds. I've also noticed my body responses better to working out now than it did when I was a very athletic high schooler. Still, there's a point in which a person becomes disillusioned, disenchanted, discouraged - a point in which the ideologies mean nothing because there is so little to show for it. Last night was one of those times for me.

After brushing my teeth last night, I did a little inspection. Occasionally, I do this. Upon review of my teeth, I discovered two new black spots on the very back molars. They don't hurt, but they also won't go away. I tried. The health of my teeth had been a speck pinpoint of pride, and so it was upsetting to discover two signs that something is not right! People might want to blame it on the genes. I don't buy that. It's not the hygiene either; I brush regularly. This makes me question the food ideologies that I have put to practice in the last year or two. My teeth as a reflection of my overall health tell me something is flawed.

My best guess is that with the removal of typical salad dressings, the white vinegar replacement may be deteriorating my teeth. After all, it has something like a ph of 2.4 which isn't much different than pouring soda on my salad for dressing! So for the last year and a half, I've been regularly putting something very acidic on my food and chewing it up with my teeth. I probably could have thought that one out a little better.