The Toothbrush - A Calorie Fighter

Guest post from Charles, the publisher of Fitness Blog that provides practical fitness advice, weight loss information and wellness tips.

The toothbrush may be the single most overlooked tool in weight loss. Why? It controls your portions and can limit your binging.

To fully grasp this argument, let's start with the obvious. Nothing tastes good with toothpaste. And even if you think chocolate tastes okay--something that is debatable, at best--regular flavored Listerine or some other medicine--tasting mouthwash will certainly make just about everything taste bad.

Cook a reasonable portion, walk away, brush your teeth and you're done eating for a while. Dieting does not get easier than this.

The benefits of brushing do not end there, however. Say you are having cravings, but you don't want to eat. The lowly toothbrush suddenly becomes your friend. By the time you walk to the bathroom, brush your teeth, swish some mouthwash and walk back, there is a reasonable chance that your craving will be gone. And even if it isn't, you really not going to want to eat anything, anyway.

There are additional benefits. Brush for a full two minutes--the minimum time dentists recommend brushing--3x a day and you burn nearly 5500 calories a year. That's an extra 1.5 pounds off of your waistline just for doing something that you should be doing anyway. Your teeth will be healthier, which means less time in the dentist chair. Most importantly, your teeth will be whiter, and that will make you feel better about yourself.

Note, that if you drink soda, you should wait 30 minutes before brushing your teeth. The reason is that soft drinks, and even sports drinks, contain acids that breakdown tooth enamel. Rather, rinse your mouth out with water, or something like Listerine, and then wait for 30 minutes before brushing. Best bet: stop drinking soda. Next best bet: rinse your mouth with water, go for a light 30-minute walk and then brush your teeth.