Best
Foods for Your Teeth
Looking to keep your
teeth healthy just by eating the right foods? Check out what you need to be
adding to your meals to have a healthy set of teeth for years to come!
CHEW ON THIS. WITHOUT TEETH, YOU CAN’T
CHEW!
It’s
important we take the time to really look at our teeth to make sure we aren’t
compromising their health. While they are small, both our teeth and our gums
are more important to our overall health than we realize. They’re vital for us
to eat and chew our food, and their health directly links to other parts of the
body you never knew could happen!
In order
to protect our teeth from ourselves, we’ve got to make sure the fuel we’re
putting into our bodies is good for our teeth. From a dental nutrition
standpoint, we’d like to show you what foods are good for your teeth, and
perhaps which ones aren’t.
Fun Fact
– People with 25 or more teeth tend to have better eating habits and more
nutritious diets. Take a look at yourself in the mirror and count how many
teeth you have. You need as many healthy teeth as possible to eat and enjoy
nutritious foods.
Given a
choice, we’ll take our favorite foods, even if they aren’t the healthiest. For
a lot of us, our diets consist mainly of carbs and sugars. What you probably
didn’t know is that carbs and sugars are the easiest gateway for harmful
bacteria to start attacking your teeth. That sounds rough, and it is! The
result of it is tooth decay, gingivitis, periodontal disease and even the loss
of teeth!
Brushing
twice a day and regular flossing are awesome ways to help protect your teeth
from a dreadful fate, but you’ve got to eat right as well! You’re probably just
wondering what food you need to look out for during your next visit to the
market. Fortunately, you don’t have to change your grocery list much.
We suggest
picking up lean protein and fresh vegetables, and avoiding processed foods that
are generally high in simple sugars. Items rich in anthocyanins (blueberries,
cranberries, red cabbage and black rice) are great for preventing bacteria
buildup on your teeth. Probiotic foods (yogurts, raw cheese, miso soup and
apple cider vinegar) suppresses the development of pathogens. Soy products
(soybeans, bean sprouts and tofu) in your cart will help reduce periodontal
disease. Green tea is a polyphenol that reduces any bacteria and toxins finding
their homes in your mouth.
OUR
RECOMMENDATIONS
Understanding
how your diet plays a role in the health of your teeth is extremely important,
especially if you don’t plan to lose any teeth in the future. As an added
bonus, we’d like to share some of our recommendations.
Add
chewing gum to your diet, but only xylitol gum and only after meals. Xylitol
gum promotes salivation which inhibits cavity-causing bacteria from building up
in your mouth. Don’t go too far with it, too much has links to gas and
bloating.
Eat a mix
of raw fruits and vegetables every day. Whether it’s a snack or a part of your
meal, raw fruits and vegetables help clean up bacteria and plaque along the
surface of your teeth. The best of them includes apples, carrots and bell
peppers.
Sugar
itself doesn’t cause cavities. The sheer amount of sugar consumed isn’t nearly
as bad as how often you consume it. It’s okay to hit the chocolates and candy
every now and then, but it’s best to avoid sodas and energy drinks, for the
repeated hits of sugar on the teeth is what causes enamel demineralization and
tooth decay. If your diet circulates around energy drinks
, you may not have
any teeth come your 45th birthday.
, you may not have
any teeth come your 45th birthday.
