Keep Your Kid's Teeth Healthy With Nutrition by Steven Brazis
Providing your family with a healthy diet can be
challenging in today's world. The stores are full of foods that have the
nutrition processed out of them. Fast foods are everywhere. If you are
willing to look, however, there are good whole food and health food
stores as well. Look for foods that are high in fiber and nutrients and
low in chemical additives and sugars.
Some suggestions for finding excellent health foods and snacks online:
http://www.myforevergreen.org/stevenbrazis/home.html
http://www.sunfood.com
Essential Nutritious Food
Children are in their growing stages and therefore require foods from
each food group to maintain proper health. Include carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats in every meal. Normally, a child's diet has a higher
concentration of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates contain starches and
sugars, some harmful and some essential. Try to emphasize the complex
carbohydrates found in vegetables and fruits as opposed to the starchy
carbohydrates found in pasta and breads.
Bacteria cause dental cavities. While it is true that bacteria thrive
more on certain foods, they will live on residue from any food. Cookies,
candies, pastries and cakes get the most attention when cavity producing
foods are discussed. Yet, fruits, milk, peanut butter, pretzels, chips,
and juices are equally detrimental. Regulating eating habits along with
regular brushing habits will help tremendously.
Water
Water is a subject that is so often overlooked in discussions of
nutrition that I want to give it special attention here. Children will
naturally appreciate water. Their bodies want it. Give your child water
to drink instead of flavored drinks of any kind. Most people do not get
enough good water in their bodies.
Water is a natural lubricant and cleanser. It is a necessary catalyst
for most of the essential metabolism of the body as well as acting as a
cleansing agent to flush waste and toxic materials from the cells and
body as a whole.
Today, most water sources need extra filtering to make sure it doesn't
contain more harmful ingredients than good. Bottled water is an
alternative, though that can be expensive. Good inexpensive water
filters can be found with a little research and well worth the effort.
Finally, just drinking water during and after eating will wash out the
mouth and help dilute any remaining food substance left, reducing the
risk of tooth decay enormously.
Tips to Maintain Good Dental Health in Children
* Avoid giving sticky food like raisins, honey, caramel, syrups, and
molasses to children. Otherwise, insist on your children brushing their
teeth immediately after eating such foods.
* Give them raw vegetables and fruits for snacks. Vegetables and fruits
like cucumber, pear, celery, and melon stimulate the secretion of saliva
during eating. This helps wash away sugars present in such fruits and
vegetables and prevent any buildup of food residue.
* Give cheddar cheese as an alternative snack or for lunch. This
triggers saliva formation and helps wash down food particles.
* Give children water instead of juices or soda. Juices and soda have
high levels of sugar. Soda also has carbolic acid, which is extremely
destructive to teeth. Diluting fruit juices with some water is also
helpful.
* Use a fluoridated toothpaste if you choose for brushing. The
beneficial effect of fluoride is that it helps to harden tooth enamel,
thereby reducing tooth decay. Flossing removes food deposits between the
teeth where brushing cannot.
* It is best to brush teeth well twice a day and preferably also after
meals and snacks. Drink lots of water!
About the Author
Children's dental health information is available at: http://www.yourchildrensteeth.com
Dr. Brazis has been a practicing dentist for 35 years in Sacramento, CA.
He can be reached at his web site: http://www.toothhaven.com
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