Keep Your Kid's Teeth
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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