Foods:Your smile's enemies
and best friends
By Oluwatoyin Oluwastoyin
Friday,
May 11, 2007
|
•
Apples- could help clean up your teeth after meal
•Pix: Sun News Publishing |
|
Beyond moods, what you eat could actually spoil your looks.
This is not about weight now. Have you ever considered the ability of soft drinks
to eat through your tooth enamel? Try smiling after the havoc, how does this affect
your facial appearance?
Or isn’t a smile still the least way to
brighten up? But soft drink is not the only food that does a number on your grin.
Here are some of your smile's worst enemies and (good news!) best friends. The
enemies list
Soft drinks, fruit juice, and sports drinks: Not only
are they sugary, they are acidic. This creates a perfect home for the bacteria
that cause cavities and gum disease, especially if you tend to sip on one or another
of these drinks all day. Acid-neutralizing saliva just cannot keep up.
The
realistic fix: Nobody is asking you to go cold turkey but if you must sip something
all-day long, choose water. Reserve these pick-me-ups (soft, sport drinks and
fruit juice) for once-a-day use. And using straws to sip through them shrinks
teeth-exposure time.
Sticky stuff: We are talking about bread, crackers,
chips, sweet rolls, and other refined carbohydrates which are likely to cling
to the teeth. And they hang on for at least 20 minutes. This is not good at all
for your teeth.
The realistic fix: Try to say no to sticky sweets and carbohydrates
when you cannot brush afterward.
Alternatively, slosh some water around in
your mouth. Your smile’s best friends
Cheese,
please: Eating a bit of cheddar (or whatever) at the end of a meal helps protect
teeth. It stimulates the production of cleansing saliva, plus the calcium in cheese
helps harden teeth.
Crunchy things: Crisp apples, celery and carrots are nature's
little toothbrush alternatives. Not only do they help rid your mouth of food particles
but their rough, fibrous texture actually scrubs away as you chew, slightly brightening
your smile.
Tea: Drinking tea after eating can help destroy the germs
that cause cavities, gum disease, and bad breath. This goes for both green and
black teas.
Shiitake mushrooms: These delicate, delicious flavour-boosters
contain lenitan, a plant substance that is anything but a lightweight: It fights
both tooth plaque and the bacteria that live in it.
You are wise? Save your
teeth for that bright, ‘white,’ confident smile, eat right. |
