In this day and age of fast and processed foods it can be a challenge to ensure a healthy diet for your family. Everyone wants to provide good food for their families, but how to do that when the stores are full of processed foods and fast food chains
are everywhere boggles the mind. However, for the parent willing to look, there are good whole food and health food stores also. 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.
All types of foods and snacks are able to cause dental cavities. Cookies, candies, pastries, and cakes are the obvious troublemakers. 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. If you give your child water to drink early on in life instead of flavored drinks of any kind, they will grow up to appreciate water and want to drink it naturally. 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. Fluoride helps improve the hardness of enamel and prevents 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!
Dr. Steven J. Brazis attended dental school at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco and graduated in 1973. He has been practicing general dentistry for 34 years. He bought this practice in 1995 and has had a very successful and fulfilling 12 years with mostly the same staff. His web site is:
http://www.toothhaven.com. His book "Your Children's Teeth: A Parents Guide To Dental Health" is available at:
www.yourchildrensteeth.com
Dr. Brazis is a member of the American Dental Association, the California Dental Association and the Sacramento District Dental Society. He is a past member of the San Francisco Dental Society where he also served a term on the Curriculum committee, responsible for the continuing education programs for the society.
Dr. Brazis practices all phases of general dentistry and has had extensive experience in some aspects of oral surgery, but enjoys most the sense of fulfillment of helping someone achieve their best smile employing the latest technology available to the dental field.
He is married with five grown children and one grandson. His interests are mostly outdoor sports. He loves backpacking and getting up into the high country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He has climbed almost all of the peaks in the Sierra Nevada range between Mt. Whitney and Yosemite at one time. He is an amateur photographer.