Summer is finally here! Across the Tennessee valley schools are out and fresh fruit is coming to the local markets! With an estimated half of the Georgia peach harvest gone due to our bad weather this spring, and everyone here at McOmie Dentistry is wondering about where we are going to get our fruit fix? Dried fruit, canned fruit, frozen. These are all options, what do these things do to our teeth. This week’s blog post has to do with the different fruit options and which ones are bad. We think of them as healthy and while ANY fruit beats candy, we need to be aware of the sugar content. Believe it or not, sugar is actually added to many of the ways we get fruit to our diets. It seems very unnecessary to add sugar to such wonderful food. We were so sad to hear our staple in this region of delicious freestone fresh peaches is not going to be as plentiful. What makes us so sad is a fresh fruit with natural skin is the healthiest form of fruit. Search it out and find it and eat it!
To compound our fresh fruit problem Tidwell’s didn’t grow strawberries this year! That is a major problem, it has been routine that they provide the berries for the Strawberry Festival in Dayton. The festival went on and did very well despite one of the biggest growers stepping aside this year. Hopefully, you got some strawberries this year.
FRUIT IS AN ESSENTIAL element of a well-balanced, healthy diet. It is an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and eating it on a regular basis helps boost your immune system and reduces your risk of illness and chronic disease. There are a lot of ways people get their fruit, however, and when it comes to your teeth, some ways are worse than others!
Beware Of Dried Fruit
Many people think dried fruit is a great healthy snack. Unfortunately, dried fruits have a lot of sugar in them, not to mention the added sugar that many packaged dried fruits come with. Because they’re dehydrated, most of the water is lost from the fruit, but none of the sugar is, making it highly concentrated.
As we’ve said in previous blog posts, more sugar, more cavities! Harmful bacteria in our mouths consume sugar and produce acids as a by-product, which can cause tooth decay. Dried fruit is also extremely sticky, meaning it sticks to your teeth longer than most other foods.
To learn a bit more about why sugar is bad for our teeth, watch the video below: It is hilarious and very informative.
Can The Canned Fruit
Most canned fruits you find are bathed in sugary syrup. It may taste good, but it can wreak havoc on your teeth if you’re not careful! Even those that are labeled “light syrup” often have high sugar content. If you’re a fan of canned fruit as a healthy snack, make sure it doesn’t have any added sugar or is packaged in 100 percent fruit juice.
Watch Out For Fruit Juice
Fruit juice, even if it’s all-natural, contains a lot of sugar. What’s worse is that many fruit juices, especially those marketed for children, have added sugar in them. In fact, the majority of fruit juice sold in stores contains just as much sugar as soda, sometimes even more!
Sugar isn’t the only problem–fruit juice is also very acidic. The combination of sugar and acid doesn’t bode well for your teeth: while acid weakens tooth enamel, sugar feeds cavity-causing bacteria and contributes to decay.
Do What’s Best For Your Teeth
As a general rule, try to eat your fruit fresh! Not only is it better for your teeth, but the fiber in whole fruit slows the absorption of sugar in the bloodstream, making it much healthier for your body. Of course, it’s okay to have juice and dried or canned fruit every once in a while. But remember to rinse with water after and brush and floss to protect your pearly whites!
