Quick Summary
Maintaining a healthy weight through regular exercise protects against type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which are strongly linked to gum disease, 22 percent of diabetes patients and 91 percent of heart disease patients have periodontal disease. Choosing vegetables, cheese, and nuts over sugary snacks, drinking water instead of soda, and exercising regularly can help you prevent cavities and support your gums while managing your weight.
Key Takeaways
- You can brush your teeth or chew sugar-free gum when you experience a food craving to make your mouth minty fresh and discourage eating afterward.
- Ask your dentist how managing your weight and controlling blood sugar can reduce your risk of gum disease, especially if you have diabetes or heart disease.
- Replace soda and sugary drinks with water to cut calories and reduce your risk of tooth decay, since one in four Americans gets nearly 200 or more calories daily from sugary beverages.
- Two minutes of brushing burns about five calories while keeping your teeth clean and helping you resist snack temptation.
The best prevention for chronic disease and illness is a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, or just live more healthy, the healthy choices you make not only do wonders for your overall health and body, but they also have a beneficial impact on your beautiful smile!
Here in Chattanooga, we were just voted one of the unhealthiest cities in America. Who knows what the criteria are for such a bad piece of press on the Scenic City but we can all agree there is always room for improvement.
Here’s To Making Better Food Choices
It’s not just how many times you brush your teeth each day. Your oral health also depends on what you eat! When you make healthier food choices for your body, you are also picking better foods to help keep your teeth strong and healthy.
If you choose veggies, cheese, and nuts instead of chips or fruit snacks full of high fructose, corn syrup, and sugar, you’re on the path to a healthy body and mouth. A “low sugar” and minimal processed foods diet can not only help you slim down and fight illness, but it can also support cavity prevention.
Watch the video below to learn more about where added sugar could be sneaking into your diet!
Drinking More Water… Is Essential!
Did you know that one in four Americans gets nearly 200 or more calories a day from sugary drinks like soda? Soda and sugary drinks are a leading cause of tooth decay and unnecessary weight gain. Next time your reaching for your favorite cola or juice during dinner consider grabbing water instead. If plain ole water sounds boring to you, try adding lemon, lime or cucumber for a refreshing twist on H2O.
Removing soda and high in sugar beverages from your diet, or drinking less, is a great way to reduce calories and cavities. And once you start to drink more water, you will undoubtedly notice how much better it makes you feel! One of the worst things that can be done is sipping soda all day long. Sundrop seems to be a Sequatchie Valley favorite, it is highly acidic and very sugary, a recipe for tooth decay.
Regular Exercise Does a Body and Mind Good
One of the best ways to protect yourself from health conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease just to name a few is maintaining a healthy weight. Often, these diseases go hand in hand with gum disease or periodontal disease. In fact, 22 percent of those with diabetes and 91 percent of patients with heart disease have gum disease.
Regular exercise serves your body’s health and your smile in amazing ways.
One More Valuable Tip For Our Amazing Patients
If you’re experiencing a food craving and want to steer clear, you can brush your teeth! Or chew a piece of sugar-free gum. This will help curb your craving, and you will be less inclined to eat after making your mouth minty fresh! Since most food or drink won’t taste great after brushing your teeth, we recommend letting good oral hygiene help you stem cravings!
Oh, and did we mention that two steady minutes of brushing burns about five calories? Hey, it’s not a whole lot, but it counts!
If you have any other questions about your dental health or a topic you’d like us to write about? Make sure to let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page. We are always looking for dental topics to discuss with the Scenic City about dentistry. We look forward to hearing from you!
Thank you for being such wonderful patients! Give us a call with any questions. McOmie Family Dentistry 423-899-1112
