We know that good oral health is a must: brushing, flossing, regular trips to the dentist can help you have great teeth and gums. But there are so many things that we do every day that can either damage or strengthen our teeth.
Red wine, coffee, smoking, and crunching on boiled sweets can all cause discoloration and even some cracks in the tooth. If you aren’t careful about what you eat and drink, you’ll soon find yourself getting a toothache regularly and searching online for ‘dentist near me’!
So if you are ready to give your teeth a super boost in strength and generally improve your health at the same time – then here are the foods that you should be looking at.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
Calcium
Calcium has long been hailed as the kind when it comes to strengthening your teeth and bones. You can get calcium from cheese, milk, yogurt, and fortified cereals. But if you are vegan, lactose intolerant, or don’t like dairy, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
Here are some great dairy alternatives for calcium:
- Leafy green vegetables
- Oat, almond, and rice milk
- Nuts and seeds
- Dried figs
You can also choose to take a daily vitamin with your RDA of calcium and vitamin D.
Vitamin D
Without vitamin D, your body isn’t going to be able to utilize the calcium to your advantage. You need to have at least 10 minutes outside daily – although more is better.
Many of the sources of vitamin D are fish like salmon, tuna, and cod liver oil. However, if you are vegan or don’t like fish, you can get vitamins d from oranges, fortified plant-based milk, and mushrooms.
If you don’t get enough vitamin D in your diet, your body will begin to break down the vitamin D in your teeth and bones, and they will become brittle.
Protein
We often consider protein-rich foods to be for building muscle and energy for workouts. However, protein is essential to help the body repair tissues too. Another thing that protein offers is that it has a high level of phosphorous.
Phosphorous is one of the most important things for supporting strong teeth and your jaw too!
One of the most important functions of phosphorous is that it helps to balance the pH levels in the mouth. When the levels are balanced, you reduce the growth of the bacteria that can cause cavities.
Magnesium
Magnesium plays a huge role in our bodies, and it has a key role in our oral health too. This mineral helps to strengthen and maintain the strength of your jaw and tooth enamel. You can find magnesium in barley, wheat, and oats. However, you can also get magnesium from pumpkin seeds, cashews, some fish, and bananas.
And one of the most simple and effective ways to make sure you have strong teeth is simply by drinking plenty of water every day. Water helps to rinse away bacteria and food particles between brushing.
It isn’t just your teeth you can help to support by eating the right foods; read more: 5 Ways to Improve Your Mental Health Through Food.
Thank you for reading!
