Posts Tagged ‘healthy diet’

New Study in Journal of the American Dietetic Association Indicates Link

Healthy teeth and gums improve your smile and oral health. Most adults will have gum disease at some time in their lives. You may have it right now and not know it!  Can a diet rich in foods like peanut better and salmon help? A recent study says yes!

In my Media PA dental office, I see otherwise vigorous adults with an unhappy smile due to gum disease.  Gum disease not only leads to tooth loss and premature facial aging, but it has also been implicated in diabetes, heart disease and even dementia! 

In a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 110, Issue 11 (November 2010), Harvard researchers found that eating polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), like those found in fish oil and nuts, may help prevent gum disease.  PUFAs have anti-inflammatory properties that benefit some types of heart disease and arthritis.  This study provides more evidence that these same good foods may also lower the risk of gum disease, such as  inflammation and infection of the gums (periodontitis).  For good oral health, I recommend foods like salmon and nuts to my Media PA dental patients.

Periodontitis is a common inflammatory disease in which sensitive gum tissue shrinks away from teeth, creating open pockets. These pockets accumulate infectious bacteria that cannot be removed by simple tooth brushing.  The trapped bacteria produce toxins that lead to bleeding gums, disappearing bone and eventually, tooth loss.  In my Media PA dental office, I see patients with advanced gum disease and weakened bone. They did not realize they had periodontitis because they felt no pain until their teeth started to comes loose.  These researchers studied the effect of diet on oral health among 9,000 American adults who participated in this study.  People with low PUFA diets had three times more periodontal disease. People with high fatty acid intake, especially DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) had the lowest incidence of periodontitis.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in fish oil, fatty fish like salmon, peanut butter, certain margarines, and all types of nuts. Modest portions were enough to lower the incidence of gum disease in the study participants. As a Media PA dentist, I recommend these foods for a healthier smile.

If you are concerned about gum disease, see your dentist soon. If you live near Philadelphia or Wilmington and would like to consult with an expert, gentle Delaware County dentist to discuss all your options, please call our office so we may assist you – (610) 565-2868.

Your oral health and dental care is important to me. Life is better with a healthy smile!

Dr. L. Z. Bodak-G
Media PA Dentist

You and Your Family Are Eating a  Healthy Diet for life, right?

We all know the importance of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables for the health of our digestive and cardiac systems.  These essentials provide fiber, water, minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients that help protect our cells.  Dentists also recommend firm and crunchy foods, such as apples and vegetables, to stimulate the flow of saliva that helps to clean and protect our teeth.

The best food choices for the health of your mouth include cheeses, chicken or other animal protein, nuts, and milk. We believe these foods protect tooth enamel by providing the calcium and phosphorus to remineralize tooth enamel.  These minerals are removed  by acids, but can be restored by our diet.

But Here’s the Problem…

Your healthy food choices may be contaminated with tasteless, odorless chemicals like antibiotics, fungicides, pesticides, hormones and other agents that may be far from healthy.   These chemicals can run off the crops and enter our water supply, persisting for years.  Some of these compounds in higher concentrations have been linked to childhood diseases, reproductive disorders in men, and breast cancer in women.  How much is safe? We really don’t know for sure.  But we should be especially cautious regarding the diets of children and pregnant women.

So What Can We Do? 

For one thing, avoid the foods that usually test as the most heavily contaminated, the “Dirty Dozen”,  and choose the foods with the lowest tested residue, the “Clean Fifteen” .  (More to come in the next blog post about those!)  Organic foods are a great choice, because they are produced without the use of antibiotics, fungicides, pesticides, hormones and other chemicals, and have a much lower chemical residue.  Organic foods are available at local farmers’ markets; they are increasing found in supermarkets as well.  Ask where you shop and let them know you want a selection of organic foods.  

Try growing your own organic berries and vegetables.  In our backyard, we grew these tomatoes organically, along with organic peppers, lettuce, cucumber, and zucchini.  It takes about the same effort as a non-organic garden, the food is fresh and delectable, and you will be doing your body and our planet a huge favor.  Doesn’t that sound delicious?