The autumn harvest brings an abundance of foods that are simply delicious. These foods also provide important nutrients for keeping you healthy. Let’s take a look at 5 appetizing fall foods that are also great for your teeth.
Bone Broth Soup
Soup is a favorite fall menu item for many chefs; it is the ideal cold-weather comfort food. Aside from the flavorful taste of the bone broth, one of the best things about it is the benefits it holds for your teeth. Its benefits come primarily from the high mineral content. You’re probably aware of the importance of calcium to the teeth. You might not be aware that other minerals are also crucial for dental health. Magnesium is a mineral that is just as important for your teeth, because it helps your body absorb the other nutrients like calcium and vitamin D that are critical for dental health. Bone broth made from chicken bones includes both calcium and magnesium plus other healing minerals including phosphorus, silicon and sulfur.
You can make a variety of different soups using bone broth as your soup base. You can cook up a tasty batch of vegetable bone broth by adding savory ingredients such as garlic, onions, carrots, broccoli and cabbage to the broth. Or you could make your bone broth into a hearty chicken soup by adding chicken and other vegetables to the broth.
Cranberries and Cranberry Juice
Many people think of cranberries as being either a Thanksgiving treat or a Christmas tree decoration. However, cranberries have amazing health benefits, several of which are beneficial to your oral cavity. Cranberries have the power to reduce the level of plaque on your teeth; to deter gingivitis; and to inhibit the fungal infection that causes thrush and oral yeast infections. Cranberries’ healing power comes about from the substance in the fruit that colors them red. It’s called “proanthocyanidin,” and it works by interfering with the ability of harmful pathogens to adhere to the teeth and the tissues in the mouth.
While cranberry sauce is delicious, unfortunately, it isn’t the most effective form of cranberries you could be eating if good dental health is your objective. A pure, organic, no-sugar-added cranberry juice is actually your best bet for this purpose. If you can find a cranberry-based natural mouthwash, that might also work well. If you’re already following an oral hygiene program recommended by your dentist, you’ll probably wish to ask your dentist’s opinion before switching mouthwash brands. However, it’s important to understand that many dentists are not aware of the medical research regarding cranberries and how they inhibit the formation of oral biofilms; so you may need to bring that research to his or her attention during your discussion.
Gouda Cheese
Most cheeses have high calcium content, which is clearly beneficial for the teeth. We specifically mention Gouda cheese on this list, not because of the calcium, although that is certainly important. We recommend seeking out Gouda cheese because it contains significant amounts of vitamin K2, which is another nutrient that is essential for healthy teeth. Vitamin K2 is challenging for most people to get in sufficient quantities. Gouda cheese is one of the tastiest and most widely available sources for vitamin K2 available to consumers outside of Asia. (For those in Asia, nattō is an even better source of vitamin K2, although nattō is an acquired taste that is not particularly palatable to most westerners).
Gouda cheese pairs well with a variety of fall menu items. You can grate it on salads for lunch or for serving as the first course of your evening meal. You can serve it with fruit and wine for dessert. Gouda cheese makes the basis for a delicious sandwich when served with sourdough bread, either as the sole protein or with a meat such as turkey or chicken.
Yogurt
There are multiple reasons that yogurt is one of the best foods for your teeth. The significant calcium content is one of the most obvious reasons; the calcium content in the yogurt helps to build strong teeth. Another important reason is that yogurt is a fermented product containing beneficial probiotic organisms. These organisms can help to inhibit the unhealthy bacteria that cause infections, decay and other problems in your mouth.
If dental health is your primary objective for eating yogurt, one of the best ways to consume this food is to eat plain, unflavored organic yogurt. It’s a good substitute for sour cream in many recipes; you can top baked potatoes with it, or you can use it in a number of different creamy sauces for vegetables and entrees. Plain organic yogurt enables you to avoid all the unhealthy sugars, artificial sweeteners and preservatives that are present in some flavored, conventional yogurts. Another good approach is to blend your plain yogurt with fresh, chopped fruit such as bananas, berries, pears, peaches or apples.
Garlic
Garlic is not only delicious and flavorful, it offers you some definite benefits for your teeth. It is anti-fungal, antibiotic, anti-bacterial and packed with healthful nutrients that benefit your mouth and body in multiple ways. One of the most important uses for garlic to help your teeth: If you ever have a toothache at a time you can’t get to a dentist in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, chewing a clove of raw, organic garlic will help to alleviate the toothache pain until you’re able to get professional help. Why this works: a substance in the garlic known as allicin can help to inhibit the harmful pathogens that cause tooth infection.
The 5 foods mentioned above are not only flavorful, they also offer outstanding health benefits. While the teeth are some of the major recipients of the benefits from these foods, the nutrients they contain are helpful to the body in many ways. It is exciting to realize that you can create a varied and delicious fall menu while benefiting your teeth and body at the same time. Bon appetit!