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Bad breath and your diet.
We live in a world where food dominates. We are on sensory overload because everywhere we turn there is another delectable delight to tantalize the
taste buds. Sadly, the majority of the foods that we are seduced by on a daily basis do serious
damage to our teeth. In our discussion that also applies to bad breath.
It is important to eat a healthy, well-balanced
diet. Unfortunately all day snacks and binging have replaced the concept of “three square meals a
day.”
When indiscriminate snacking takes place oral hygiene goes
out the window. If doubt that, begin a diary and document every single instance throughout the
day when you place food or beverages in your mouth. Weight loss programs teach their users to do
this and it can be an eye-opening experience. Some of our habits are so ingrained that we don’t
even realize what we are doing.
Someone brings a home made coffee cake to the office and
it’s very easy to unconsciously grab “just a little sliver” back to your desk along with your. . .what?. . third or fourth cup of java of
course.
You may be sitting in the grandstands at a little league
ballgame when your partner waves the bag of popcorn under your nose. Well, it’s just a few
kernels of popcorn, right?
Now, do you immediately run to the ladies room at the
office and brush your teeth? Do you leap off the bleachers and sprint to the “facilities” and
floss? Of course not, that would be ridiculous, right? If we all did that, there wouldn’t be a problem with dental disease or bad breath.
All the snacking that we do throughout the day not only
contributes to bad breath but snack food is usually very high in carbohydrates and produces excessive amounts of sugar that cause tooth decay
and promote bad breath. Harmful acids contained in soda pop attack the enamel on the teeth, yet
we sip on sodas all day long.
And, if you thought that just sodas are the culprit, think
again. A recent study claims that all those popular sports drinks we buy may not be such a good
idea after all. They may re-hydrate the body, but they can cause irreversible damage to the
dental enamel.
The study reports that fitness water, sports drinks, energy
drinks and other non-cola beverages increase the risk of damage by anywhere from 3 to 11 times!
It should be mentioned that the findings are indicative of
long term use. However, it appears that these drinks may not necessarily beneficial as a
substitute for plain old-fashioned fresh water!
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