Everyone knows that a healthy diet helps promote whole-body health, but a healthy diet can also promote oral health. Certain foods can help build healthier teeth and gums, while certain foods can take away from your oral health and lead to periodontal disease.
To help you have a healthy diet for healthy teeth, here’s our quick guide to finding healthy (and delicious!) food in our hometown of Asheville, North Carolina:
Great Foods for Healthy Teeth
Including calcium in your diet is a great way to build strong bones and teeth, and help prevent tooth decay. Calcium-rich foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt are key parts of a tooth-healthy diet. Calcium can also be found in salmon, kale, and broccoli.
Vitamin C strengthens your connective tissue and fights infection, which is why it can help prevent gingivitis. Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines are great sources of Vitamin C.
Fruits and vegetables are key elements in a whole-body healthy diet, and they’re equally great in an oral health diet. Crunchy fruit and vegetables like pears, apples, and celery can wipe away plaque-causing bacteria, and promote the production of bacteria-neutralizing saliva.
Harmful Foods for Oral Health
If you’ve ever had braces, you know that licorice and sticky candies are number one on the list to avoid, and that’s because they can leave sugar in your teeth for hours. Even if you don’t have braces, high-sugar foods like gummy candies, hard candies, and soda can all damage your enamel.
Fruit that isn’t fresh – juices, dried fruit, and fruit snacks – are also on the list of teeth troublemakers. Fruit contains sugar, but fresh fruit in its original form also contains plenty of water to rinse away the sugar and acids. Changing your fruit by adding extra sugar or removing the water can turn an oral health hero into an oral health villain.
No matter what you eat, but especially after consuming sugary foods, it’s important to brush and floss afterward to get the sugar out of your teeth!
Eating Healthy in Asheville
Now that you know what foods to look for, here are some of our favorite local Asheville restaurants with healthy menu options for you to enjoy!
- Nine Mile is a great stop for Caribbean cuisine that has vegetarian and vegan plates.
- Plant Vegan Restaurant is designed for vegans and vegetarians with a menu full of flavorful options.
- Laughing Seed Cafe is Asheville’s original downtown international vegetarian restaurant.
- Pulp + Sprout has both breakfast and lunch menus full of plant-based foods.
Continue to Support Your Oral Health with Zöe Dental
Finding healthy restaurants in Asheville, NC, and choosing healthy foods at the grocery store doesn’t have to be a chore. There are plenty of ways to practice dieting and oral health, and your dentist will be happy to give you further information about a smile-friendly diet.
Contact us today to set up an appointment or chat with a dentist!
