Nutrition is the process of consuming, absorbing, and using nutrients from food that are necessary for growth, development, and maintenance of life. For maintenance of good oral health the role of nutrition cannot be overemphasized.
Healthy eating entails intake of all essential classes of nutrients to attain a ‘balanced diet’. Lack of one or more types/class(es) of nutrients has a deleterious effect on health generally and on oral health in particular. It is therefore essential that everyone indulges in the practice of eating healthy to maintain good health.
Fruits Including (nut and dates) and vegetables (particularly, green leafy vegetables) are a repository of essential vitamins, mineral, micro-nutrients proteins carbohydrates, lipids and other essential nutrients that ere essential for healthy living. It is essential therefore to develope a habit of eating fruits and vegetables in order to maintain good health.
Animal based diet are a rich source of proteins and lipids. proteins are essential for growth and maintenance of biological processes that are essential for life. It is advisable for take meat particularly fish and poultry. Too much intake of red meat should be avoided as there are potential health risk involved.
Plant based diets obtained from roots, tubers, legumes, etc, are a good source of carbohydrate and lipids which is are sources of energy for daily activities. caution is however advised in the ingestion of these sources of diet as they have the tendencies of altering the normal metabolic activities of the body if consumed excessively. A good rule is to eat any and all kinds of food and to take none in excessive quantity so as to maximize nutritional benefits from them and minimize the risk of metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Chewing food before swallowing is essential to release the nutritional components and increase the surface area available for digestive enzymes to act upon. Saliva is a rich source fs digestive enzymes such as amylase, lipase etc which begin the process of digestion. Swallowing coarse food without chewing therefore, bypasses these important enzymatic activities.
Mastication is important for maintaining teeth and gum health. chewing is a natural cleaning mechanism that helps remove bacterial plaque and pellicle from teeth surface. Not chewing with the teeth encourages accumulation of plaque and calculus. The gums are stimulated by the mechanical action of food on them. And this is essential for their normal physiologic processes. The periodontal tissues also benefit from this processes thereby keeping the teeth healthy.
It is very clear from the foregoing that the benefits of good nutritional practice is massive. Your oral health therefore has a mutually beneficial relationship with the quality and quantify of your nutrition.
At Total Dental Care Clinic, we take nutritional advice seriously because we recognise that it is a vital part of complete care.
