As most parents know, children don’t always want healthy snacks — especially when they have the option to eat sugar-loaded snacks instead. What parents may not realize or think about too often is just how bad those sugary snacks are for their children. Not only will they affect a child’s weight, but they also can ruin a child’s teeth. No parents like to have to go back to the children’s dentist because they are dealing with rotted teeth and cavities. Here is some advice from a children’s dentist on some teeth healthy snacks for kids.

A Healthy Diet For Healthy Teeth

A balanced diet is essential for maintaining good oral health in children. When too many foods that contain starches and sugars are eaten, plaque is able to thrive on the teeth. The plaque mixes with the sugars and starches that are found in foods to produce an acid that attacks the enamel on the teeth, causing tooth decay. When a child has a nutritious diet, the chance of plaque forming and causing tooth decay dramatically decreases. A balanced diet for children is not just about meals, but also includes healthy snacks. In fact, snacks are usually the worst foods in a child’s diet, as often they are quick, unhealthy, ‘on the go’ treats.

Healthy Snacks To Consider

There are plenty of nutritious snacks that a children’s dentist would recommend. Teeth healthy snacks don’t have to be complicated but can be just as easy as grabbing a chocolate bar. Some quick nutritious foods for healthy teeth include: sliced fruit, raw vegetables with dip, string cheese, and yogurt. Your children’s dentist will be able to recommend plenty more teeth healthy snacks as well.

Snacks To Limit Or Avoid

Snack foods such as chocolate bars, candy, cake, cookies, and potato chips should be avoided or at the very least limited to special occasions. These foods contain too many sugars and starches that lead to tooth decay in children. Another recommended tip from a children’s dentist is to limit the amount of fruit juice that is given to a child. Most fruit juices contain a large amount of sugar. Instead, give your child milk or water and have them eat a piece of fruit. It is a good idea to avoid even buying these non-nutritious foods or beverages so that they are not readily available to your children.

The other types of snacks that should be limited in children are the ones that tend to stick to children’s teeth. A children’s dentist may recommend avoiding these types of foods since the longer that a food sit on the teeth, the more likely the acids in the sugars will start attacking the tooth, causing tooth decay to start. Examples of these types of snacks are: raisins, fruit snacks, white breads, peanut butter and dried fruit.

No matter how hard you try, though, it is usually inevitable that both children and adults will occasionally eat sweets. It’s sometimes simply too hard to pass up a piece of celebratory birthday cake or special holiday cookies. However, it is especially important to brush after consuming sweet snacks. If brushing is not possible, even rinsing your mouth out with water will help.

If you are having any trouble picking out a balanced diet for your little ones, your children’s dentist will be able to help you select the best foods to keep your children’s teeth healthy for years to come.

Christine O’Kelly is a writer for Big Smile Dental, a leading Chicago dental office led by Chicago dentist Dr. Theodore Siegel. The practice is committed to educating children and parents on the importance of good oral care.

Article Source: Teeth Healthy Snacks For Kids: Advice From A Children's Dentist

Why does everybody assume that every healthy dessert is uninteresting? Here is a prime example of a deceivingly simple pecan pie recipe that is just perfect for the health-conscious people of today’s world.

This pecan pie recipe is guaranteed to be healthy for you while being absolutely delicious at the same time. Besides the obvious benefits of pecans (they happen to be full of nutritional food values and make great healthy dishes), this pecan pie recipe was handed down for generations, so you know it’s got that old-fashioned home cooked goodness about it!

There is no way you could not love this pecan pie recipe, which is a lot of people’s all-time favourite! And anybody who gets their hands on it is extremely lucky. So now, here is a pecan pie recipe passed down for generations that tastes just as good on special occasions as any other time of the year – a pecan pie recipe that everyone will love and only requires around 15 minutes to create.

The Ingredients:

1 unbaked deep pie shell or several smaller pie shells

3 eggs

1/3 of melted butter

Between 1 and a 1 ½ cups of pecan halves

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of maple syrup (pure)

2 teaspoons of molasses

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and then combine all of the ingredients above in a bowl until they are thoroughly mixed. Once done, add your pecan halves and continue to beat. Put your pie shell into your pie pan and lay it on top of a cookie sheet to prevent spillages that could damage your oven while baking.

Once it is ready, carefully pour the resulting pie filling into the shell and place it into your oven. Be careful when placing it, though, since the mixture is a fairly viscous liquid that could spill. The pie will be finished in either 50 minutes or whenever you can insert a knife into it and pull it out without any residue left on it.

One serving suggestion for this pecan pie recipe would be to serve the pie hot with some vanilla ice cream on the side, but you can serve it however you want and still find that no one can resist this wonderful pecan pie recipe. Plus, while the baking time may take around 50 minutes; the actual preparation time for it would only be 15 minutes. This pecan pie recipe is guaranteed to get you numerous compliments, so be sure to give it a shot! You won’t be disappointed!

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