Not all lunch foods are created equal when it comes to your kid's health. Here are 5 ideas for packing school lunches that, along with regular brushing and flossing, will help promote your child's oral health!
Finding healthy, exciting, and tasty food for your school lunches can be challenging.
When combined with regular flossing and brushing, a balanced and healthy diet is a factor in good oral health. Likewise, foods that are high in sugar or are acidic like are common contributors to dental problems.
It is worth the effort to find new lunchtime inclusions and spruce up known favourites when it comes to your kid's daily lunches.
Here are 5 oral health-friendly options to consider including in your child's lunches:
Cheese
Cheese contains calcium, which contributes to strengthening your child's teeth, and balances their mouth's pH level.
Cheese also encourages salivation, which is washes away plaque and bacteria from your child's teeth over the course of the day!
Whether paired with whole grain crackers and sliced apples or just on its own, cheese is satisfyingly tasty.
Crunchy Vegetables
Vegetables are not only very nutrient-dense, the crunchy ones offer many extra oral health benefits.
Vegetables like carrots and celery clean the mouth as they are eaten. Carrots, when combined with saliva, help to wash away staining bacteria. And celery is as close as you can get to nature's dental floss.
Both of those options can be eaten with sugarless peanut butter or hummus for your child's next school lunch.
Seeds and Nuts
Nuts and seeds come in all sorts of sizes (which is part of the fun!). Nuts and seeds are sources of fibre, protein, and healthy fats, making them great for school lunches.
Almonds, cashews, and brazil nuts are particularly beneficial for your child's oral health: promoting salivation and fighting tooth decay-causing bacteria .
These stellar snacks can be combined with sugar-free seasonings for extra flavour if you are feeling creative too.
Fruit
Fruit's natural sugars are healthier way to satisfy your child's sweet tooth than other snacks which include processed sugars.
Canned fruits (when not stored in high-sugar syrup), fruit with low-sugar yogurt, or fruit with sugarless peanut butter are all excellent ways to let your kid enjoy a sweet treat while promoting their oral health.
Some fruit, like apples and kiwis, give your child's teeth a cleanliness boost with their naturally rough, abrasive texture!
Water
Okay, you caught us, water isn't really a food.
But, while most water in British Columbia isn't fluoridated, drinking plain water with fluoride is one of the easiest ways to fight tooth decay. Water also naturally cleans your child's mouth.
Not only is water a much healthier drink option than soda for your child's oral health, it's easy to spruce up the bottle of water you pack with your child's lunch.
Herbs like mint and basil, cucumber, or berries can introduce flavour and excitement to a regular bottle of water.