{"id":866,"date":"2015-12-15T17:03:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T17:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/healthier-alternatives-to-favorite-holiday-treats\/"},"modified":"2021-08-02T07:35:31","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T07:35:31","slug":"healthier-alternatives-to-favorite-holiday-treats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/dental-blog\/healthy-holiday-treat-alternatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthier Alternatives to Favorite Holiday Treats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.doctorlogic.com\/Images\/Sites\/D\/DE-SanDiego\/Post\/Healthier-Eating-Alternatives-For-Your-Teeth-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Healthier Eating For Your Teeth\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Healthier alternatives to favorite holiday treats: December is the time of year when everyone breaks out their favorite, traditional family recipes. However, nine times out of ten, these treats involve loads of sugar, which can wreak havoc on your teeth. So what exactly does sugar do to your teeth and what are some tasty alternatives to favorite treats? We have some helpful holiday solutions for you, as well as links to sugar-free recipes.<\/p>\n<h3>Feeding Time!<\/h3>\n<p>No, we\u2019re not talking about the gorgeous buffet table or the eggnog; we\u2019re talking about plaque. When you eat sugar, you \u201cfeed\u201d plaque. Bacteria binds together to create plaque, and plaque uses sugar as a form of energy. So when you taste those holiday brownies, plaque also gets a wonderful snack. Even worse, sugar can act as glue by helping bacteria stick to the surface of the teeth. End result? It\u2019s harder to wash it away, creating the perfect environment for cavities. It\u2019s important to let your kids know that too many holiday treats can cause trouble down the line. For a kid-friendly website with wonderful dental information, visit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsdental.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Healthy Teeth<\/a>. You can even encourage your kids to have better dental health through the holidays by letting them play the \u201cSave the Tooth\u201d game.<\/p>\n<h3>The Usual Suspects<\/h3>\n<p>From cane sugar to the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, sugar seems to be everywhere in the American diet. Even natural foods such as honey or fruit juice can contain additives in addition to naturally occurring sugar. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mouthhealthy.org\/en\/nutrition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Dental Association<\/a>\u00a0states that the following are the top sources of added sugar in the diet:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, 35.7%<\/li>\n<li>Grain-based desserts (cakes, pies) 12.9%<\/li>\n<li>Fruit drinks 10.5%<\/li>\n<li>Dairy-based desserts (ice cream) 6.5%<\/li>\n<li>Candy 6.1%<\/li>\n<li>Ready-to-eat cereals 3.8%<\/li>\n<li>Sugars and honey 3.5%<\/li>\n<li>Tea (sweetened) 3.5%<\/li>\n<li>Yeast breads 2.1%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Tips for Keeping Your Teeth Health During Holiday Eating<\/h3>\n<p>A healthier holiday doesn\u2019t mean a vacation from your old favorites; simply look for more creative and nutritional ways to make them. Following are delicious tips and great recipe ideas:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>When baking or making desserts,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/nutrition-and-healthy-eating\/expert-blog\/healthy-holiday-eating\/bgp-20056243\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cut the amount of sugar by half<\/a>. You can enhance the sweetness by adding vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon. The advantage is that the more flavor these bring to your goodies, the less sugar you will have to use.<\/li>\n<li>What happens when you replace cream cheese with one percent cottage cheese and just a small touch of melted chocolate? You get this incredible chocolate truffle cheesecake from the Food Network Kitchen. The recipe is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodnetwork.com\/recipes\/food-network-kitchens\/chocolate-truffle-cheesecake-recipe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>When you have to create a dish quickly, you don\u2019t have to resort to fast food or prepackaged cakes. These delicious mini date-nut snowballs only take 10 minutes to make. The recipe, courtesy of Ellie Krieger for Food Network Magazine,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodnetwork.com\/recipes\/ellie-krieger\/mini-date-nut-snowballs-recipe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">can be found here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Carrots aren\u2019t only on the vegetable tray. These\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodnetwork.com\/healthy\/photos\/healthy-holiday-baking.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">carrot and pineapple whole-wheat muffins<\/a>\u00a0are a wonderful alternative to sticky breakfast buns or donuts.<\/li>\n<li>Diabetic?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/mfa-recipes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The American Diabetes Association<\/a> has a great resource for a variety of dishes and tips, as well as Healthier alternatives to favorite holiday treats for traditional dishes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Keep on Keeping on!<\/h3>\n<p>Don\u2019t let the break from school or work become a break from practicing good dental hygiene.\u00a0<strong>It\u2019s tempting with the rush to relatives\u2019 houses to let flossing fall by the wayside, but this is the time to be sure your healthy habits are stepping up to the plate.<\/strong>\u00a0Be sure you\u2019re brushing your teeth long enough\u2014two minutes is needed to remove sugars and food particles. Be sure to brush twice a day and limit between-meal snacks. Sipping on soda is hard on enamel, so opt for water or wiser food and beverage choices. Not only do fruits and vegetables help you feel \u201cfuller,\u201d but they also contain vitamins that are great for tooth health. Vitamin C is needed for healthy gums and vitamin A is important for building tooth enamel. Whether you\u2019re planning a large family gathering or a quiet evening with close friends, these tips and treats can help you avoid cavities, and therefore, extensive dental treatment in the new year.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Sources:<\/strong>\u00a0American Dental Association.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mouthhealthy.org\/en\/nutrition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cNutrition.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The Food Network.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodnetwork.com\/healthy\/photos\/healthy-holiday-baking.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cHealthy Holiday Desserts.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Nova Scotia Dental Association.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/healthyteeth.org\/what-about-sugar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cWhat About Sugar?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Zeratsky, Katherine, R.D, L.D.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/nutrition-and-healthy-eating\/expert-blog\/healthy-holiday-eating\/bgp-20056243\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cHealthy Holiday Eating\u2014Remakes of Favorite Recipes.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Healthier alternatives to favorite holiday treats: December is the time of year when everyone breaks out their favorite, traditional family recipes. However, nine times out of ten, these treats involve loads of sugar, which can wreak havoc on your teeth. So what exactly does sugar do to your teeth and what are some tasty alternatives [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedentalexpress.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}