The mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body, with the mouth acting as the "window" to your whole body health. Complete health dentistry is the combination of oral health and medical health, to ensure that your whole health is optimized through proactive, holistic dental care. Nutrition is no small part of complete and preventative healthcare. As we send our kids back to school, make sure nutrition makes it into the lunch sack.
Before heading to the market
Plan your meals and make a shopping list. Knowing what you’ll be making for the week cuts down on extra trips to the grocery store. Don’t forget to eat before you go! It’s much easier to stick to your list when your appetite is satiated.
Double Duty - maximize your time in the kitchen
Meal prepping for work and school lunches easily doubles as preparation for breakfast, dinner, and snacks inside the home. When you’re prepping those take away lunches, combine that effort with the at-home meals in mind, in order to support your healthy eating habits across the board. Washed and cut fruit can be tossed into yogurt or oatmeal at breakfast time. Snap peas and carrots are delicious, healthy alternatives for dipping into hummus or salsa, instead of chips, when the snack attack hits.
Planning ahead saves you some time and energy during the week. Prepped food in the fridge makes it easier to create quick, healthy dinners. It can also help you resist the urge to get takeout or delivery after a long day.
Targeted Ingredients
Back to school usually requires a shift in gears, as far as the brain is concerned. Boost that brain power with healthy fats such as those found in nuts, fish, and avocados.
Fiber is an essential component of a healthy diet and not only does it help maintain digestive health, it also lowers cholesterol levels, and helps regulate blood sugar.
There’s a reason you keep hearing “eat the rainbow”. Nature has taken out some of the guesswork when it comes to selecting a nutrient-balanced diet. Each color in our fruits and vegetables indicates different phytonutrients, so when we include all the colors in our grocery haul, we’re maximizing our nutrient intake.
You can grow the rainbow in your home! As seen in our front office, we recommend vertical, aeroponic garden systems that allow you to grow your own produce without the learning curve or time commitment of traditional gardening. Taking up less than 3 square feet, you can enjoy a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Tower Garden systems offered by Complete Health Dentistry of Columbus lets you easily grow your own fresh, nutrient-rich food without soil.
You don’t have to do it all alone
Having your kids participate in lunch-making is a great way to teach good nutrition choices and foster responsibility for what goes into their body. Being a part of the process can help children develop decision making skills and help them connect the steps of planning, prepping, and enjoying.
Luckily, we have an abundance of technology to help us hit our nutrition goals. If a pen and paper doesn’t seem like enough to tackle the tasks above, download a nutrition app to your phone. Nutrition apps are a great support system in the quest to fuel our bodies. From going vegan, to avoiding food sensitivities, to targeting sustainability and/or food waste. With so many choices available, you’re bound to find one that fits your individual needs.
Nutritional supplements are another great helper. When used as an addition to our diet, and not a replacement, nutritional supplements can help you bridge the gap between what you should eat, and what you do eat, every day. We recommend Juice Plus+ which is whole food based nutrition through a fruit, vegetable, and berry blend. Not a multivitamin, medicine, treatment, or cure for any disease, Juice Plus+ is made from quality ingredients carefully monitored from farm to capsule to provide natural nutrients your body needs to be at its best.
Stay hydrated
Don’t forget the water! Hydration is essential for good nutrition. Staying hydrated keeps everything moving properly. It lubricates joints, regulates body temperature, and delivers nutrients to our cells. It also works together with fiber to keep us regular and is great for our oral health!
Personal Nutritional Counseling
A very important part of oral systemic health care is nutritional counseling. Good nutrition supports healing and prevention of inflammation and disease. Complete Health Dentistry of Columbus provides advice about diet and oral systemic health to all patients. Come check out the books on nutrition on our bookshelf.
If you are interested in holistic dentistry services in Columbus, Ohio please contact us to schedule an appointment!