Your dietary habits have a major role to play in maintaining your dental health, says Karishma Jaradi.
You are halfway through that creamy doughnut when the guilt sets in, but the thing about binge-eating is that you learn to carelessly carry on, regret later and then repeat.
Life in a corporate work culture is never short of deadlines.
More often than not, you find yourself swinging between multiple projects, leading to long, stressful hours at work.
The stress then brings along the cravings for comfort food.
Positioning yourself before your laptop with a greasy cheeseburger may seem like the easiest stressbuster for your corporate woes, but binge-eating does not help eliminate stress levels.
Instead, it aids in degrading your oral hygiene.
When nothing seems to stop you from binge-eating at work, you must accept that you have fallen prey to an eating disorder.
Your dietary habits have a major role to play in maintaining your dental health.
The most common advice you will get is to curb the intake of sugary treats that may cause a cavity built-up in your teeth.
Little did you know that binging on acidic and fatty foods can have an equally upsetting impact on your teeth.
Sugar and acids work hand in hand to damage your oral health.
Unseen microbes called bacteria thrive in your mouth at all times.
These harmful germs have the ability to form a material called plaque that clings onto the surface of your teeth.
When you eat something sweet, the microbes in the plaque work to convert them into acids that can melt the hard enamel covering your teeth.
That's how you get cavities.
If you curb your sugar intake instead of constantly nibbling on treats while at work, the bacteria won't be able to produce enough acidic substances that eat away the enamel.
Deficiency in iron can cause blisters inside the mouth.
A deficiency of vitamin B3 (niacin) causes bad breath and canker sores in the mouth, causing gums to turn red and swollen, a sign of dental gingivitis.
Your mouth can also be extremely dry due to dehydration.
While you work round-the-clock, keeping a check over what you consume.
The tendency of sitting at one place and the constant binging will not just hamper your healthy teeth, but also contribute to weight gain and related problems.
- If you get the urge to binge, nibble on nutritious snacks that are high in calcium, iron and vitamin B.
- Maintain good oral health by brushing and flossing regularly.
- After you eat, you should instantly rinse your mouth with water or a sugar-free mouth rinse.
- Dry mouth, or xerostomia, can be caused due to nausea and poor dental hygiene. This condition is the major cause behind tooth decay. Sipping on water regularly to keep the mouth moist help keep decay at bay.
- Avoid sugary and processed foods as much as possible.
- Consume fresh fruits like strawberries and add more salads to your diet.
