Island Fitness (206)842-5720 | Bringing Strength, Flexibility & Balance to Bainbridge Island

FITNESS TIPS : Chew on this
Brush, floss, and serve your Labor Day BBQ on whole-wheat buns.

Topic: Menu Planning
return to fitness tips listings

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Add one more item to whole grains' list of benefits: They can keep you out of the dentist's chair. In a recent study, people who regularly ate whole grains in any form -- from oatmeal to pizza with whole-wheat crusts -- were less likely to develop dreaded gum disease and the tooth loss that can come with it.

Who would have thought that eating shredded wheat cereal as a teenager would protect your gums as an adult? But that seems to be the case. Although scientists aren't sure why, it may be because the fiber in whole grains reduces blood sugar, which ultimately wards off inflammation that can settle in the gums and cause peridontal disease. If it wards off the dentist's chair, that may be all the explanation most people need.

Of course, that's just one more reason to choose whole-grain breads, breakfast cereals, and pastas over foods made with refined, processed, bleached flours -- and to buy brown rice, soba noodles, and whole-wheat couscous, too. Unless you've been living in the tundra, you know that whole grains are nutritional all-stars for a lot of reasons. Among the biggest: their ability to help prevent heart disease, diabetes, digestive disorders, and cancer. And now, gum trouble.

SOURCES: Whole-grain and fiber intakes and periodontitis risk in men. Merchant, A. T., Pitiphat, W., Franz, M., Joshipura, K. J., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006 Jun;83(6):1395-1400.

return to fitness tips listings