The Benefits of a Balanced Diet

Eating a healthy, balanced diet can help you to maintain a healthy weight, control your blood pressure, and prevent serious problems including diabetes and heart disease.  This fact is rarely disputed.  So, what exactly constitutes a “balanced diet?”  By definition, a balanced diet is a diet consisting of the proper quantities and proportions of foods needed to maintain health or growth.

The United States Government has established daily dietary guidelines by way of the Food Guide Pyramid.  The Food Guide Pyramid calls for eating a variety of foods each day to get the nutrients you need and at the same time the right amount of calories to maintain a healthy weight.  It recommends that you eat 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta, 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 servings of fruit, 2-3 servings of milk, yogurt and cheese and 2-3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts every day.  The Food Guide Pyramid suggests that fats, oils and sweets be used only sparingly.

Unfortunately, for patients with dentures or missing teeth, eating a healthy, balanced diet can pose a significant challenge. Many foods that appear at the bottom of the food pyramid including whole grains, fruits and vegetables can be hard to chew and properly digest for patients with dentures or missing teeth.  As a result, they are often substituted for higher calorie, higher carbohydrate foods that are easier to chew.  The result is an unhealthy, unbalanced diet that can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

Fortunately, dental implants provide a permanent solution for patients with missing teeth that enable them to eat the foods they love and to eat a well balanced diet that is rich in fiber.  Dental implants are prosthetic tooth roots that serve as a foundation for replacement teeth that look, feel and function like natural teeth.  If you are currently unable to eat a balanced diet due to dentures or missing teeth, please contact an Oral Surgeon today to get more information about Dental Implants and how they can benefit you.

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