July 21 is known as National Junk Food Day and even though you might be tempted to eat junk food, try and avoid it if you can. In addition to damaging your teeth, eating high amounts of junk food can cause problems for your health. Your dentist will thank you when you go for your check up and your body will thank you for saving it and taking care of it.

These types of junk food can be harmful to your teeth so try and avoid them if you can.

  • Foods that are sticky such as; raisins, oatmeal or peanut butter cookies, jelly beans, foods with caramel, honey or syrup should all be avoided. The reason being is that because of their sticky like consistency these foods can get stuck onto the surface of your teeth and make it harder for your saliva to wash away the sugar on them.
  • Foods that have high amounts of sugar in them should also be avoided. Candies like, lollipops, cough drops, mints and any type of hard candy should be avoided because the sugar that sticks to your teeth can cause you to get cavities.
  • Avoid juices and sodas all together or drink them in moderation. If you do drink them make sure that you’re rinsing your mouth out with water or a mouthwash so that the residue from the beverages doesn’t stick to the surface of your teeth.
  • If you eat or drink foods or beverages with high amounts of acid in them then you need to be careful because these types of foods can wear away at your enamel.
  • Have you paid attention to what you feed your body? Do the foods you eat consist of good amounts of nutrients? The important thing to remember is that you need to avoid foods that are low in nutritional value. You want to make sure that you’re eating foods that are doing to benefit and strengthen your teeth as well as your body.

The most important thing to remember when it comes to junk food is that it’s not going to benefit your body in any way. A healthy body starts with a healthy you!

Remember this quote next time you decide to eat something unhealthy. “You are what you eat.” – Anthelme Brillat-Savarin