Vitamins And Minerals In Action

We have all heard that vitamins are good for you, and are essential along with other nutrients for our growth and for maintaining our health. The best way to do so is to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. But did you know that vitamins and minerals play an important role in maintaining the health of our oral cavity as well? Many minerals can help prevent the formation of cavities and the onset of periodontitis.

Our regular day to day consumption does not guarantee that we eat enough of these vitamins and minerals, though. That is why it is important to go out of your way to eat foods with high levels of a given vitamin or mineral.

Vitamins

Vitamin K

Liver, pork, leafy green vegetables vegetable oils and soy has high levels of vitamin K, which plays a role in the coagulation of blood. Lack of this vitamin causes bleeding of the gums. Eat plenty of the above mentioned, and you should have no problems.

Vitamin D

The white spots and lesions you can see on your tooth enamel are caused by a vitamin D deficiency. This vitamin helps the body in absorbing calcium, and thus has a crucial role to play in protecting the enamel. Supplements can be taken to make sure we get enough of this relatively rare vitamin, as our modern diet has very little of it. You can find it in egg yolks, butter, fish oil, and sunshine.

C Vitamin

This vitamin is important not just because it was discovered in Hungary by a Hungarian scientist, but also because a lack of it will cause swollen and bleeding gums. Unfortunately our body cannot store this vitamin, and so imbibing a greater amount of this vitamin is recommended, and you can turn to pills, supplements and drops as well for your extra vitamin C. Natural sources of C vitamin include cabbage, citrus fruits, peppers, tomatoes and rosehip.

Vitamin B

B vitamins have many different variants. Our mouths require B6, as this aids in cell growth and our metabolism. If we do not consume enough, our oral cavity can become inflamed and swollen, the tongue can become bumpy and partitioned. Similar symptoms can also occur from a lack of B3 as well. B3 can be found in fish, legumes such as beans, lentils and chickpeas, yeast, and whole wheat cereals. B12 vitamins have an anti-inflammatory effect, and can help treat viral infections. A lack of B12 can cause anaemia. Symptoms include tiredness, pale skin, reddening of the tongue and dry mouth. B12 can be found in the blood of slaughtered animals, dairy and eggs.

Vitamin A

This vitamin plays a role in maintaining the health of our teeth and gums, strengthens the enamel, and can be found in butter, fish oil, green vegetables, liver and other organs, as this vitamin dissolves in oil and fat. A lack of vitamin A will cause damaged enamel, bad skin, dried up mucus membranes and a cracked, partitioned tongue, and will leave us with a weak immune system, prone to infections.  

Minerals

Phosphorus

This mineral is essential in the development of bones and teeth, maintaining the health of the periodontium, but sadly it does not naturally occur in our bodies, and it only enters the body together with calcium. It is important to maintain a good balance of phosphorus and calcium, as too much phosphorus will leach the calcium from your bones and teeth. Phosphorus can be found in seeds, walnuts, eggs, poultry and whole wheat as well.

Calcium

Your teeth are 90% calcium, did you know that? That’s why when we lose some of it, white spots will start to appear on our teeth, which will eventually turn into cavities. You should eat around 800 milligrams of calcium a day. This vitamin can be found in milk and dairy, oily seeds, poppy seed, beans, salmon and sardines.

Iron

Iron deficiency will cause anaemic symptoms, and also can cause a burning sensation in the tongue, mouth and lip swelling as well. You can prevent this from happening by eating 14 milligrams of iron a day. Beans, asparagus, peaches, leafy green veggies like kale, ruccola and irish moss, flour, cereal, red meat and raw oysters.

Copper

Consuming some copper is necessary for iron to be soaked up into haemoglobin. You need only 1 milligram a day. Beans, whole wheat, plums fish and crabs have this mineral in large quantities.

Zinc

You need 10 milligrams a day of this mineral, which can be found in wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, eggs, mustard and sea fish. Zinc make sure that our brains and muscles work properly, and prevents the proliferation of bacteria in our gums and the buildup of plaque on our teeth.

Magnesium

This mineral helps bind the calcium to the bones, and thus helps the enamel as well, and regulates enzymes. You need 375 milligrams a day. You should eat dark green leafy veggies, apple, lemon, figs and corn if you want to get more of this good stuff.

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