Snack Ideas for Happy Teeth

Sugar free, dairy free, gluten free, fat free, raw … the list goes on. As a Dental Hygienist I’m guilty of telling my patients what they shouldn’t be eating all the time, but what are we supposed to eat? Here are some tooth-friendly snack ideas for children (and big kids) to keep everyone happy.

Picnic Plate

Picnics are one of Bostons favourite lunches. He loves carrot and tomato at the moment, but that’s subject to change by the end of the week. If you stick with vegetables, you’re almost sugar free (a tiny bit of natural sugar, but negligible!).

Mini Pizza

Mini pizzas are the best thing ever for hiding nutrients in. We make ours using an English muffin as the base. These little gems have 1.5 grams of sugar in them per muffin. The only thing to watch out for is the sauce. If you can find one low in sugar, that will make your Dentist much happier. I sneak in a little Worcestershire sauce for 0.8 grams of sugar per serve.

Greek Yogurt and Fruit

Yogurt is one of those things that no one is really sure if it’s healthy or not. The answer is both yes and no. Greek yogurt is the safest bet, then you can control how much sugar you add in the form of fruit. Many of the low fat yogurts available at the supermarket are doused in added sugar, especially those designed for kids.

Fruit Cones

In moderation, fruit cones make the list. Obviously fruit is high in natural sugar, but packed full of nutrients. I usually tell my patients two to three servings per day is about the sweet spot for teeth. The cones do have sugar so it’s up to you if you eat them or not, but don’t they look pretty?!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet potato fries, (or kumara chips if you’re from ‘the land of the long white cloud’) my favourite! I like mine with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce, but they’re good on their own too. Just remember when adding sauces that our friend sugar ranks pretty high on the ingredient list.

Crumpets

“Really?” you say, “she’s gone retro”. Maybe I have, but the good old crumpet has only 1 gram of sugar per serve. Again, you can control what goes on top of it. Boston has ‘no added sugar’ peanut butter most of the time.

Peanut Butter Apples

We’re getting quite American here, but yum! It wasn’t long ago that I tried this combination and I was quite impressed. Just take an apple and some trusty ‘no added sugar’ peanut butter, then dip. Enough said!

Veggie Chips

I wasn’t going to add veggie chips to this list because they can be notoriously high in sugar due to the flavouring. That was until I found these at the supermarket yesterday! Infuzions Veggie Straws are by Majans – The Taste and Goodness Snack Food Company. Delicious for only 0.8 grams of sugar per serve. They even have a suggested healthy serving of two handfuls on the packet – sadly, I couldn’t stop.

I hope you have fun munching on these super yummy, secretly healthy snacks!

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