Over the past several months, we have seen that red wine and grapefruit are both good for your gums (a guy who lost most of his teeth says that peanut milk is good, too, but you'll have to take his word for that one) and can potentially help fight or prevent gum disease. Now, it looks like a diet rich in whole grains could also reduce the risk of developing periodontitis.
In a study done by researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, 34,000 men, aged 40-75, had their eating habits followed via survey for fourteen years. None had a history of periodontitis, heart attack, high cholesterol or diabetes at the start of the study. 5.5% of the men developed periodontitis (gum disease), but the men who reported that they ate at least three servings a day of brown rice, popcorn and other whole grains were significantly less likely to get the disease that the men who reported eating one or fewer servings of whole grains.
The participants who had a better diet were also more active, less likely to smoke and had a lower overall body weight (for their heights) than their non-whole grain eating counterparts, and even after taking these factors into consideration, the scientists concluded that the whole grains were what was benefiting the men's oral health.
The scientists who did the study said that it looks like "a diet that is beneficial for general health is also good for oral health," because even though the whole grains were what reduced the risk of gum disease, healthy people were likely to eat them in the first place.
So, that apple-a-day adage might actually be true, as long as the rest of your day isn't filled with white bread and Twinkies.
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