9 Tooth-Friendly Winter Drinks to Keep You Hydrated & Warm
Dr. B. Kanagasabapathy
[M.D.S. (Ortho), Fellow ICOI]
Winter is not just about cold air, foggy mornings but also a host of warm drinks. Since the temperature drops during cold seasons, it pushes everyone to give a warm hug inside their bodies with hot drinks. Taking a sip of beverages like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and hot alcoholic beverages (Ex: Mulled wine, Hot toddy) keeps our body snug.
Although these drinks keep us warm and hydrated, they are packed with additives like sugar that are bad for oral health. On the other hand, milk, badam milk, green tea, honey ginger tea are the drinks of choice for those concerned about their dental health.
Would you like to sip something warm and comforting that won’t harm your teeth? Continue reading.
1) Masala Milk
Masala milk is a traditional Indian energy drink. It is sweetened flavored milk that contains nuts and spices like cashews, almonds, cloves, unsalted pistachios, saffron strands, dry fruits and cardamom powder. You can add honey in the place of sugar that is typically used to sweeten this beverage.
Milk is well-known for strengthening teeth and bones. Besides this, masala milk contains almonds, cloves, cashew nuts, and honey, which are widely prescribed as home remedies for various dental dilemmas. They are a good source of fiber, proteins, iron, magnesium, and Vitamins B6, K, & E.
It implies that masala milk offers more substantial dental and health benefits than you think.
2) Turmeric Milk
Turmeric milk is a warm tonic prepared by adding ¼ tsp turmeric powder and a pinch of black pepper powder to a glass of milk. It is used as a home remedy to treat colds, congestion, and stuffy nose. As the drink is well-known for building immunity, various problems triggered by microbial invasion are prevented to a great extent. Moreover, it guarantees you better sleep.
The combination of milk and turmeric greatly benefits your teeth and gum health. Milk protects teeth and enamel, whilst turmeric, thanks to its anti-inflammatory characteristics, aids in preventing gum infection.
3) Spiced Tea
Spiced tea, commonly known as Spicy chai tea, is devoid of sugar but has a pleasant taste. Spiced tea will be the best option for you if you are a caffeine addict who cannot live without tea or coffee. It is because this beverage is prepared using 2 black tea bags, whereas the ingredients differ as follows:
- Almond milk (1 cup)
- Grounded ginger (1½ tsp)
- Grounded cinnamon (1 tsp)
- Grounded cardamom (2 tsp)
- Pure stevia (1 tsp)
- Water (2 cups)
- Allspice (1 tsp)
- A pinch of Nutmeg
This traditional drink’s combination of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and other additives produces heat to warm your body. Likely, each ingredient in this beverage has medicinal value, which would benefit your oral cavity as well.
For instance, ginger and cinnamon have antimicrobial properties to eliminate oral bacteria. Meanwhile, cardamom helps freshen your breath.
4) Hot Mushroom Tea
Mushroom tea is a rarely heard beverage but is well-known for rejuvenating your body like the way a cup of tea or coffee does. If you have a cup of clean & finely chopped mushrooms, you can prepare this beverage in no time.
Fry the chopped mushrooms with 1 tsp butter for about 4 to 5 minutes. Then boil the fried mushrooms with 2 cups of water for 5 minutes. Add just a pinch of pepper and stir it well. Filter the drink and serve it.
Researchers have found mushrooms have multiple oral health benefits, including boosting enamel remineralization. As mushrooms have antioxidant properties and are rich in Vitamin D, they take care of absorbing and regulating calcium in our bodies.
5) Soup
If you had read any list of soft foods suggested by dentists, soups would have taken place in it. Right?
As soups are loaded with minerals and vitamins and are easy to take, they are widely prescribed to people who have recently undergone dental procedures like tooth extractions, Root Canal Treatment or others. We also advise our patients to take soups as winter drinks instead of caffeine beverages.
Try these soups if you’d like to consume something that can promote your dental health as well as warm your body in a cold climate:
- Warming Pumpkin Soup
- Carrot Coriander Soup
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Vegetable Clear Soup
- Creamy Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup
- Moong Dal Soup
- Chicken black pepper Soup
6) Holy Basil Tea (Tulsi Tea)
Holy basil, also known as Indian basil and Tulsi, is a natural herb with great nutritional value. The plant has many oral health advantages, including reducing gum diseases, pyorrhea, and reduce bad breath.
This is due to tulsi leaves’ high antioxidant content, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and K. You can take tulsi in many forms, like preparing tea using the herb. You can mix it with green tea or black tea if you want.
7) Rasam
Rasam – The traditional south Indian food can be defined as a soup of spices. It can also be consumed by mixing it with steamed rice. It includes tamarind juice along with numerous ingredients like garlic, curry leaves, cumin, pepper, mustards, asafoetida, coriander leaves, water, etc. It relieves digestive problems, flu, sore throat, and nasal congestion, besides keeping the body warm.
Dental damages like enamel erosion, a source of stomach distress, can be greatly decreased as the soothing, watery broth takes care of curing digestion issues.
8) Lemongrass Mint Tea
Lemongrass mint tea is a nutritional & delightful winter drink. It can promote your oral health and offer numerous health benefits like regulating blood pressure, helping digestion, promoting hair growth, and much more.
Preparing this beverage is relatively simple and takes about 5 minutes only. Boil mint leaves, lemongrass, and cardamom in a cup of water for 3 minutes. Subsequently, add milk and boil it for 2 minutes.
9) Kadha
Kadha is a traditional Indian drink, and it is used as a home remedy for various winter-related problems like cold, stuffy nose, and nasal congestion. Likely, it holds oral benefits to a certain extent as the soothing winter beverage is prepared with cloves, pepper, tulsi leaves, finely chopped ginger, and honey.
As discussed in most of the above sections, the additives in this beverage have been used as a remedy for various dental problems. It ensures that taking kadha tea will safeguard your oral health and give you a boost to run throughout the cold day.
Bottom line
As the cold weather sets in, everyone encounters cold-related problems such as cold, flu, etc. Likely, the chill weather brings a lot of oral issues such as cold tooth pain, winter dry mouth chapped lips, etc.
Although most of the beverages you consume to tackle cold weather have warmth-giving properties, they contain sweeteners, alcohol compounds that are hard on your teeth and gums. They can make cold-related dental problems worse. Winter beverages that are good for your teeth will help you combat and eliminate such issues.
Our dental team has listed a few of such beverages here. If you are aware of any winter healthy drinks that are dental-friendly as well, share them with us in the comment section.
