In the Know for You To Know

Fall is here and practically everyone is planing a trip to go apple picking.

There are so many wonderful things about apples, and just about everyone loves them.

What could be better than watching your smiling child bite into a fresh picked juicy apple and see the juice run down their cheeks?

Did you know that apples are a very important fruit? Yes they are, and for a couple of reasons. Not only are they packed with vitamins for a healthy diet, apples can also help clean teeth.

Apples help to clean teeth? How is this possible?

Keep reading for some FYI’s on how apples help keep teeth and gums healthy.

Eating An Apple Is Almost Like Using A Toothbrush

Eating an apple can help remove plaque from teeth and gums.

How Is This Possible?

There are 3 ways apples help keep teeth clean,

1. Apples contain a specific acid called malic acid which can break down plaque that accumulates on the teeth and gums.
2. Biting into and chewing an apple stimulates more saliva to be produced and flow into the mouth. More saliva helps wash away food particles and bacteria as well as diluting and washing away sugars that are attached to the teeth.
3. Apples are 85% water which also helps dilute sugars in the mouth.

4 Reasons Apples Make Great Snacks

1. Apples make great snacks with their natural sweetness and high fiber content.
2. An apple’s natural sweetness decreases cravings for other higher sugar content snacks.
3. The fiber keeps children full longer so they snack less.
4. By being high in water apples are naturally juicy so children are less likely to ask for sugary beverages.

10 Apple Fun Facts

• Over 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the U.S.
• The most popular apples in the US are Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith.
• A bushel of apples weighs almost 42 pounds.
• Halloween Tip, Bobbing for apples – apples float so easily since they are 25% air.
• Apple trees take between 4-5 years to produce their first apples.
• Apples contain 0 grams of fat or sodium and have no cholesterol.
• The average size of an apple is 4 grams.
• Apple trees can live to be about 100 years old.
• On average 1 person eats 65 apples a year.
• Johnny Appleseed was a real person. Can you guess his real name? Yes, you got it! His name was John Chapman.

Apple picking season has started, does your family have a favorite apple? What’s your super special apple pie recipe? How many apples do you think your family eats in a week? Any apple picking plans? Do you like to get your apples at the farmer’s market or supermarket? Tell Us, We’d really like to know! Send us an email at kidstoothhotline@proton.me and Like Us on Facebook

More tips? We have lots. We’re here just for kids!