Cavities and marathon running? Yes, you read this correctly. This morning, during a lovely 8am trip to the dentist, I was informed that I have not one, but two cavities. One was filled this morning and the other will be filled at a later appointment. However, aside from informing you all about my dental hygiene, I wanted to share WHY, after 24 years of almost no cavities, I now have two new surprises in my mouth. The answer…
RUNNING FUEL SNACKS: Bars, Blok Shots, Gel, Gummy Chomps and Goos
These delicious, sugary, energy rich snacks have been allowing me to power through my long Saturday runs while also attacking my pearly whites. As you can probably tell by the sarcastic tone in this post, I am not a happy camper (or in this case, a happy runner). I mean come on, I am running MARATHONS and as a result I have cavities? You really can’t win : )
Clearly I’m annoyed, but I also find it kind of funny. So the real question of this post, what is the solution? After chatting with my dentist, there are three things you can do to protect your teeth while fueling your body:
1) Stay away from the Gummies! Try to eat the goo or gels since they wont stick to your teeth as much. This is particularly upsetting to me since the Cliff Bar Shot Blok gummies are my personal favorite.
2) EAT WITH WATER! Swish water around after you eat your goos to try and get most of the sugar off of your teeth
3) Brush ASAP! After catching your breath and stretching for a bit, throw some toothpaste on your toothbrush and go to town!
At the end of the day, it’s a tough balance, but hopefully I have provided some good insight into keeping both your body and mouth healthy and prepared for race day!
Peace, Love and RUNNING!
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