Coffee break

[ailbhe]

Decaf coffee and the last Oreo.

I'm rising bread; I feel badly enough about Emer's teeth that I'm making all the white bread with eggs and calcium-enriched rice milk. I'd feed her chalk if I thought it would help. Eggs and beans and calcium rice milk and brown pasta and brown rice... what else has calcium in it? We're practically letting her eat fluoride toothpaste.

I keep hearing about Xylitol but she's only two. So I'm really not sure. Besides, sweets with Xylitol often have acids and things too.

Comments

[gool_duck]

Sesame-seeds are full of calcium!
Very full.
There are jars of sesame-seed paste to buy. Tahini is a usual name for them.
Sesame-seed paste mixed with honey makes a halva spread. You may have to put it in sadwiches if she's still averse to getting goo on her fingers.

Sesame seeds go well stuck on the outside of bread (egg-white for stickiness, on the crust) and then baked, though I do not know if that would be good for Emer.

I expect there are recipes for sesame-seed biscuits on the web.

[aquaeri]

I've heard almonds are quite calcium rich. Just to give her a break from the chalk.

[geek-kitten.livejournal.com]

Well, over here they give xylitol chew-tablets or chewing gum to kids after every meal, starting as soon as they have any teeth to chew with really.

Ronja loves her tablets and alays asks for them if we forget.

[ailbhe]

The side-effects aren't too bad for babies then? I must see if I can find a source.

[geek-kitten.livejournal.com]

Never heard of any ill effects, the only one I know of is that it does have a laxative effect if you eat too much, but as long as they don't eat it by the hand full it shouldn't be a problem.

If you like I can send you a some to try? They're not expensive, and you can get them in normal food shops here, or the pharmacy, there are several brands, all a bit different in their consistency and xylitol content.

[astrogeek.livejournal.com]

You will also want to make sure she is getting plenty of iron in her diet, as calcium supplementation can decrease iron absorption. Dark green leafy vegetables (kale, rocket/arugula, spinach etc) are high in both iron and calcium.

[ailbhe]

So's eggs!

[shinydan.livejournal.com]

How does she feel about rhubarb? Had a quick squint at an osteoporosis website and (once you're past all the milk products) there's quite a bit there: http://bit.ly/GwkkL

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Our dentist suggested brushing with straight xylitol after normal toothbrushing for Astrid, who also has tooth problems. She and I were also dairy-free due to her sensitivity during her first year or so (she's pretty much outgrown it by now), and I do wonder if there is a correlation there, as her big brother has never had tooth problems.

[ailbhe]

Linnea has never had tooth problems and she was more strictly dairy-free than Emer, as it happens. In fact, Linnea's lack of problems was why the dentists who didn't examine Emer properly (she cries) assumed her teeth would be fine. They're not; no decay, no plaque to speak of, but they are demineralising.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

It's horrible, isn't it? Astrid had to have one tooth removed after she fell and broke it (which I doubt would have happened if they'd been as strong as normal teeth). I cringe every time she bites down on something hard.

Tooth problems are such a stigma. Obviously if my kid has bad teeth, I feed her candy all day and don't brush.

At least it doesn't seem to be causing her any pain.

I wonder about maternal resource depletion during pregnancy too, as I've heard an awful lot of stories of second (or later) children with bad teeth, while their older siblings are fine.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

I'm the eldest, and the one in the family with terrible teeth. I think it has as much to do with genetics as anything. I got my dad's poor eyesight, and my mum's bad teeth.

[ailbhe]

The dentist thinks the fever-during-pregnancy-or-early-infancy is the most likely cause, possibly coupled with genetics, for Emer. I hope it's the former, because it bodes well for her adult teeth.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

My brother fell and broke his two front teeth off when he was ten. His teeth were fine beforehand. It might have just been one of those things for Astrid.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

It's a bit of a chicken or the egg issue. She fell and bloodied her lip several times in the few months leading up to the big injury, and it's entirely possible that some minor tooth damage during one of those events was a contributing factor. However, we definitely noticed problems before the injury, and she's had problems (though not as severe) with uninjured teeth as well.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure. You know your own kid's teeth. I'm just sayin' that they might have broken even if they'd been healthy.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Yep. I know other kids who have broken teeth who overall have healthy teeth. One of my son's friends broke a brand-new adult tooth, and the dentist said that, because it was so new, there was a good chance it would just continue growing. Apparently touching the opposite teeth is their signal to stop growing. Which is totally irrelevant to this thread, but I thought it was really neat.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

That IS a very neat thing!

[nicnacpaddywac.livejournal.com]

sesame seeds? tahini? almonds/brazils/hazelnuts?

Oooh, and dried figs/apricots, green leafy veg, fish with edible bones.

[ex-serenejo.livejournal.com]

It's my understanding that too much protein or sodium leaches the calcium from the bones, so I guess I would say to increase complex carbs (to lower the protein ratio) and limit salt, but you already eat a lot of complex carbs.

Food | Amount | Calcium (mg)
Blackstrap molasses 2 Tbsp 400
Collard greens, cooked 1 cup 357
Tofu, processed with
calcium sulfate* 4 ounces 200-330
Calcium-fortified orange juice 8 ounces 300
Soy or ricemilk, commercial,
calcium-fortified, plain 8 ounces 200-300
Commercial soy yogurt, plain 6 ounces 80-250
Turnip greens, cooked 1 cup 249
Tofu, processed with nigari* 4 ounces 80-230
Tempeh 1 cup 215
Kale, cooked 1 cup 179
Soybeans, cooked 1 cup 175
Okra, cooked 1 cup 172
Bok choy, cooked 1 cup 158
Mustard greens, cooked 1 cup 152
Tahini 2 Tbsp 128
Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 94
Almonds 1/4 cup 89
Almond butter 2 Tbsp 86
Soy milk, commercial, plain 8 ounces 80

*Read the label on your tofu container to see if it is processed with calcium sulfate or nigari.

Note: Oxalic acid, which is found in spinach, rhubarb, chard, and beet greens binds with the calcium in those foods and reduces its absorption. These foods should not be considered good sources of calcium. Calcium in other green vegetables, like kale, collard greens, Chinese mustard greens, and Chinese cabbage flower leaves is well absorbed. Fiber appears to have little effect on calcium absorption except for the fiber in wheat bran that does have a small effect.

Sources: Composition of Foods. USDA Nutrient Data Base for Standard Reference, Release 18, 2005 and Manufacturer's information.