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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Snacks

In the last however many months I've identified a few snacks for when my mouth gets dry, and I'm hungry. It takes some searching, but there are a few things I love and a few things that work (not necessarily overlapping).

First up, Sugar-Free Lifesavers. I'm a fan of the Wintergreen flavor, and as a plus, it's the sugar-free my rheumatologist told me to find to prevent more dental decay. The down side? They have a strong odor, such that anyone within a few feet of me can smell the mint.

Second, gummy snacks. Lately I've been buying Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks, which are high-quality, very juicy, and not overly sweet or anything else. Of course, before looking them up just now, I didn't actually know what they cost; I buy them with my university meal plan from one of their to-go kiosks. I'm hoping I'll be able to a) find them and b) afford them when I graduate.

Third, ice cream or similar things. I love cakes and brownies, and all those yummy snacks. But they don't help my dry mouth at all and in fact tend to use up most of the moisture in my mouth within a few bites unless they're really moist. Instead, after meals I go for ice cream of some kind, provided the cafeteria has a flavor I like. A scoop or two of ice cream does very well for rounding out whatever dry food I might have eaten for dinner. As long as it's not super-creamy, like cookies and cream, anyways.

The major downside to all of these things is that I suspect it would cost a lot of money if I paid for these things in cash on a regular basis. During school breaks, I tend to be SOL on most of the things I eat regularly; I compensate with a LOT of water. 

Does anyone else out there have dry mouth? What do you do for it?

2 comments:

  1. I have dry mouth on occasion, when I'm taking allergy meds. I eat a lot of citrus, which seems to help me, and I carry a thermos of herbal tea around. (For me, tangy teas, like red zinger, are more efficient at dealing with my dry mouth than minty ones.)

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  2. I also like sugar-free lifesavers (or jolly ranchers), but I go for the fruit ones. I find that tart things help me salivate more. I eat a lot of fruit, but that can also become pricey. I also like strawberry popsicles and sorbet.

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