Sugar: Committing Crimes Against Your Health Under Numerous Aliases

Posted on: 9 February 2016

For many years, dentists and physicians alike have warned their patients against excessive sugar consumption. Sugary sips and nibbles add up to elevated risks of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. Once sugar makes contact with your teeth, the bacteria found in plaque are activated to release damaging acids that attack the enamel and cause cavities. Understanding how to identify different sugars can help you to make wiser choices in your quest to cut back on your family's sugar intake.

Natural Sugars

Sugars are simple carbohydrates that fuel your body's energy. Natural sugar is that which is naturally occurring in whole foods. Two forms of natural sugar include:

  • Fructose, which is found in fruit
  • Lactose, which is found in milk

Just because something is natural does not mean that it is harmless. All sugar, natural and added, contributes unwanted extra calories to your waistline and prompts the acid production in your mouth that contributes to tooth decay. However, since natural sugars are found in whole foods that provide essential nutrients, choosing to snack on an apple provides health benefits that cannot be reaped from processed foods that contain added sugar. Whole fruits contain no cholesterol, and they provide vitamin C, potassium, folic acid and dietary fiber. Milk offers vitamin D and calcium, an important nutrient for maintaining strong tooth enamel.

Added Sugars

As simple as the name implies, when you add a spoonful of sugar to your morning coffee, you heap in added sugar. Added sugars are those that are added to food recipes and processed foods and beverages during their production. When reading a food ingredient label, recognizing the word sugar is only one step in sleuthing out the presence of added sugar. Added sugar comes in many forms, and thus has many aliases that you must learn to recognize. Commonly used added sugars include the following:

  • Granulated white sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Confectioners' sugar
  • Honey
  • Glucose
  • Dextrose
  • Sucrose
  • Maltose
  • Xylose
  • Corn syrup
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Agave syrup
  • Cane juice, evaporated cane juice or cane syrup
  • Fruit juice concentrates
  • Malt syrup
  • Barley malt
  • Rice syrup
  • Molasses
  • Beet sugar
  • Invert sugar
  • Raw sugar
  • Caramel

Natural sugars, such as fructose and lactose, are sometimes added to processed foods as well.

Sweet Offenders That Damage Teeth

To reduce your family's intake of sugar, you will need to be diligent about reading ingredient labels on all processed foods. Ingredients are listed in descending order of the amounts contained. If sugar is the first ingredient listed, that means that there is more sugar than any other ingredient used in manufacturing the product. You should also check the nutrition label under the carbohydrate heading to determine how much of your recommended daily carbohydrate allowance is coming from the sugar contained in one serving of the product. Some of the sugar-laden snacks and beverages that pose the highest risk for tooth decay include the following:

  • Sodas, juice drinks, fruit juices, energy drinks, lemonade and sweet iced tea
  • Pies, cookies, cakes, muffins and other baked goods
  • Hard candies, lollipops, cough drops, breath mints and caramels

Reduce Sugar's Contact with Your Teeth

If you have a consistent craving for a particular sweet treat, consider switching to a variation that is sweetened with a sugar substitute. Many of the commonly used sugar substitutes mimic sugar in taste and appearance, but they do not react in the same damaging manner with the bacteria in your mouth. If you normally take sugar in your daily coffee or tea, swap out the sugar packets for packets of a sugar substitute instead.

When you must give in to those occasional cravings for sugary indulgences, adopt these two practices to decrease the risk of sustaining tooth decay:

  • Sip sodas, juices and other sugary beverages with a straw to reduce the liquid's contact on the surface of your teeth.
  • Brush your teeth immediately after your sweet snack.

Knowing the different names sugar and how to flesh them out on food labels will empower you to make healthier dietary choices that will simultaneously benefit your oral health and your waistline, and that is something to smile about. For more information, contact Arbor Dental Care Ltd or a similar location.

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