What does "sweet" really mean, sugah?

Our "Caries Clock" is ready!  It's a graphic representation of how our daily eating and drinking habits can lead to cavities if we take in sugary foods and liquids too frequently.

It's here:

http://www.smilephiladelphian.com/Clock/Caries.html

 
"Caries" is the technical word for "cavities"; it just seemed to us that "Caries Clock" sounded snazzier than "Cavity Clock".

I would really like to review what types of foods are worse than others in terms of leading to tooth decay.  This is difficult though.  Supposedly there was work being done on a "Cariogenic Index" or cavity-causing rating system for common foods.  I cannot find any such thing at the moment.  I thought that some European countries had made that a part of their food labeling back in the 90's.  I'll keep looking and asking.

Essentially, if something (liquid or solid) tastes sweet, and if it has refined sugars as part of its substance, then it has a high potential for causing cavities.  So we're talking a range of foods all the way from candy to Twinkies to soda and sports drinks to tea with honey in it to ketchup to granola cereals to fruits of all kinds to raisins- it's a big range.  Many of the final foods that I listed are very healthy for us.  Yet as a separate issue they can cause cavities if eaten too often throughout the day on a regular basis. 

 

Fruit juices provide an excellent example with which we can learn some of the principles involved in thinking about sugars and our health.  Let's take a minute and examine them.  Fruit juices contain a number of simple sugars, especially fructose.  Fructose is a sugar found all over the place in nature.  (The most common sugars are fructose, sucrose (table sugar) and glucose.  There are many though.  These are different than high fructose corn syrup, which is controversial because the corn industry is powerful and has been responsible for putting it into everything.  And corn syrup has a lot of calories per gram.)

 

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/Carbohydrates.html

 

So fruit juices contain many valuable nutrients and vitamins.  The negative aspects are that they do have calories, they do have these simple sugars that can cause cavities if taken with too much frequency, and if ingested quickly with no exercise following they might add to Type II Diabetes risk because they shock our insulin system.  So- my interpretation of the science is as follows:

 

-Fruit juices provide essential vitamins and nutrients;

-To avoid cavities they should not be sipped at over long periods of time;

-To avoid increasing diabetes risk they should not be ingested quickly too often without being followed by at least moderate exercise, and;

-To avoid weight gain their calories should be considered as balanced against exercise and overall calorie intake for the day.

 

Finally, the less high fructose corn syrup added, the better.

 

Keep these principles in mind for all foods that contain simple sugars and you will minimize your risk of diabetes, weight gain and tooth decay, and yet can still enjoy the wonderful range of fruits, vegetables, sauces and desserts which we have access to these days.

 

I mean, I love chocolate...

 

Comments

[Sal Casley]

Fruit juice is still the best alternative to sodas. In my case I made it a habit to drink fresh fruit juice every morning. That Jack LeLane juicer is very useful, I tell you. Fresh juice is the best for the body, including the teeth, since they contain the simple sugar glucose. They are way better than the artificial ones.

[E.S Akshay]

Thanks for sharing with us..............