Not news: Sugar contributes to tooth decay. After all, sugar is the favorite food of harmful bacteria and other microbes that live in your mouth. And it’s not just the white crystal stuff you may be envisioning, but all foods that are digested as sugar, such as...
“Without sugars,” say the authors of a 2015 paper on the relationship between diet and tooth decay, the chain of causation is broken, so the disease [dental caries] does not occur (Sheiham 1967). So, it is clear that sugars start the process and set off a causal...
Halloween can be a pretty scary time, especially if you have kids at home. It has nothing to do with terrifying clown masks, fake blood, or even the thorny question of how-old-is-too-old to trick-or-treat. Nope. It’s that Sugar Season is here once again. It’s...
There are lots of reasons why so much sugar gets added to ultra-processed food products. Adding sweetness is only the most obvious one. Sugar is also used as a preservative and to help fermentation along. It can act as a coloring or bulking agent. It can modify...
But let’s get back to the subject of real sugar, the favorite food of harmful oral bacteria (as well as something craved by many of the humans who host them!). They love the stuff - and, of course, what goes in must go out. Their metabolic waste is incredibly...
In English, we say “you can’t have your cake and eat it, too,” but the basic idea crops up in many cultures. In Bulgarian, “you can’t have both the wolf fed and the lamb intact,” while in Hindi, they describe “having candy in both hands.” In Japanese, they say “if...
Once upon a time, people thought Diet Coke was something healthy. After all, it didn’t have all that added sugar. Of course, today, we know synthetic sweeteners cause problems of their own. Now a new study in JAMA Open reminds that another drink many think of as...
According to a recent Ipsos survey, 70% of Americans say they’re somewhat or very concerned about how much sugar they eat. Yet limiting sugar can be challenging. For one, the stuff is everywhere in the food supply. In fact, nearly two-thirds of all packaged food...
Just because a health problem is labeled “genetic” doesn’t mean that you’re fated to get it. Genes are potential…until they’re triggered. And this is why there’s so much preventive power in lifestyle choices – the food we eat, the habits we keep. Twins provide a...
Recently, we looked at life buried in sugar. But just how do you dig out from under it? You’ve probably heard more than a few horror stories about how hard eliminating sugar can be – tales of migraines, shakiness, lack of energy, irritability, and more....
Let’s face it: We all love the taste of sugar. Biologically, we’re hardwired to love sweets. It’s a way our bodies ensure our survival when food is scarce. But like any strength overplayed, this taste for sweetness has become our weakness. Just how weak? Here’s how...
Last year, the FDA proposed some changes to the Nutrition Facts label – the first in more than two decades. One of those changes would add a line showing the amount of added sugars. This past Friday, they announced a proposed “daily value” for added sugars, as...
The sugar industry could not deny the role of sucrose in dental caries [cavities] given the scientific evidence. They therefore adopted a strategy to deflect attention to public health interventions that would reduce the harms of sugar consumption rather than...
For parents with kids who love soda pop, substituting 100% fruit juice may seem like a victory. But it’s a small one. Although the label can make it sound super healthy with claims of “no added sugar,” the fact of the matter is, even 100% fruit juice is already...
Most every adult in the US – 92%, to be exact – have experienced cavities. What’s to be done about it? Quite a bit, actually. Such a high rate of decay is unnatural, and we know the culprit: added sugars. Every time you eat hyper-processed food or sip a soft drink,...