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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Artificial Sweeteners & Oral Health: Yay or Nay?

Sugar happens to be the most natural way of sweetening drinks and food. Dentists stress it all of the time: sugar is bad for your oral health. This is because the harmful bacteria within our mouth feed on these sugars and the byproduct of their sugar buffet results in tooth decay.

artificial sweetener dangers to oral health
Water is king.
However, sugar can be a fattening option for many – encouraging others to find alternatives that provide the sweet relief we need to satisfy that nagging sweet tooth. This is where artificial sweeteners come in to play.

Artificial Sweeteners? Not So Fast.

Popular artificial sugar-free sweeteners include aspartame and Sucralose. Because they do not contain sugar, they are less likely to cause the formation of decay on the teeth. However, researchers have found that they may still lead to dental erosion.

Dental erosion is different from decay in the sense that a process known as decalcification occurs, which overtime will literally deteriorate your teeth. This would take many years of damage to achieve, but the consequences of threatening your oral health are still there.

It’s the acidic flavorings and preservatives in these sweeteners that cause erosion, in the same fashion any acidic drink would including sports drinks, fruit juices, etc.

It’s Not Just Oral Health…

The real kicker with sugar-free substitutes are the fact that they do not show any positive results regarding weight loss using “diet” sodas. It’s really a deceptive trick because people have a false hope they’re doing themselves a favor by choosing the diet option.

In reality, a handful of studies have shown diet drinks, which contain artificial sweeteners, to double your risk of obesity because they increase your craving for carbs, and stimulate fat storage.

So ask yourself… Are you really doing yourself a favor with sugar-free sweeteners? Think of it this way, artifical is just a fancy word for “fake”. Many

Final Verdict: Nay.

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