The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made a recommendation that no one over the age of 3 should eat more than 50 grams (12.5 teaspoons) of sugar a day. That amount is equivalent to the sugar found in a 12 ounce can of Coca-cola. As of November 2015, the FDA warned that sugar shouldn’t make up any more than 10 percent of your daily intake of calories.
You reduce your cavity risk when you cut back on sugar and other sources of simple carbohydrates that easily ferment because the bacteria in your mouth can no longer feed on the carbohydrates and multiply. Taking note of the amount of added sugars in food isn’t difficult. Food labels list ingredients by order of weight, from most to least. So, if a type of sugar is listed among the first few ingredients, no doubt that item is very high in sugar. Take note, you can spot types of processed sugar by recognizing the suffix “-ose” in any of the terms. Below is a listing of some typically added sugars:
-brown sugar
-cane sugar
-confectioners’ or powdered sugar
-corn sweeteners
-corn syrup
-crystallized cane sugar
-dextrose
-dextrin
-evaporated cane juice
-fructose
-fruit juice concentrate
-glucose
-honey
-high fructose corn syrup
-invert sugar
-maltose
-malt syrup
-maple syrup
-molasses
-raw sugar
-sucrose
-syrup
-turbinado sugar
If you’d like more information about how sugar affects your oral health, call Dr. Laurin Cardwell and our team at Cardwell Family Dentistry. Make an appointment at: 828-631-3567, or come by our office in Sylva, North Carolina.