New Unsweetened Truths About Sugar
For great tips on preventing/minimising the damaging effects of sugar on your teeth health, check out the following article links to blogs we have already published:
Sugar is a pretty big topic on the media. It gets blamed for a lot of health concerns, including those surrounding dental health. Both obesity and dental health have been two of the main health concerns of sugar scientists and now there is a shift in research on how much deeper this goes. The article below summarises this shift.
By Laura A. Schmidt, PhD, MSW, MPH
INTRO: We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in research on the health effects of sugar, one fueled by extremely high rates of added sugar overconsumption in the American public. By “added sugar overconsumption,” we refer to a total daily consumption of sugars added to products during manufacturing (ie, not naturally occurring sugars, as in fresh fruit) in excess of dietary limits recommended by expert panels. Past concerns revolved around obesity and dental caries as the main health hazards. Overconsumption of added sugars has long been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).1 However, under the old paradigm, it was assumed to be a marker for unhealthy diet or obesity.2 The new paradigm views sugar overconsumption as an independent risk factor in CVD as well as many other chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, and dementia—all linked to metabolic perturbations involving dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance.3 The new paradigm hypothesizes that sugar has adverse health effects above any purported role as “empty calories” promoting obesity. Too much sugar does not just make us fat; it can also make us sick.
READ THE FULL COMMENTARY: JAMA Internal Medicine