I know sugar is bad but...
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I know sugar is bad but...
Does anyone know about Splenda? My ortho told me to swish with water if nothing else if/when I eat something super sugary 'like Cinnabon'. Do sugar substitutes count--aspartame, Splenda, Equal, etc? I drink a lot of Crystal Light/Lipton 'to go' type things that you mix in with your water bottle. I know that as far as nutrition goes they do not count as sugar but I didn't know if they would have similar effects on braces. Thanks.
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purpleteeth
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I have just finished my first year of a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics (passed all 7 first year exams with grade A) so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about (although I fully appreciate I still have another 3 years study to do before I become fully qualified to give any kind of advice).
There are guidelines on what artifical sweetners should be like:
1. they should taste the same as sucrose
2. have the same functional characteristics of sucrose
3. have low caloric density
4. non-carcinogenic
5. must be metabolised normally or excreted unchanged
6. non allergenic or toxic to the body
7. have chemical stability
8. have thermal stability
9. must be compatible with other foodstuffs
10. must be economically competitive
11 should be non-cariogenic (ie not cause tooth decay)
There are two classes of sweetners
1. nutritive sweetners such as sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol. These are derived naturally from plants.
2. non-nutritive sweetners such as aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K and Sucralose (Splenda is the brand name of Sucralose). These are (as far as I know) chemically artificially made
From what we have been told at university, there is controversy over aspartame also known as Nutrasweet, Canderel, and Equal.
Some scientists belive that aspartame can damage the body, others do not believe this. Aspartame has been approved by The European Food safety Authority and been approved by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisiation.
Personally from what I have studied, if I was going to go for a non-nutritive sweetener, I would choose saccharin before I would choose aspartame as it has been around for much longer and many many more studies/research has been conducted on it. Indeed personally I now have saccharin sweetners in my tea rather than the 2 teaspoons of sugar I was previously having (wasn't until we had to do a food diary for a week that I realised just how much sugar I was consuming in just a couple of cups of tea a day
)
Of course, it's not so much WHAT you eat but how MUCH you consume. Some people would rather have sugar than have a sweetner, but as long as it isn't sugar to excess and you are aware of 'hidden' sugar in foods and drinks and have a good dental hygiene routine, then there shouldn't be a problem.
My experience with dentists have said to avoid all full sugar drinks and stick to diet version (for example when I had a temporary crown on I was told I could have diet coke to drink if I wish but not coke as the sugar in the coke would damage my temp crown...and I guess the same is for braces.
But I'd still say to go for water than any kind of drink with any kind of sugar or artificial sweetner in regards to dental health. It's just as easy to glug some water as it is to glug some diet coke type drink and much healthier for you in many ways too. There will always be a sticky residue left in the mouth from any drink with any kind of sugar/sweetner added to it, which isn't really going to solve your problem of keeping your braces in tiptop condition
There are guidelines on what artifical sweetners should be like:
1. they should taste the same as sucrose
2. have the same functional characteristics of sucrose
3. have low caloric density
4. non-carcinogenic
5. must be metabolised normally or excreted unchanged
6. non allergenic or toxic to the body
7. have chemical stability
8. have thermal stability
9. must be compatible with other foodstuffs
10. must be economically competitive
11 should be non-cariogenic (ie not cause tooth decay)
There are two classes of sweetners
1. nutritive sweetners such as sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol. These are derived naturally from plants.
2. non-nutritive sweetners such as aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame K and Sucralose (Splenda is the brand name of Sucralose). These are (as far as I know) chemically artificially made
From what we have been told at university, there is controversy over aspartame also known as Nutrasweet, Canderel, and Equal.
Some scientists belive that aspartame can damage the body, others do not believe this. Aspartame has been approved by The European Food safety Authority and been approved by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisiation.
Personally from what I have studied, if I was going to go for a non-nutritive sweetener, I would choose saccharin before I would choose aspartame as it has been around for much longer and many many more studies/research has been conducted on it. Indeed personally I now have saccharin sweetners in my tea rather than the 2 teaspoons of sugar I was previously having (wasn't until we had to do a food diary for a week that I realised just how much sugar I was consuming in just a couple of cups of tea a day
)Of course, it's not so much WHAT you eat but how MUCH you consume. Some people would rather have sugar than have a sweetner, but as long as it isn't sugar to excess and you are aware of 'hidden' sugar in foods and drinks and have a good dental hygiene routine, then there shouldn't be a problem.
My experience with dentists have said to avoid all full sugar drinks and stick to diet version (for example when I had a temporary crown on I was told I could have diet coke to drink if I wish but not coke as the sugar in the coke would damage my temp crown...and I guess the same is for braces.
But I'd still say to go for water than any kind of drink with any kind of sugar or artificial sweetner in regards to dental health. It's just as easy to glug some water as it is to glug some diet coke type drink and much healthier for you in many ways too. There will always be a sticky residue left in the mouth from any drink with any kind of sugar/sweetner added to it, which isn't really going to solve your problem of keeping your braces in tiptop condition
Thank you Sparkles for such an informed response. Do you know which brand names are good saccharin sweetners, or is it just in a box labeled 'saccharin' near the sugar? I am in the US by the way. I realize there is much controversy over the effects artificial sweetners have on your body, as far as being a carcinogen etc. That is not what I was asking. I have made the educated decision to ingest chemical substances (but what today isn't?) and I do drink water also, I just get really sick of water all day long and like the on-the-go green, white, and black instant teas available. Good to hear that they told you to stick to diet, I will keep that in mind.
Saccharin is also known as: Sweet N Low, Sweet Twin, Necta Sweet and the one I have at home is called Hermasetas (http://www.drugdispensary.com/products/ ... 652&bhcp=1)
Your best bet is to read all the food labels, as confusing as they can be (I get to learn about food labels this coming year!), with the list of sweetners I gave earlier, you'll be able to recognise which is which
Your best bet is to read all the food labels, as confusing as they can be (I get to learn about food labels this coming year!), with the list of sweetners I gave earlier, you'll be able to recognise which is which