04 Nov More Reasons to Cut Down on Sugar
Halloween has come to a close, and a bag of candy somewhere in your house is calling your name. While sugar and caffeine are some of the more socially acceptable addictions most of us don’t even realize we’re addicted to, the damage to your teeth and gums are not the only reasons to cut down on your sugar intake. As your trusted provider of dental services in Prescott AZ, here are a few additional reasons to reduce your sugar intake this holiday season.
A study just published in the journal Obesity, demonstrated that by simply cutting back on added sugars, obese children’s health significantly improved within 10 days. The average LDL cholesterol count fell 10 points, triglycerides dropped 33 points, and diastolic blood pressure was down 5 points for the 40+ kids in the study.
There are ample more studies that point to the dangers of sugar. The American Dietary Guidelines Committee recently warned that added sugars should be limited to under 10% of total calories. This equates to about 12 teaspoons daily for adults. However, in 2014, the World Health Organization suggested that sugar should be only 5%, half of what the American committee suggested. It’s not just sugar in candy and other treats we have to worry about, sugary drinks could be the real wolf in sheep’s clothing. According to research by the journal Circulation, sugar-packed drinks are leading to an estimated 184,000 adult deaths per year worldwide. The study also revealed that men who drank 2 sweetened drinks a day had a 23% increased risk of heart failure.
Hopefully with this added bit of information you’ll decide to cut back on the sugar for the sake of your oral and overall health alike. Contact Prescott Dentistry today for all the dental services in Prescott AZ you need to address the damage done by sugar to your teeth.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (11/4/2015) Uwe Hermann (Flickr)