Is It Your Turn Yet?

"Is It Your Turn Yet?"
October 2010

How Sweet It Is!


My title has been taken from an old Jackie Gleason saying.

Sweet is a pleasurable taste. Almost everyone loves some “sweetness”, both psychologically and by ingestion. It is when we need to take that nasty word “health” into consideration that we begin to have concerns. I go back to my dental school days, just after Beth and I were married. We were very poor and would do anything for money. I would be a guinea pig for research studies at the University and they would pay me for doing so. One major study that I participated in was for me to take in (through a liquid concoction) only one type of sugar for a three week period (note: no cost of food either) and then they would take blood from me for a full 24 hours. They tested 5 sugars so it lasted 6 months.

The bottom line is that the study found that Sucrose (regular sugar) increased Triglycerides in the blood and caused other metabolic symptoms bad for health (not to mention dental cavities). Other sugars, like Fructose and Maltose were much less bad for the system.

Combine this with what I wrote about recently that it is thought that cancer cells love sugar – that sweetness, if regular and in volume, can really be detrimental to our health.

I am not a fan of the artificial sugars that had research showing they are also not good for us – like Saccharin and Aspartame.

The good news is there are two “super stars” for your sweet tooth which are on the market now. The first is called Stevia, which is an herb that you can grow in your garden or buy in a store which is sweet. The second is Xylitol which is a very large molecule sugar that actually has very good things written about it. The best for dentistry, is that Xylitol binds the bacteria that causes cavities and doesn’t allow them to metabolize and cause dental cavities. So actually, using Xylitol is almost as good as using Fluoride for dental caries prevention.

As I have always believed, moderation is the key in life and a diet that has mostly vegetables, complex carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, etc.) and proteins is the best, but if that great desire for sugar comes – like for your coffee, Stevia and Xylitol are great alternatives and will not harm your health.

This is the first day of the rest of your life.