Sugar is your teeth’s unfavourable friend. Sugar-related dental problems remain one of the most widespread causes of poor oral health. By reducing the amount of sugar in your diet, it will go a long 
way towards improving your overall oral hygiene. As well as dental issues, high sugar intake leads to many general health problems. The image shows a great initiative by my local gym in educating and helping people improve their health.
It might seem difficult to lower the amount of sugary substances you eat because it seems to be added to virtually everything – and tastes great!
Here are some tips to help you:
- Check labels on all products Check labels for hidden sugars with unusual names such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, molasses, hydrolysed starch and corn syrup.
- Watch what you eat for breakfast Having a healthy breakfast is possibly the most important meal of the day and will stop snacking mid-morning.
- Is it snack time, what shall I eat? If you have the urge to snack throughout the day, consider a handful of nuts or sugar free foods.
- Fat free does not mean sugar free! Many ‘fat free- healthy options’ such as yoghurts contain high levels of fructose or refined sugars.
- Changing our diets for life and how we eat Set yourself some new ground rules:
- Don’t eat an hour before you go to bed
- Don’t add sugar to foods
- Don’t eat a dessert every meal
- Get plenty of sleep
- Reduce alcohol intake Alcohol accounts for 11% of the UK population’s daily intake of added sugar. Try to reduce the amount of alcoholic drink you have and remember to wash it down with water. This will wash away some of the sugar from your mouth and your head will thank you the next day.
It is also important to maintain regular assessment and hygiene visits to maintain your mouth in the best possible way. If you need any further advice give us a call on 020 88884401.
