Dentist in Belleville NJ Shares Hidden Sugars that Are Harmful to Dental Health

You know how important it is to avoid sugar if you want a healthy mouth. The trouble is that there are many foods that have sugar and you don’t even know it. You probably do well at avoiding the common culprits like soda and candy, but here’s what you also should watch out for.

 

Foods with Surprising Sugar Contents

 

Here are some foods you might be eating that have a hidden sugar content:

• Low-fat snack foods (the fat is often replaced with sugar)

• Ketchup

• Salad dressing

• Rolls, buns and bread

• Protein bars

• Spaghetti sauce

• Granola

• Peanut butter

• Canned soup

• Yogurt

• Fast food (this includes the fries, hamburgers, sandwiches and the salads as well)

• Cough drops

• Antacids

• Smoothies

 

Names for Sugar

 

To protect your teeth and body, you must read the labels. The tricky thing is that many manufacturers use other names to talk about sugar. Here’s what to look for:

• Cane sugar

• Raw sugar

• Lactose

• Glucose

• Fructose

• Honey

• Galactose

• Dextrose

• Sorghum

• Confectioners’ sugar

• Molasses

• Crystallized cane juice

• Maltodextrin (otherwise labeled as just dextrin)

• Invert sugar

• Concentrated fruit juices

• Maple syrup

• Evaporated cane juice

 

It’s important that you figure out what is healthy for you, not just for your body but also your teeth. Read your food labels carefully and then do the math. Every time that four grams of sugar are listed in the nutrition facts of an item, that equals one teaspoon of sugar. So, you need to add up all the sugar grams listed in a product and then divide that by four to fully understand the amount of sugar something has.

 

Doing this experiment is sure to surprise you. Even foods that you initially thought were “healthy” are packed full of sugars. These destroy your health and do irreversible damage to your teeth.

Take control over your well-being and invest the time to make wise decisions regarding your diet. By investing in fruits, vegetables and dairy products, you give your teeth the best chance of being happy and healthy. Talk to your dentist in Belleville, NJ if you have any further concerns about how to look for hidden sugars.