Is Your Diet Hurting Your Teeth?

Another day, another new diet to try.

It seems like there is a diet for just about everything these days. Some of the most trendy diets have become so mainstream, specialized food options have been integrated into just about every restaurant and fine dining menu.You can see it at the grocery store too when you pass by the gluten-free bread section or the baking section with its mass selection of flour alternatives.

The high demand for these specialized diet products has been integrated into our everyday lives. Dieting is much more accessible and convenient than it ever has been, with around 45 million Americans dieting each year. The problem with diets is that while some diet foods may be helpful for shedding weight, they have the potential to be problematic for your oral health.

If you’re on a diet now or thinking about trying on in the future, consider this list of diet foods and trends that could be dangerous to your teeth before you make a final decision.

Juice Diets

Juice cleanses are a popular and equally tasty way to diet these days. It involves limiting your consumption to only juices and water for a certain period of time. While there isn’t much evidence out there that proves juice cleansing does anything good for your health, we do know that it can have a serious impact on your oral health. That’s because fruit naturally contains a lot of sugar. when the bacteria in your mouth consumes that sugar, it then gets turned into acid. This acid is what can do the most damage to your teeth.

Sparkling Water

Carbonated water has become a popular alternative for people looking to cut down on soda and other sugary drinks. In theory, this idea is good because carbonated water doesn’t have the same high levels of sugar that regular soda has. But the devil is in the details. Even when you take sugar away from the equation, you still have carbonation to worry about. The carbonation in soda and sparkling water can lead to enamel erosion.

Keto Diet

The keto diet has become one of the more popular diets these days. It’s a low fat, high carb and high protein diet where you only consume around 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. When you do this, your body is forced into a process called ketosis. When this happens, your body starts to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs which some believe can help you lose weight. The problem with the keto diet is that when your body goes into ketosis, you end up with really bad breath. This is because during the ketosis process, your body has to expel ketones which. Ketones smell bad, but are ultimately harmless.

Article by Cassidy Rush, Delta Dental of WA

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