Dental health and diet
The condition of teeth and gums, influenced directly by how often you consume fermentable sugars rather than by the total amount.
Tooth decay results from a simple process: bacteria in dental plaque ferment sugars and produce acids that demineralise enamel. Between meals, saliva neutralises these acids and allows remineralisation.
It is the frequency of intake that matters, not the total amount. This is the most important and most counter-intuitive point: each intake of sugar triggers an acid attack lasting about twenty minutes. Eating a sweet dessert at the end of a meal is far less damaging than snacking on the same amount spread across the day, which keeps the mouth permanently acidic.
Sugary drinks sipped slowly and fruit juices combine two effects: fermentable sugars and their own acidity, which attacks enamel regardless of bacteria. Diet fizzy drinks are not harmless either, as their acidity remains erosive.
Two protective factors are worth knowing about. Xylitol, a polyol that cavity-causing bacteria cannot ferment, reduces their activity and stimulates saliva flow when consumed as chewing gum after meals. And cheese at the end of a meal raises the pH in the mouth and supplies calcium and phosphates that favour remineralisation, an unexpected justification for the cheeseboard.