We advise our Alexandria cosmetic dentistry clients at Mt. Vernon Center for Dentistry to watch their sugar intake to prevent cavities and other health problems.
If you are trying to unsweeten your diet, you are probably skipping the usual suspects: candy, soda, and baked treats. But not all sugar is as obvious as the frosting on a piece of chocolate cake or the powdery stuff in pixie stix.
Here are some foods found in Alexandria area grocery stores and local school cafeterias with a surprisingly high sugar content:
- Ketchup
- Low Fat versions of snack foods (Manufacturers often replace fat with sugar.)
- Salad Dressing
- Breads, buns, rolls
- Spaghetti Sauce
- Protein Bars
- Granola
- Canned soup
- Peanut Butter
- Yogurt
- Fast food meals (Hamburgers, fries, sandwiches, and salads are often loaded with sugar, not to mention the dessert items.)
- Antacids
- Cough drops
- Fruit smoothies (Even a small serving has a whopping amount of sugar.)
Reading the fine print on labels is a must. The following terms are all types of sugar:
raw sugar, cane sugar, glucose, lactose, galactose, fructose, dextrose, honey, sorghum, molasses, cane sugar, confectioner’s sugar, crystallized cane juice, invert sugar, maltodextrin (or dextrin), maple syrup, concentrated fruit juices, evaporated cane juice (what kind of cane do you think we are talking about?)
Do the math: when shopping at Alexandria area markets or health food stores, carefully decipher food labels before you buy. Four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon. Add up all the grams of every type of sugar listed and divide by four to truly understand how much sugar an item contains.
At Mt. Vernon Center for Dentistry, we advocate and practice preventative family dentistry for lifelong dental health. For more information on how your diet affects your dental health, contact us at 703-360-5881. If you are in need of cosmetic or restorative dentistry as a result of neglected dental health, contact us today. We offer a wide range of dental procedures, including laser dentistry, sedation dentistry, porcelain veneers, crowns and dental implants.
We are located at 8101 Hinson Farm Rd Ste 114 in Alexandria VA.
