You’ll never guess what we want to give you for Christmas…
At FDA we love this time of year. Celebrating with friends and family, festive decorations, cooking and eating traditional recipes, and of course, exchanging gifts.
Our gift to you is the something that we are certain you would never expect from us…CANDY! Yes, candy. But not just any candy…
Researchers are developing a new candy that is actually GOOD for your oral health!
Now, we understand that you are probably thinking one of three things:
- Healthy candy? Yea right…that is way too good to be true.
- Any healthy candy has got to taste absolutely disgusting.
- This is some sick Christmas joke.
However, we are not joking, this candy is in fact REAL and we are telling the TRUTH!! Simply put, an ingredient in the candy has proven to reduce levels of bad, cavity-causing bacteria in mouths. Also, sugar-free candy such as this one actually stimulates saliva production which is good for oral health.
Let’s explain this a little further…
Our mouths are comprised of a delicate balance of good and bad bacteria. When we clean our teeth, the aim is to get rid of cavity-causing bacteria while allowing good bacteria to thrive.
Now, researchers have developed this sugar-free candy. The research team, led by Christine Lang, believes that this good bacteria in the candy binds with the harmful bacteria in the mouth and prevents it from reattaching to the teeth. Without the ability to latch onto teeth, saliva washes the bad bacteria away and potential for developing cavities declines. Seems to make sense, right?
Lang and her team used 60 subjects in their initial trial. Twenty subjects ate candy with 1mg of good bacteria, another twenty subjects ate candy with 2mg of good bacteria, and the remaining twenty subjects ate candy that tasted similar, but contained no good bacteria (the control group).
In total, each subject ate five candies during the course of the 1.5-day experiment. They were not allowed to perform any oral hygiene activities during this time, and they were also not allowed to consume coffee, tea, wine or probiotic foods.
Results showed that nearly 75% of the participants who ate candies with the good bacteria had “significantly lower” levels of bad bacteria in their saliva than before, compared with the control group. Additionally, the subjects who ate candy with 2 mg of good bacteria had a reduction in bad bacteria levels after eating only one piece of candy.
So, we are telling you the truth! Sugar-free candy that actually benefits your mouth and potentially reduces risk of cavities may not be far away.
Merry Christmas to all!!
