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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Xylitol - Sweetener May Cut Cavaities in Kids (Plus some notes from a holistic Dentist who spoke at my Holistic Moms Network)


Read the article below about Xylitol, if you are interested....this is really good stuff!
Also...
I just went to a meeting with my Holistic Moms Network this week...they had a holistic dentist come in and give a presentation. "Health Consciousness in Dentistry" was presented by Dr. Brian Meserlian, D.M.D. He talked a lot about Xylitol. It's a natural sweetener, apparently good for you! Good for your teeth too!
It has some type of good bacteria that eats the bad bacteria in your mouth. Not anything like artificial sweeteners...this is a NATURAL sweetener from fruits & plants. Read ingredients!
He recommends eating food with xylitol once a day! He even recommends taking a saline/xylitol spray daily for your nose and mouth to kill germs...he sprays it in his ears too! (Yea strange but makes sense.)
Says that if you can get the good bacteria into your mucous membranes in your head you'll reduce sickness significantly since air-borne illnesses enter through your eyes/nose/ears/mouth. He hasn't had even a simple cold in 4 years...
This is the Xylitol nasal spray he recommends
And this is a Xylitol toothpaste my Holistic Group swears by, also recommended by the Dentist...they have flouride and flouride-free versions of this toothpaste
XOXO

Sweetener May Cut Cavities in Kids

Study Shows a Sugar Substitute Prevents Tooth Decay in Toddlers
By Kelli Miller Stacy
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

July 9, 2008 -- Daily doses of a sweetened syrup could keep very young kids from developing cavities.

Dental researchers at the University of Washington have found that toddlers who are given two or three daily spoonfuls of the sugar substitute xylitol in a fruit-flavored syrup have significantly lower rates of tooth decay than other children.

Researchers presented their results today at the 86th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Toronto.

The study involved 102 children with an average age of 15 months [NOT A BIG STUDY-KA NOTE] who lived in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Childhood tooth decay is a serious health concern in that central Pacific region. Study authors say the average 5-year-old living there has two to three times as many cavities as a young child living in a typical mainland community.

The children randomly received different doses of the sweetened syrup once, twice, or three times a day for 12 months. At the end of the trial, nearly 76% of the toddlers who received twice-daily doses of xylitol syrup (8 grams in total) were cavity-free, compared to 48% of those who received a single spoonful a day.

More than half (59.4%) of the children who received xylitol three times a day were cavity-free after a year.

"The largest difference in decayed teeth was seen in the twice-daily dosing group," the researchers write in their meeting abstract.

It's a finding that's sure to have some parents scratching their heads, wondering how something sweet -- what we often blame for cavities --- could be good for the teeth.

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener that's found in plants and fruits. It is a sugar alcohol. According to the FDA, sugar alcohols do not promote tooth decay. Studies suggest that xylitol blocks the growth of the bacteria that cause cavities.

The FDA considers xylitol "generally safe" and has approved its use as a food additive for many decades. Today the sweetener can be found in sugar-free gum, mints, and toothpaste.