Beware Of Hidden Sugar | Oceanside Dental Excellence

We guide our dental patients at Oceanside Dental Excellence to watch their sugar intake to prohibit cavities and other health problems.

If you are trying to de-sugar your diet, you are probably skipping the usual suspects: candy, soda, and baked treats. But not all sugar is as conspicuous as the frosting on a piece of chocolate cake or the powdery stuff in pixie stix.

Here are some foods found in grocery stores and school cafeterias with a surprisingly high sugar content:

Ketchup
Low-fat versions of snack foods (Manufacturers often replace fat with sugar.)
Salad dressing
Bread, 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 they are talking about?)

Do the math: when shopping at markets or health food stores, carefully assess 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 comprehend how much sugar an item contains.

At Oceanside Dental Excellence, we advocate and practice preventative care for lifelong dental health. For more information on how your diet influences your dental health, contact us at 760-439-3400. If you have a toddler or child who has not yet visited a dentist, call us today for a pediatric oral examination and information on fluoride and sealants.

We are located at 3762 Mission Ave Ste 104 in Oceanside.