Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) on Mental & Dental Health
How do SSBs affect dental health?
In Dental health, we have a noncontagious disease called dental caries, also known as tooth decay or dental cavities. Dental caries cultivates when bacteria in the mouth digest sugars to promote acid to withdraw enamel and dentine. Added sugars are an essential factor in the development of dental caries. It should be noted that sugar-sweetened beverages, including fruit-based and milk-based sweetened drinks and 100% fruit juices, are a primary source of added sugars. Everyone is at risk, especially children and adolescents. Reducing the risk of dental caries in children, even by a little, will benefit them in adulthood. Therefore, we can reduce the risk of dental caries by lowering additional sugar intake.
How do SSBs affect mental health?
Not only can excess consumption of added sugars affect your physical health, but it may also threaten your overall mental health. Recent studies have brought to our attention how sucrose, commonly known as “table-sugar,” can affect our long-term mental health. A study found that added sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages can put you at 3.7x the risk for cognitive impairment. The same study also found that high-added-sugar diets (sucrose) would be significantly related to lower verbal and visual memory performance. Another study found a strong positive association between sugar intake from sweetened food or beverages and common mental disorder (CMD). As we learn how to identify drinks or beverages with added sugar, we can work towards limiting added sugar intake and reducing the risk of mental health issues.
