This Food Causes Gum Disease (Not Sugar)

We all know sugar is bad for our gums and teeth.

But according to a new study in the journal Microorganisms, there’s another type of food that’s just as bad for your teeth and gums.

And it’s usually praised as a healthy food.

So you most definitely eat it daily with a good conscience.

Starches make up a huge part of most diets worldwide.

Think about it: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals, pumpkin, and squashes.

These foods form the foundation of meals across cultures.

Understanding how these foods affect our oral health could help millions avoid dental problems.

AMY1, the gene that helps break down starch, may provide a clue.

People with more copies of this gene (up to 20 copies) can break down starch more efficiently than those with fewer copies.

Basically, when you put a starchy food in your mouth, AMY1 sends bacteria into your saliva to feed on the starch and break it down for your body to use as energy.

The researchers theorized that if you have lots of AMY1 copies, a huge number of bacteria would be sent into your saliva in response to starch, which might then become a gum disease risk.

To figure this out, researchers collected saliva samples from 31 people with varying numbers of AMY1 gene copies.

People in the study had anywhere from two to 20 copies of this gene.

The team then grew these saliva samples into communities of bacteria — similar to what forms in our mouths — in the lab.

They added starch to some samples and compared how the levels of certain bacteria linked with tooth decay and gum disease shifted in response to starch intake, relative to different AMY1 copy numbers.

Several interesting findings emerged:

● Adding starch decreased the diversity of bacteria in the saliva samples. A smaller variety of bacteria is usually problematic, as harmful bacteria can then run riot without harmless ones to keep balance.

● For people with high AMY1 copy numbers, starch slightly reduced two types of bacteria — Atopobium and Veillonella. These are linked with gum disease, but the worst finding is still coming.

● In these same high-AMY1 individuals, bacteria called Streptococcus increased significantly.
This is the chief bacterium responsible for gum disease and tooth decay.

Why is this such a big threat to us?

Because our genes adapt to our environment.

Originally, only ancient agricultural communities had high AMY1 copies, because they ate lots of starch.

But nowadays, most of us eat plenty of starch — meaning most of us now have high AMY1 copy numbers.

And, as seen above, high AMY1 copies mean a good chance of bacteria that bring about gum disease.

This means that you should both brush your teeth after every starchy meal and consider cutting down on starchy food to fight your gum disease.

The key takeaway from this study is, however, that fighting gum disease is about more than brushing your teeth.

It’s about the food we eat.

And I’ve helped thousands of readers permanently get rid of their gum disease using simple diet and lifestyle steps explained here…