One of the most universally loved foods of all time, chocolate is often featured in our special occasions, and provides a valued pick me up in times of sorrow. Sadly, too much chocolate can be a serious problem, as many of us have realized first hand. Excess chocolate consumption not only packs on fattening calories and incites stomach aches, but can also wreak havoc on your teeth… or at least that is the prevailing theory.
However, like most wisdom in health and wellness, not all is black and white with chocolate. Chocolate can be a healthy choice, or a cavity inducing mess, depending on circumstances discussed below. One thing is for sure though – good for teeth or bad for teeth, chocolate’s deliciousness cannot be denied!
The Good Side of Chocolate
Generally, dark chocolates are always the safest bet when it comes to health. Known as “real chocolate,” dark chocolate gets rid of a lot of the extra ingredients used in other forms of chocolate, in favour of much higher percentages of cacao. Not only does this cacao-rich chocolate eschew many of the detriments of its white and milk counterparts, but it also confers many benefits on its own.
For one, studies have actually correlated moderate dark chocolate consumption with cavity fighting behavior. These findings are unsurprising when once considers the high concentration of health promoting compounds in dark chocolates. They are known to contain high values of flavonoids, polyphenols and antioxidants. Those compounds are responsible for reducing bacterial growth, preventing tooth decay and fighting health harmful, oxidizing compounds.
Furthermore, the reduction of sugar in dark chocolate removes the main culprit for tooth decay from the equation altogether. Sugar plays a critical role in tooth decay, as it feeds the acid creating bacteria that are responsible. By removing sugar from the equation, these bacteria become a non-issue!
The Bad Side of Chocolate
Knowing that sugar is the guilty culprit of tooth decay, it is unsurprising that the much more sugar laden forms of chocolate – milk chocolate and white chocolate – are dangerous to teeth. Though there are only minor differences in the sugar content of all three forms, the slightly higher amounts of sugar present in milk and white chocolate gradually add up over time.
Furthermore, the addition of sugar to these chocolate variants also severely reduces the amount of cacao in their makeup. Cacao is responsible for many of the antioxidant, flavonoid, and polyphenol compounds in dark chocolate. Therefore, less cacao translates into less healthy compounds that actively battle tooth decay.
The long and short of it all? Proper dental hygiene and moderation in what you eat can make nearly any diet palatable for your oral health. However, for best results, your body and gums will thank you for sticking to dark chocolate in the long run. If you absolutely cannot stay away from milk or white chocolate, just be sure to keep the consumption very moderate!
