Apparently
Gummi Bears—a CANDY—protect our teeth. Gummi Bears are made with the artificial sweetener
xylitol; an ingredient that some claim reduces plaque bacteria. This brainstorm comes to us via the journal
BMC Oral Health. Rebecca Smith of
The Telegraph reports:
The results are published in the journal BMC Oral Health and show significant reductions on plaque causing bacteria amongst children eating both types of bears.
Lead author Kiet A. Ly, from the University of Washington, said: "For xylitol to be successfully used in oral health promotion programmes amongst primary-school children, an effective means of delivering xylitol must be identified. Gummy bears would seem to be more ideal than chewing gum."
The researchers concluded: "These results suggest that a xylitol gummy bear snack may be an alternative to xylitol chewing gum for dental caries prevention.
"A larger clinical trial is needed to confirm the xylitol results."
The researchers were surprised that both the xylitol group and the mannitol group showed reductions in plaque bacteria. Xylitol has been shown in previous research to be effective in helping to prevent tooth decay but evidence on mannitol, which is a very similar substance, has been conflicting.
Okay, Gummi Bears might be cute, but I’m not chewing some artificially flavored candy concoction to protect my teeth. Hopefully parents don’t buy into this jibber-jabber either—sheesh!
Most gummy bears are made with sugar. This article refers to a new type of gummy bear that contains xylitol, which has been proven to significantly reduce plaque. Xylitol is also the same sweetener used today in most sugar-free chewing gum. Therefore, I do have to disagree with your opinion that this is simply "jibber-jabber", but thanks for the post!