Maintaining a bright, healthy smile requires more than regular dentist visits and excellent oral hygiene. It also means maintaining a healthy diet and limiting sugar. By eliminating processed sugar from your diet entirely, you will boost your energy levels, improve your overall health, and strengthen your smile. Here, dentist Brian S. Kubo, DDS, in Kamuela, HI, provides a few tips for living sugar-free and well.

5 Tips to Quit Processed Sugar 

1. Learn the Terms

It might not sound like sugar—but it could still be sugar. In order to say goodbye to this sweet ingredient, you need to learn how to read the label. Sucrose, glucose, maltose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, molasses, and hydrolyzed starch all essentially mean one thing: sugar.

2. Start Your Day Right 

Breakfast gives you the fuel you need to make it through the day. Unfortunately, most breakfast cereals, bars, muffins, yogurts, and other morning staples are filled with high levels of sugar. Instead, opt for eggs, whole-grain toast, and maybe some fruit or vegetables.

3. Make a Plan

It’s easy to bend your sugar rules if you don’t have any in the first place. Cutting processed sugar outright might be difficult at first. Instead, you may want to limit your intake, little by little. Set weekly goals and stick to them.

4. Be Wary of the Fat-free Fallacy 

Companies often market products as fat-free to appeal to the health-conscious consumer. However, many of these products have higher levels of sugar and other processed ingredients in order to make up for the lack of fat and flavor. In most cases, sticking to the original is better for your health.

5. Kick Your Package Habit

Ultimately, fresh food is best. While it’s not good for your teeth or your health to consume too much fruit, eating a couple of servings a day will not do the same damage as chocolate chip cookies and donuts will. Try sticking to whole foods like vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes as often as possible. Your teeth and your body will thank you.

Cutting back on sugar can brighten your smile and prevent a host of issues such as periodontal disease, cavities, and root canals. To learn more about maintaining healthy teeth, contact the experts at the practice of Brian S. Kubo, DDS. Call today at (808) 885-8465 or visit the dentist’s website to learn more.