Diet, Diabetes, and Gum Disease

Brushing and flossing are generally thought to be the only way to prevent gum disease, and a home remedy always seemed out of the question. From Kyushu Unviersity in Japan, however, comes a series of studies showing the importance of making the right choices in food and drink to avoid periodontal infections.

In the most recent study, the research team of Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki and his colleagues found that people with advanced periodontal disease tended to consume fewer lactic-acid rich foods than people with healthy gums.

Lactic acid foods include yogurt, yogurt drinks, buttermilk, leban, koumiss, cottage cheese, sauerkraut, wheat beers, rye bread, and sourdough bread, especially sourdough rye. When the Japanese researchers made allowances for age, gender, frequency of brushing teeth, use of floss, smoking, alcohol intake, high cholesterol, and diabetes, they found that exposing the gums to probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus seemed to discourage the growth of tissue-damaging germs in the gums.

The gums were protected by eating the equivalent of a quarter-cup (about 60 g) of yogurt a day. Consuming milk and cheese did not protect against gum disease.

Earlier releases of this ongoing study also found that people who drink more than 1 oz of alcohol a day (the amount of alcohol in a jigger of whiskey or a tall beer) run about a 3-fold greater risk of developing advanced periodontal disease. Moreover, people with pockets of gum infection deeper than 2 mm (a little less than one-tenth of an inch) were 60 per cent more likely to develop irregularities of heart rhythm on EKG suggesting heart disease.

And a study at the University of Michigan also found that gum disease can aggravate diabetes, although the link is easy to break. People who experience pain with eating tend to eat soft foods, such as potatoes, puddings, ice cream, and white bread, and to get their calories from fruit juices, milk, and cola. The added glycemic burden makes it harder to control blood sugars.

Similarly bad results have been found from eating dark chocolate. Although there are many conditions that may benefit from the antioxidants abundant in dark chocolate, gingivitis isn't one of them. Studies of chocolate factory workers who eat on the job have found that 75 per cent have gum disease.

Citation:

Shimazaki Y, Shirota T, Uchida K, Yonemoto K, Kiyohara Y, Iida M, Saito T, Yamashita Y. Intake of dairy products and periodontal disease: the Hisayama Study. J Periodontol. 2008 Jan;79(1).