Kellie at Busymamas.com recently made a post saying raisins are bad for your teeth. This really surprised me. I always thought raisins were good for my teeth and I definitely did not think they were doing damage. I often eat a small bowl of natural yoghurt, mixed with raisins and sprinkled with almonds. Sweet, yet healthy... or so I thought? Kellie at Busymamas.com said:

When Dr. DreamyMcSteamy told me this interesting fact I was very surprised since I always figured it was better to give our kids natural snacks rather than candy and cookies. Although dried fruit makes for a healthy snack, it is terrible for your teeth – almost as bad as drinking a can of soda! I knew there was a reason why I chose cookies over raisins all these years

Now the first thing I noticed is the strange Dr. DreamyMcSteamy. Who is this person? There's no bio to be found about this doctor on the blog and google didn't turn up anything relevant either. The only thing I could find was a recommendation by this man for a mouth rinsing product.

Afterwards I searched for "raisins oral health" at google. The first 3 results were: (1) Raisins As A Functional Food For Oral Health from Sciencedaily.com, (2) Study finds raisins can be good for oral health from Colgate.com and (3) Raisins fight oral bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease at medicalnewstoday.com. Not that much bad news about raisins here, so it seems. Sciencedaily.com reports:

Compounds found in raisins fight bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry. [...] Raisins are perceived as sweet and sticky, and any food that contains sugar and is sticky is assumed to cause cavities. But our study suggests the contrary. Phytochemicals in raisins may benefit oral health by fighting bacteria that cause cavities and gum disease. [...] Foods that are sticky do not necessarily cause tooth decay; it is mainly the added sugar (sucrose) that contributes to the problem.

But then there are still other sources with a different opinion. In the article Raisins - Health Food or Junk Food at About.com raisins are said to be bad for children's teeth. About.com pediatrics:

If you ask a Pediatric Dentist though, you will likely get a different story. Since they are sticky and have a lot of sugar in them, raisins are also frequently high on the list as a risk factor for children getting cavities.

So concluding, everybody has a different opinion about raisins and their effect on dental health. Unless all of the sudden my teeth start falling out, I'll keep eating my healthy raisins in moderation and remember to brush my teeth regularly - just like with everything else I eat.

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Comments (1)

Raisin is good
written by Best Video Collection , February 23, 2008

Raisin is good for my brain and it traditional use as pick up brain cells for clever thought.

Just my opinion and it have some fact.