時(shí)差N小時(shí):吃甜食蛀牙怎么辦?
又到了科學(xué)時(shí)刻讀信時(shí)間。
A listener writes in: Dear A Moment of Science, Ilove to eat sweets--candy, cookies, caramel apples---everything. But I don't like getting cavities. Is therea way to eat lots of sugar without ruining your teeth?
一位聽眾寫信說：親愛的科學(xué)時(shí)刻欄目組，我愛吃所有的甜食，糖果，餅干，焦糖蘋果等等。但是我討厭蛀牙。有沒有一種方法能讓我既吃許多甜食又不蛀牙呢?
Interesting question. First, let's assume that you'renot going to cut out sweets entirely. So what are your options? If you're going to eat candy, forexample, it's best to eat a bunch all at once instead of eating a few pieces at a time throughoutthe day.
這個(gè)問題很有趣。首先，我們假設(shè)你不準(zhǔn)備徹底戒食甜品。所以你會(huì)選擇怎么做?假設(shè)你要吃糖果，最好是一下子吃完，而不是每次只吃一兩塊，每天吃幾次。
That's because every time you eat sugar, or any carbohydrate like potato chips or crackers orwhatever, there's a thirty- to sixty-minute period where bacteria in your mouth feed on thecarbs and produce acid. The acid is what eats away at your teeth. So if you're snacking oncandy several times a day instead of just once, your teeth are exposed to more cavity-causingacid.
這是因?yàn)槊看文愠蕴腔蛘咂渌歉叩氖澄飼r(shí)，比如薯?xiàng)l或者薄脆餅干，有30至60分鐘牙齒里細(xì)菌吸收糖分，并生成酸性物質(zhì)。這些酸性物質(zhì)會(huì)腐蝕你的牙齒。所以如果你一天吃幾次糖果，那么牙齒就會(huì)接觸到更多酸性物質(zhì)，從而導(dǎo)致蛀牙。
It's also smart to eat candy around or just after mealtimes, because during meals you have anincreased flow of saliva that helps wash out your mouth and creates a kind of buffer betweenyour teeth and the bacterial acid.
飯前飯后吃糖果也是明智的選擇，因?yàn)檫M(jìn)餐時(shí)口內(nèi)分泌的唾液增多，以幫助清潔口腔，同時(shí)也會(huì)在牙齒和細(xì)菌分泌的酸性物質(zhì)之間生成一種酸堿緩沖液。
Your best bet, of course, is to lay off the candy. But of course that's easier said than done.
當(dāng)然，最好的方法就是遠(yuǎn)離糖果。不過人總是說起來容易做起來難。
