Carbs, sugary foods may influence poor oral health

Date:
April 5, 2022
Source:
University at Buffalo
Summary:
New research on postmenopausal women identifies associations
between commonly eaten foods and the diversity and composition of
oral bacteria.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The foods we eat on a regular basis influence the makeup of the bacteria -
- both good and bad -- in our mouths. And researchers are finding that
this collective of bacteria known as the oral microbiome likely plays
a large role in our overall health, in addition to its previously known associations with tooth decay and periodontal disease.


========================================================================== Scientists from the University at Buffalo have shown how eating certain
types of foods impacts the oral microbiome of postmenopausal women. They
found that higher intake of sugary and high glycemic load foods --
like doughnuts and other baked goods, regular soft drinks, breads and
non-fat yogurts -- may influence poor oral health and, perhaps, systemic
health outcomes in older women due to the influence these foods have on
the oral microbiome.

In a study in Scientific Reports, an open access journal from the
publishers of Nature, the UB-led team investigated whether carbohydrates
and sucrose, or table sugar, were associated with the diversity and
composition of oral bacteria in a sample of 1,204 postmenopausal women
using data from the Women's Health Initiative.

It is the first study to examine carbohydrate intake and the subgingival microbiome in a sample consisting exclusively of postmenopausal women. The study was unique in that the samples were taken from subgingival plaque,
which occurs under the gums, rather than salivary bacteria.

"This is important because the oral bacteria involved in periodontal
disease are primarily residing in the subgingival plaque," said study
first author Amy Millen, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology
and environmental health in UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions.

"Looking at measures of salivary bacteria might not tell us how oral
bacteria relate to periodontal disease because we are not looking in
the right environment within the mouth," she added.

The research team reported positive associations between total
carbohydrates, glycemic load and sucrose and Streptococcus mutans,
a contributor to tooth decay and some types of cardiovascular disease,
a finding that confirms previous observations. But they also observed associations between carbohydrates and the oral microbiome that are not
as well established.

The researchers observed Leptotrichia spp., which has been associated
with gingivitis, a common gum disease, in some studies, to be positively associated with sugar intake. The other bacteria they identified as
associated with carbohydrate intake or glycemic load have not been
previously appreciated as contributing to periodontal disease in the
literature or in this cohort of women, according to Millen.

"We examined these bacteria in relation to usual carbohydrate consumption
in postmenopausal women across a wide variety of carbohydrate types:
total carbohydrate intake, fiber intake, disaccharide intake, to simple
sugar intake," Millen said. "No other study had examined the oral
bacteria in relation to such a broad array of carbohydrate types in
one cohort. We also looked at associations with glycemic load, which is
not well studied in relation to the oral microbiome." The key question
now is what this all means for overall health, and that's not as easily understood just yet.

"As more studies are conducted looking at the oral microbiome using
similar sequencing techniques and progression or development of
periodontal disease over time, we might begin to make better inferences
about how diet relates to the oral microbiome and periodontal disease,"
Millen said.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_at_Buffalo. Original
written by David Hill.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Amy E. Millen, Runda Dahhan, Jo L. Freudenheim, Kathleen M. Hovey,
Lu Li,
Daniel I. McSkimming, Chris A. Andrews, Michael J. Buck, Michael J.

LaMonte, Keith L. Kirkwood, Yijun Sun, Vijaya Murugaiyan, Maria
Tsompana, Jean Wactawski-Wende. Dietary carbohydrate intake is
associated with the subgingival plaque oral microbiome abundance and
diversity in a cohort of postmenopausal women. Scientific Reports,
2022; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-022-06421-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220405102825.htm

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