Raisins Do Not Suppress Tooth Decay

You probably have been told most of your life that it is the sticky food on your teeth that causes cavities. Raisins are obviously a sticky food.

Now researchers are claiming that raisins will PREVENT cavities, yes that is right, prevent cavities because they "fight oral bacteria".

Raisins and Those Bacteria

Findings of these raisins that can supposedly fight cavities will be published in the "Journal of Nutrition". The news report claims that, "The researchers hypothesized that raisins contain anti microbial phytochemicals capable of suppressing oral pathogens associated with caries or periodontal diseases and thus benefit oral health."

More About Raisons and Cavities

If you believe bacteria cause tooth decay, then you can believe this theory to be true. However it is false because the theory that bacteria causes cavities is false. Raisins will not prevent tooth decay, nor will they cause tooth decay. What causes tooth decay, among the myriad of reasons, is a prolonged rise in blood sugar. Anything sweet, and raisins are a highly concentrated form of sugar, will cause blood sugar to rise. Too much rising of blood sugar equals tooth decay. So if you snack on sugary foods all day long, including foods with natural sugars like fruit and raisins or other dried fruit, you will get tooth cavities or other health problems eventually.

Raisins and other sweets do contain properties that, as the research shows, have anti-microbial characteristics. But having anti-microbials doesn't cure cavities, because tooth decay arises from within our bodies, based on the foods that we eat, not what is on our teeth. You can learn a bit more about this in the tooth brushing section.