EFFECT OF CHEESE

[Anonymous]

From an early age, we are encouraged to drink our milk. To the inevitable question “why” comes the response “it’s good for you because it builds strong bones and teeth.” The same holds true for the other members of the milk family – yogurt, kefir and cheese. Milk and milk products are also good sources of protein, and so most nutrition programs suggest several portions of milk or milk products per day, more for young, growing children or pregnant or breast feeding mothers.

All products that are derived from milk are good sources of calcium which is an essential nutrient for the development of bones and teeth. Eating cheese results in a coating of calcium on the teeth that helps protect against caries. Eating a cube of cheese can increase plaque-calcium concentration by up to 112%, helping to harden teeth and discourage softening which leads to caries. It appears that cheese also prevents demineralization and, at the same time, encourages remineralization of the tooth. This is true whether the cheese is eaten raw or has been cooked.

But it turns out that eating cheese may be good for your teeth in several ways. Eating cheese may help reduce the incidence of cavities. When food is eaten, the pH often drops – the mouth becomes more acidic. Teeth are very sensitive to acid and it appears that eating cheese helps maintain a pH level in the mouth that is safe for teeth. Under experimental conditions, it was shown that the pH drop following consumption of a 10% sugar solution was 4.26, but when the sugar solution was eaten after cheese, the pH dropped to only 6.48.

Aged cheddar, Swiss, blue, Monterey Jack, brie, Gouda, and processed American cheese all have been shown to reduce dental caries.

        

[sushantpatel_doc]

Whereas research into the causes of dental decay has focused on the harmful relationship between dental plaque bacteria and foods, studies into the protective effects of foods have been infrequent and limited in number. Recent investigations showed that milk and cheese could reduce the effects of metabolic acids, and could help restore the enamel that is lost during eating. Postulated mechanisms involve buffering, salivary stimulation, reduction of bacterial adhesion, reduction of enamel demineralization, and/or promotion of remineralization by casein and ionizable Ca and P. Given this information, consumers may be motivated to use milk and cheese to reduce, or reverse the cariogenic effects of many other foods.

The relationship between nutrition and dental health has been a topic of interest for many years. Recently, the cariostatic properties of cheese have been the subject of intensive research. Most of these studies suggest that the use of cheese as the final food in a meal will help to reduce caries. Several mechanisms by which cheese may reduce enamel demineralization have been proposed. Chewing cheese stimulates saliva flow. The alkaline nature of saliva buffers the acids formed in plaque. There is also an increased rate of sugar clearance due to the diluting action of cheese-stimulated saliva. Research has also suggested that chewing cheese may reduce the levels of cariogenic bacteria. This may be secondary to the reduced incidence of caries as conditions within a carious lesion tend to promote the growth of these organisms. The high calcium and phosphorus content seems to be another factor in the cariostatic mechanism of cheese. Both casein and whey protein seem to be involved in the reduction of enamel demineralization. Casein phosphopeptides may also be responsible for some anticariogenicity by concentrating calcium and phosphate in plaque.

        

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