Researchers from University at Buffalo, New York, have deduced that consuming sugary and high glycemic load foods such as doughnuts can have a negative impact on oral health and health outcomes in older women. This can happen due to the influence these foods have on the oral microbiome. 

Published in the journal ‘Scientific Reports’, the study was led by a team of researchers who examined whether carbohydrates and table sugar or sucrose have links with the composition and diversity of oral bacteria in a sample size of 1,204 postmenopausal women. The data was collected from the Women’s Health Initiative.

The first study analyzed carbohydrate intake and the subgingival microbiome in postmenopausal women. Instead of using salivary bacteria as samples, the researchers examined subgingival plaque, which occurs under the gums. 

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“This is important because the oral bacteria involved in periodontal disease are primarily residing in the subgingival plaque,” said Amy Millen, the first author of the study and an 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.

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The findings of the study displayed a strong association between total carbohydrates, glycemic load and sucrose, and Streptococcus mutans. Streptococcus mutans is a major cause of tooth decay and can contribute to cardiovascular disease. 

“We examined these bacteria in relation to usual carbohydrate consumption in postmenopausal women across a wide variety of carbohydrate types: total carbohydrate intake, fibre 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,” she added.

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“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 concluded.