NUSTART InSights
Monk fruit, also known as Luo Han Guo, is a small green melon-like fruit native to southern China. It has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine for its sweet taste and medicinal properties. In recent years, monk fruit has gained popularity as a natural sweetener and alternative to sugar.
What Are The Benefits Of Monk Fruit?
Monk fruit contains natural compounds called mogrosides, which are responsible for its intense sweetness. These compounds are much sweeter than sugar but contain zero calories and have no effect on blood sugar levels. This makes monk fruit an excellent choice for people who are watching their sugar intake or managing diabetes.
In addition to being a zero-calorie sweetener, monk fruit also has antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help protect the body against damage from harmful free radicals, which can contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Stevia is a natural sweetener that has gained popularity in recent years as a healthier alternative to sugar. But what exactly is stevia and how does it compare to other sweeteners? In this blog post, we will explore the origins of stevia, its health benefits, and how it can be used in everyday life.
Where Does Stevia Come From?
Stevia is derived from the leaves of the Stevia rebaudiana plant, which is native to South America. The leaves contain natural compounds called steviol glycosides, which are responsible for the sweet taste of stevia. These compounds are much sweeter than sugar, but they do not contain any calories.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Stevia?
One of the main reasons why stevia has gained popularity is its potential health benefits. Unlike sugar, stevia does not raise blood sugar levels, making it a suitable option for people with diabetes or those who are watching their sugar intake. Additionally, stevia has been found to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which may contribute to overall health and well-being.
Lard brings to mind traditional meals like flaky pie crusts and fresh Mexican tamales. For many people, it’s also associated with negative health effects such as heart disease, which is why lard has fallen out of favor over the last few decades. But what exactly is lard and is it ever the healthier choice?
What Is Lard And How Is It Used?
Ever cooked bacon and saved the grease for something else? Well, then, you’re familiar with lard! Lard is rendered pork fat, which has been strained for a smooth, white fat.
Although it’s not unheard of to spread it on toast like butter, lard is mostly used for cooking. Lard is a star ingredient in some regional and cultural cuisines. It’s used in Latin cuisine to give foods like refried beans, tamales, and empanadas a delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture. Lard is also common in Southern food and is the secret ingredient for the flakiest pies and biscuits.
Gut Health and Periodontal Disease
We already know about the proven relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular diseases, but the gut is less discussed. However, an unhealthy gut results in many diseases and disorders.
Inflammation is the key player in most disease processes, including periodontal diseases and diseases of the gut (e.g., Crohn’s, celiac, IBS, etc.). When the body is overridden with inflammation, each system functions less effectively.
When bacteria invade the sulcus, it travels through the epithelial lining of the pocket and is then circulated through the body.6 It triggers an immune response, which prompts the production of proinflammatory cytokines in the pocket, which then can also enter into systemic circulation, causing systemic inflammation.
Hygienists are some of the only preventive specialists who are in the position to discuss patients’ oral health in conjunction with other overarching health issues. In addition to oral and systemic health, gut health is one of the most important topics to broach with patients.
Gut health is defined by the balance of bacteria and a combination of many organs that work together to adequately and efficiently perform functions of the gastrointestinal tract, such as eating and digesting food comfortably. An area that was once under-researched, new insight into gut health now presents a wealth of information that supports a link between a healthy or unhealthy gut and a person’s oral health.
As hygienists know, periodontal disease is a multifactorial disease that not only develops from bacteria present in the mouth but also from the response of the host. Current literature shows that the bacteria alone is not solely responsible for the many types of periodontal disease and “it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is the host inflammatory response to the subgingival bacteria that is responsible for the tissue damage and, most likely, progression of the disease.” One of the contributing factors to periodontal disease lies in the health of bacteria in the gut.