Who is the culprit that causes tooth decay? Can starch in food cause tooth decay?
Starch is a natural polymer compound, which mainly exists in the seeds or roots of plants. The starch-rich foods that are often seen in daily life include rice, wheat, potatoes, etc. Regarding starch in food, you need to know the following three questions.
How is starch converted into energy in the human body?
In the daily diet, the primary form of starch is solid food such as steamed bread and rice. By chewing in the mouth, the solid food is broken down into small pieces, and then enters the stomach through the esophagus. At this time, the chemical form of starch began to change. A part of the starch was catalyzed by the amylase in saliva and hydrolyzed to produce maltose. However, because the amylase in saliva was limited, some starch without hydrolysis would go from the stomach to the small intestine. Then, under the action of amylase secreted by the pancreas, the hydrolysis continues. Starch is hydrolyzed into maltose, which is the second "transformation" of starch.
During the digestion process, maltose will continue to be catalyzed by the maltase secreted by the intestinal juice and hydrolyzed into glucose that the human body can absorb. Therefore, glucose is the final form of starch entering the human body after digestion. Part of the glucose enters the cells, undergoes complex biochemical reactions to generate energy, and is directly supplied to various tissues of the human body; the other part of the glucose is used as a raw material for the synthesis of glycogen. Glycogen is mainly distributed in the liver and muscles of humans and animals. It is an energy storage substance for humans and animals. It will be decomposed to produce glucose when the glucose in the blood of humans and animals is lower than normal, and it can be replenished in time.
What is the principle of resistant starch for weight loss?
Resistant starch is a starch component that cannot be digested and absorbed by the upper digestive tract (stomach and small intestine) of the human body. Although it is a genuine starch in chemical structure, it cannot be broken down into glucose by the human body, and then absorbed into the blood as the body's energy usage. Because resistant starch cannot be fully digested by the human body, the food made has less calories than ordinary starch, which achieves the goal of weight loss.
Does starch in food cause tooth decay?
The final form of starch is glucose, and starch itself is also a sugar. Will we get tooth decay after eating starch-rich foods such as rice and steamed buns? According to research, in the process of chewing food, some food residues containing carbohydrates will remain on the surface of the teeth or in the crevices of the teeth, and the carbohydrates mainly include starch. Under the action of oral bacteria, the acidic substances produced by the fermentation of starch will corrode human teeth whose main components are calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate. Under the long-term corrosion of acidic substances, the originally smooth tooth surface will have pits due to decalcification, and if it is more serious, it will be eroded by bacteria to form "wormholes" and become tooth decay. Therefore, after eating food, you must Remember to brush your teeth.
This article is scientifically checked by Huang Shaohua, a senior teacher in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province.
This article comes from: Xinhua Net