This excellent article by Joachim Bartoll emphasises that eating sugars and carbohydrates leads to tooth decay.
Although
that is blindingly obvious, the so called "experts" needed to do 37
studies to reach a conclusion. If they were doing studies to show the
dangers of vaccinations it would probably only take them about half a
dozen to show that vaccines are "safe & effective"
37
Studies Later: Sugar Still Destroys Teeth, and Modern Nutrition Science
Still Pretends This Is Complicated - By Joachim Bartoll July 8, 2026
A
new systematic review of 37 studies has concluded what any functioning
adult should have figured out by the age of twelve. Higher sugar
consumption, whether measured by amount or frequency, is strongly linked
to more dental cavities.
The
researchers found that eating or drinking sugary foods or beverages
once or more per day produced the most consistent damage. Thirty-two of
the thirty-seven studies confirmed this relationship.
This is the kind of research that makes you wonder why the field even exists anymore.
The Obvious Fact That Required 37 Studies to Confirm
Tooth
decay is not a mysterious disease that requires complex statistical
modeling to understand. When you put sugar in your mouth, bacteria that
naturally live on your teeth ferment it into acid.
That acid
dissolves the enamel. The more often you feed those bacteria, and the
more sugar you give them, the more acid attacks your teeth receive. This
is basic microbiology and chemistry, not advanced science.
Yet
here we are, in 2026, with researchers still publishing systematic
reviews to confirm that sugar damages teeth. The fact that this even
needs to be studied at this level reveals how corrupted and disconnected
modern nutrition science has become.
Instead of stating the
obvious and moving on to real solutions, the field keeps producing
papers that dance around the truth while protecting the
carbohydrate-based food system that created the problem in the first
place.
What the Review Actually Found
The
researchers looked at 37 studies examining the relationship between
sugar intake and dental caries. In 32 of those studies, higher sugar
consumption, whether by total amount or by how often it was consumed,
was clearly associated with more cavities.
The strongest and most consistent link appeared when people consumed sugary foods or drinks at least once per day.
This
matches what we already know from basic physiology. Every time sugar
touches the teeth, acid-producing bacteria get a meal. The more frequent
the meals, the more frequent the acid attacks. There is nothing
surprising here.
What is surprising is that anyone still pretends
this relationship is complicated or that we need dozens of studies to
establish something this straightforward.
The Real Mechanism: How Carbohydrates Destroy Teeth
Sugars
and starches are both carbohydrates. When you consume them, oral
bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans convert them into lactic acid and
other organic acids.
These acids lower the pH in the mouth and
begin demineralizing the enamel. This is not a theory. It is observable
chemistry that happens inside every human mouth that contains
carbohydrates.
The damage is not limited to the teeth.
Carbohydrates that escape digestion feed bacteria throughout the
digestive tract, contributing to systemic inflammation and microbiome
disruption.
The same compounds that rot teeth from the outside
also create advanced glycation end-products inside the body, damaging
proteins, blood vessels, and organs over time.
Tooth decay is
simply the most visible and immediate consequence of feeding the body
something it was never designed to handle in any significant quantities.
Why Modern Nutrition Science Keeps Studying the Bleeding Obvious
The
nutrition science establishment has a strong incentive to keep studying
the effects of sugar rather than recommending its removal.
Admitting
that carbohydrates are the fundamental problem would require
dismantling decades of dietary guidelines, Big Ag and food industry
partnerships, and academic careers built on the idea that “moderation”
and “balance” are solutions.
It is far safer and more profitable
to publish another review showing that “sugar” is bad without saying
that the effect is the same with any form of carbohydrate source, and
then pivot to selling supplements or fortified foods that supposedly
mitigate the damage.
This is the same pattern we see across the
entire field. Instead of telling people to stop consuming the toxic and
damaging substances that cause disease, researchers and organizations
produce endless studies that document the harm while carefully avoiding
the obvious conclusion.
The result is a population that remains
confused, continues eating carbohydrates, and then gets funneled into
pharmaceutical and supplement solutions that treat symptoms rather than
remove the cause.
The Only Logical Solution
If
carbohydrates damage teeth through acid production and bacterial
overgrowth, the solution is not better toothpaste, more poisonous
fluoride, or synthetic useless supplements.
The solution is to
stop feeding the bacteria what they need to produce acid. Removing all
carbohydrates from the diet eliminates the fuel source for both oral
bacteria and the broader metabolic damage they contribute to.
Remember,
humans are hypercarnivores and we are not physically constructed for
carbohydrate or any kind of plant-based consumption. Consuming anything
that is not species-appropriate will cause damage and shorten our
health- and life-spans.
On our species-appropriate, species-specific hypercarnivore diet, there are no sugars or starches to ferment in the mouth.
The oral microbiome shifts away from acid-producing species toward one that is compatible with animal foods.
Tooth decay rates drop dramatically, immediately to near zero, without any special dental interventions.
This
is not a theory. It is what happens when humans return to the diet
their physiology evolved to run on. There is nothing in meat or organ
meats that can damage the teeth, only the opposite.
The
same principle applies to the rest of the body. Carbohydrates create
glycation, severe tissue damage, and microbiome disruption throughout
the system.
Removing them allows the body to repair itself instead of constantly fighting damage caused by inappropriate food.
The Real Problem Is Not a Lack of Studies
We
do not need more research to understand that sugar destroys teeth. We
need the courage to state the obvious and stop protecting an industry
that profits from keeping people sick and confused.
Thirty-seven
studies were not required to reach this conclusion. One functioning
brain and basic observation would have been enough.
The
solution has always been the same: stop consuming the substances that
damage the body. Everything else is noise designed to sell products and
maintain the status quo.
Sources and References:
Original study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42174517
Systematic review confirming the dose-response relationship between sugar consumption frequency and dental caries.
Moynihan, P.J. and Kelly, S.A. (2014). Effect on caries of
restricting sugars intake: systematic review to inform WHO guidelines.
Journal of Dental Research, 93(1), 8-18.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022034513508954
Earlier WHO-supported review establishing the causal link between free sugars and dental caries.
Sheiham, A. and James, W.P. (2015). Diet and dental caries: the
pivotal role of free sugars reemphasized. Journal of Dental Research,
94(10), 1341-1347.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022034515590377
Review emphasizing that frequency of sugar exposure is a critical driver of caries development.
These
sources confirm what basic biology already tells us: carbohydrates feed
the bacteria that destroy teeth. The only real solution is removal of
the fuel source, not endless studies documenting the damage while
protecting the industries that profit from it.
