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It's time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag.
又到了科學時刻讀信時間。
A listener writes in: Dear A Moment of Science, I love to eat sweets--candy, cookies, caramel apples--- everything. But I don't like getting cavities. Is there a way to eat lots of sugar without ruining your teeth?
一位聽眾寫信說：親愛的科學時刻欄目組，我愛吃所有的甜食，糖果，餅干，焦糖蘋果等等。但是我討厭蛀牙。有沒有一種方法能讓我既吃許多甜食又不蛀牙呢？
Interesting question. First, let's assume that you're not going to cut out sweets entirely. So what are your options? If you're going to eat candy, for example, it's best to eat a bunch all at once instead of eating a few pieces at a time throughout the day.
這個問題很有趣。首先，我們假設(shè)你不準備徹底戒食甜品。所以你會選擇怎么做？假設(shè)你要吃糖果，最好是一下子吃完，而不是每次只吃一兩塊，每天吃幾次。
That's because every time you eat sugar, or any carbohydrate like potato chips or crackers or whatever, there's a thirty- to sixty-minute period where bacteria in your mouth feed on the carbs and produce acid. The acid is what eats away at your teeth. So if you're snacking on candy several times a day instead of just once, your teeth are exposed to more cavity-causing acid.
這是因為每次你吃糖或者其它含糖高的食物時，比如薯條或者薄脆餅干，有30至60分鐘牙齒里細菌吸收糖分，并生成酸性物質(zhì)。這些酸性物質(zhì)會腐蝕你的牙齒。所以如果你一天吃幾次糖果，那么牙齒就會接觸到更多酸性物質(zhì)，從而導致蛀牙。
It's also smart to eat candy around or just after mealtimes, because during meals you have an increased flow of saliva that helps wash out your mouth and creates a kind of buffer between your teeth and the bacterial acid.
飯前飯后吃糖果也是明智的選擇，因為進餐時口內(nèi)分泌的唾液增多，以幫助清潔口腔，同時也會在牙齒和細菌分泌的酸性物質(zhì)之間生成一種酸堿緩沖液。
Your best bet, of course, is to lay off the candy. But of course that's easier said than done.
當然，最好的方法就是遠離糖果。不過人總是說起來容易做起來難。
可可原創(chuàng)，未經(jīng)許可請勿轉(zhuǎn)載
