how is xylitol so good for oral health ? Iām having a hard time believing that such a delicious,sugar like substance is amazing for our teeth and gums š
In: Chemistry
Xylitol is a form of sugar that cannot be effectively broken down for energy.
When bacteria break down sugar, they need to spend 2 energy units called ATP to digest it. Normally, bacteria gets 4 ATP back. So overall you get 2 ATP as profit.
But this is for normal glucose. Xylitol is chemically similar enough to sugar that cells treat it like glucose, but it doesn’t break down like glucose. Instead, a bacteria is spending 2 ATP to break down the sugar molecule, and getting less than 2 ATP back. It’s basically scamming the bacteria into paying more than it gets in return, and over time the bacteria uses up all its energy and starves to death.
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