A sucker born every minute
I've talked about the dangers of falling for gimmicks several times over the past couple of months. But, while you do have to be wary, not ALL gimmicks are a bad thing. In fact, I came across a new one the other day that may actually do a great deal of good. Apparently, a professor from UCLA has invented an all-natural lollipop than can fight cavities. And the secret ingredient is none other than licorice root, which has been used in natural and herbal medicine for centuries. This particular application, though, is a new twist on the time-honored herb. Professor Wenyuan Shi, Chairman of the Oral Biology Department at the UCLA School of Dentistry, discovered licorice root's cavity-fighting potential when he began researching which Chinese herbal medicines may have a role in dental hygiene. Shi began by determining the top 400 most commonly prescribed and effective herbs, then tested each using anti-cavity biological assays developed at UCLA to see which, if any, would be effective against the bacteria that cause cavities. Licorice came out the clear winner. Chewing on natural licorice is certainly one way to get the benefits Professor Shi uncovered, but the flavor is one that's not necessarily universally appealing -- particularly among children, who are often the prime candidates for cavities. So Shi teamed up with a candy manufacturer to produce a sugar-free lollipop that could deliver all of licorice's benefits without the licorice flavor (instead they settled on orange). If you're as skeptical about that "sugar-free" claim as I was when I read it, rest assured: The candy is sweetened with a natural sugar alcohol called hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (a cousin of xylitol, which Dr. Wright talked about for its cavity-fighting abilities back in the December 2001 issue of Nutrition & Healing). But what I think may be the most interesting thing about these lollipops is just how much cavity-fighting power each one packs. According to Shi, you only need to eat two per day (one after breakfast and one before bed) for 10 days. After that, eating just one pop two to four time a year should be sufficient to keep cavities at bay. While they're not available in stores yet, you can order the lollipops online from a company called C3 Jian (www.c3-jian.com). A bag of 20 is around $10 plus shipping -- much cheaper than getting a cavity filled. Source: "Cavity-fighting herbal lollipop," MedGadget (www.medgadget.com), 2/7/08 | 
