Toothpaste is a daily use product for oral hygiene. While using toothpaste different questions may come up. One of the common questions does toothpaste have calories?
Let’s try to answer the question in a very simple manner.
The answer is quite simple and short. Yes, most tubes of toothpaste contain calories in it. Interestingly, most kinds of toothpaste that are available in the local market contain a minimum of 1 to 2 calories per gram of toothpaste.
The actual calculation varies with different ingredients of different tubes of toothpaste.
So, it is always better to check the label of the product. This will give the exact calories contained in the toothpaste.
Through dietary vision, this quantity is considered to be negligible unless and until one swallow while brushing.
Now that we have learned toothpaste does have calories in it. The question that may pop up is the from where these calories come. The answer to this is the ingredients of that particular toothpaste.
Different ingredients of toothpaste contain calories in it.
General research shows that glycerine is the main source of calories in most toothpaste.
Along with these minerals, fluoride and calcium are the main sources of calories in toothpaste. Many other ingredients are discussed below with their calorie percentages.
Ingredients/Nutritional Value in Toothpaste
People may wonder which ingredient of toothpaste contains calories and the quantity of each.
Ingredients vary with different toothpaste brands and its base.
In general, carbohydrates, fluoride, minerals, and calcium are the main calorie source in toothpaste.
The net number of calories present in different ingredients is discussed below.
- Sorbitol – 2.6 kcal/g
- Mannitol – 1.6 kcal/g
- Lactitol – 3 kcal/g
- Xylitol – 2.4 kcal/g
- Erythritol – 0.2 kcal/g
- Isomaltose – 2 kcal/g
- Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates – 2.1 kcal/g
- Glycerine – 4.3 kcal/g
- Propylene – 4 kcal/g
The above-mentioned ingredients are sugar alcohols mostly.
Glycerine has the highest calorie content in it. It also belongs to the group of sugar alcohols.
The calorie elements of toothpaste have nutritional values associated with them.
The nutritional values are discussed as follows.
- 1. Fluoride – It serves as protection to the enamel of our teeth and increases the strength to stand acid content foods. It also mitigates the chances of developing a cavity.
- 2. Glycerol – It prevents toothpaste from getting dried out.
- 3. Sorbitol – It acts as a sweetening agent in toothpaste.
- 4. Calcium carbonate – It aids in removing stains and plaque from teeth.
There are some other ingredients too such as magnesium carbonate, hydrated aluminum oxides, and silica gels which also hold some minor nutritional values.
What Toothpaste Brands Have Calories?
Natural toothpaste like that Dr. Bronner’s toothpaste generally has high calorific content.
Ingredients like glycerine, coconut flour, coconut juice, and aloe oil contain calories.
The highest calorie content is found to be in glycerine. It contains approximately 4 calories per gram.
The rest of its ingredients do not have calories.
Commercial toothpaste brands like Crest are found to be manufactured by large companies such as Procter & Gamble.
These kinds of toothpaste have fewer chances of containing calories in it.
The reason behind this is they mostly include synthetic pharmaceutical elements in comparison to food ingredients.
It has been found that Crest toothpaste has minute traces of calorie content in it.
The calorie-contained elements found in Crest toothpaste are sodium saccharin and sorbitol.
Both of these are sweetening elements in toothpaste. Sorbitol contains approximately 3 calories per gram and on other hand, and sodium saccharin contains 4 calories per gram.
The chances of getting even 1 gram of it in one go are very less. Moreover, toothpaste is not consumable so nothing of it gets ingested.
All the other ingredients do not have the calorie content. Similarly, Xylitol toothpaste is a sugar alcohol-based toothpaste but generally has less calorie content in it.
Does The Calorie Content Of Toothpaste Matter?
to say logically, that the calorie found in toothpaste is more or less negligible. It is not worth considering.
Even if any ingredient of toothpaste contains 4 calories per gram, the calorie content per serving is almost negligible.
Most importantly, toothpaste is not swallowed so the majority of calories contained in it do not get ingested even.
Interestingly, a normal human body burns more calories while brushing teeth than the actual calorie content of toothpaste per serving.
Does toothpaste have sugar?
Most tubes of toothpaste are sugar-free. However, most common brands like Crest and Colgate do not offer sugar-free toothpaste.
Many kinds of toothpaste contain sugar alcohols as well as sweetening agents.
Technically, these ingredients cannot be considered sugars. They do not show similar carcinogenic properties to sugar.
Therefore, these sweetening agents are considered to be more potent than usual sugars.
Any traces of sugar in toothpaste can affect dental health.
Maximum toothpaste manufacturers try to avoid the inclusion of direct sugar in the toothpaste.
A common sweetening agent used in most toothpaste is sodium saccharin. This is appropriately 300 times sweeter than normal sugar.
Generally, brands that use organically derived ingredients in their toothpaste have very less chances of sugar content in it.
Brands like Weleda, Himalaya, Dr. Bronner’s, and Tom’s of Maine offer sugar-free toothpaste.
Does Toothpaste Break A Fast?
The answer to this question is a bit critical. The two terms considered in this question are of contrasting domains though they are somewhat related.
Fasting is mostly done for religious purposes and on the other hand, toothpaste is used for oral hygiene.
At times, fasting is also done for different health purposes.
The question if toothpaste breaks fast or not depends completely on the fast type.
If the fast serves religious purposes then it can be considered as a break in your fast.
This is considered because toothpaste contains different ingredients and those ingredients do touch your tongue while brushing.
It is much more controversial to consider this question.
Some scholars consider that toothpaste can never break a fast because toothpaste is not swallowed. Nothing is ingested.
So, in a way toothpaste does contribute to breaking a fast.
Now, talking about fast which serves health purposes.
Most types of fasts are meant for stabilizing blood glucose levels in the body.
In this case, also toothpaste cannot be considered a break. It doesn’t affect the blood glucose level by any means.
Even if you swallow toothpaste by mistake, the amount is so less that it cannot alter insulin or blood glucose level.
It doesn’t cause any insulin response that may lead to a fast break.
