It seems that no matter how much information we have about how food and beverages impact our health, we continue to ignore the information and make up our own minds about what we choose to believe based on how it fits into our lifestyles. Take soda, for example. There is a lot of research that points to the fact that drinking soda on a regular basis, or even once in a while, can have a lasting impact on your overall health, not to mention the impact it can have on your teeth and oral health, but people continue to ignore these warnings.
How Does Soda Affect Your Teeth?
Soda is bad for your teeth for a number of reasons. The main reason soda is not recommended for regular consumption is because the acid in the soda can wear away the enamel on your teeth. And we all know that once we lose the precious enamel on our teeth, it does not come back. There is significant dental and medical evidence to suggest that soda weakens the overall strength of teeth because of the loss of enamel. Teeth can also become translucent and people can even start to experience pain in their teeth because of drinking too much soda. When people try to switch to sodas with artificial sweeteners, they run the risk of a whole host of other problems including aspartame poisoning and ulcers in their mouth. The side effects on teeth can be devastating, yet people insist those effects are from something other than soda.
What Can You Do to Help Your Teeth?
Instead of trying to figure out how you can give up your beloved soda, why not try to focus on how you can replace it with something that is even better? If you think you’ll miss the “fizz” and the “bite” of soda, you’ll want to check out some of these beverages that can offer you the same “hit” that soda can. Here are 7 beverages you can drink instead of soda for your health, and protect your teeth and oral health.
Carbonated Water
If you crave that bubbly sensation that soda provides, try drinking carbonated water instead. You can purchase carbonated water machines that can save you a lot of money over time and you can get hooked on carbonated water to replace your soda, instead of being hooked on soda. Try adding some fruit to your carbonated water to increase the flavor, and you’ll be all set, and your teeth will thank you for it.
Flavored Waters
Flavored water continues to be a best seller in grocery stores across America. People who are trying to reduce their soda intake will appreciate the variety of flavors that flavored water comes in. You can get any flavor you can imagine, and they taste great. They are much better for your teeth than soda because they are usually flavored with natural ingredients and contain much less sugar than soda.
Flavored Coffees
If it’s the caffeine you think you’ll miss, then try a flavored coffee. While certain coffees have much higher levels of caffeine than soda, coffee does not contain the same ingredients as soda so it can be easier on your teeth over time.
Low Calorie Flavor Boosters
There are a number of companies offering flavor boosters that can be squirted right into your water bottle so you can drink flavored water on the go. These come in a range of flavors and are highly portable. They also come in powder and liquid form and tend to have much fewer calories and sugar than soda. You can mix and match them to create flavors all your own, and you can avoid soda effects on teeth.
Vegetable Juice
Rather than fill up on high sugar fruit juice, drink vegetable juice, or a combination of fruit and vegetable juice. This provides you with tons of nutrients and valuable calories that are good for your health and the health of your teeth. Vegetable drinks have much less sugar than soda and can help strengthen your immune system and tooth health, overall.
Tea
If you still aren’t on the tea wagon, it might be time to give it a whirl! Everyone drinks tea these days. There are many health benefits still being discovered about teas like green tea and Chaga tea (made from mushrooms); and tea doesn’t contain sugar, and it has about half the caffeine of soda. Some teas don’t have any caffeine at all.
Almond Milk
While the jury is still out on the value of cow’s milk to humans, many people are switching to soy or almond milk. A good quality almond milk has almost no sugar, no caffeine, and has a decent amount of good fat, calories and nutrients for the body and teeth. There are many brands on the market that fortify almond milk with vitamin D and calcium to make up for the fact that almond milk doesn’t contain a good amount of calcium. It’s worth dropping the soda for though because it is easily digestible and you can’t pour soda on your cereal.
When it comes to dropping soda from your diet altogether, it can be difficult to wrap your head around never having it again. Instead, enjoy many of these beverages on a regular basis because of their health benefits and enjoy soda in smaller amounts. One can of soda a day can add up to 350 unnecessary calories and 10 teaspoons of sugar - there are more fun ways to enjoy liquids that don’t have so much bearing on the health of your teeth.
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