Parents, don't let your kids drink soft drinks (except root beer):
Root beer may be 'safest' soft drink for teeth
Exposing teeth to soft drinks, even for a short period of time, causes dental erosion—and prolonged exposure can lead to significant enamel loss. Root beer products, however, are non-carbonated and do not contain the acids that harm teeth, according to a study in the March/April 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the AGD's clinical, peer-reviewed journal. That might be something to consider during the next visit to the grocery store.
Consumers often consider soft drinks to be harmless, believing that the only concern is sugar content. Most choose to consume "diet" drinks to alleviate this concern. However, diet drinks contain phosphoric acid and/or citric acid and still cause dental erosion—though considerably less than their sugared counterparts.
"Drinking any type of soft drink poses risk to the health of your teeth," says AGD spokesperson Kenton Ross, DMD, FAGD. Dr. Ross recommends that patients consume fewer soft drinks by limiting their intake to meals. He also advises patients to drink with a straw, which will reduce soda's contact with teeth.
"My patients are shocked to hear that many of the soft drinks they consume battery acid," Dr. Ross explains. For example, one type of cola ranked 2.39 on the acid
scale, compared to battery acid which is 1.0.
Researchers concluded that non-colas cause a greater amount of erosion than colas. Citric acid is the predominant acid in non-cola drinks and is a major factor in why non-cola drinks are especially erosive. There is a significant difference between sugared and diet colas.
"The bottom line," Dr. Ross stresses, "is that the acidity in all soft drinks is enough to damage your teeth and should be avoided."
What is dental erosion?
- Dental erosion involves loss of tooth structure.
- Erosion refers to the action of the acid on the entire surface of the tooth.
- Dental erosion and dental cavities are not exactly the same. Cavities and tooth decay tend to be isolated to cavity-prone areas such as in between teeth and in pits and grooves.
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Thanks for the info. some alpha-mankeys tried to argue one time w/ me for no good reason other than picking nits on mild-mannered monkeys like me, there was nothing to the claim colas are bad for your health. they had their 'facts' byt they didn't figure.
More acidic than battery acid?
I assume the "acid scale" means pH, where a lower value indicates higher acidity; more specifically, pH=-log(H+), where H+ is the concentration of hydrogen ions in an aqueous solution. In other words, the battery acid is 24 times more acidic than the soda cited. For comparison, consider lemon juice, which has a pH of 2.4 (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph_Scale). All of a sudden, that 2.39 doesn't sound quite as scary.
I don't dispute that sodas harm teeth, but the title here is misleading.
You know, I twinged when I read that, but then I forgot about it when I posted. Thanks for picking that up.
I twinged when I read that, but then I forgot about it
Twinge.
Teenagers and bone health
...a recent study found that carbonated beverages were associated with bone fractures in physically active teenage girls. The cause of this association (caffeine, phosphorous content, low calcium intake) is not known.
Dr. Greenspan points out that calcium intake among young people has changed a lot in the last 10 to 15 years. "Children and teenagers used to drink much more milk. Unfortunately, we won't know what effect this lack of calcium will have on today's teenagers for another 30 to 40 years, but it is likely to lead to a dramatic increase in osteoporosis and fractures," she says.
-- healthjournal.upmc.com/0505/BoneHealth.htm
You need vitamin D in order to absorb calcium from the diet.
Phosphorus: Phosphorus participates in the energy cycle by turning the food we eat into fuel the body can use. Like calcium, phosphorus is also involved in muscle contraction and nerve transmission, and we need phosphorus to make body proteins. Phosphorus is part of your DNA, which controls heredity. As part of cell membranes, phosphorus plays a protective role by regulating what comes in and goes out.
Phosphorus deficiency can result in neuromuscular, skeletal, blood, and kidney abnormalities, and extreme deficiency can be fatal. Phosphorus deficiency is frequently seen in individuals who are on long-term total parenteral nutrition (also called "TPN") or who use phosphorus-binding antacids to excess.
There is a relationship between calcium and phosphorus. For optimal absorption of each, the relationship should be one to one. Too much phosphorus causes poor absorption of calcium. In a study that compared female athletes who drank carbonated beverages -- a rich source of phosphorus -- with those who didn't, those who drank the soda had more bone fractures. Unless you are on TPN or taking phosphorus-binding acids, the chance of a deficiency is rare. This is one mineral that you are more likely to get too much of rather than too little, especially if you take supplements or drink carbonated beverages to excess. Too much phosphorus can cause calcium deficiency, leading to osteoporosis.
-- thebody.com/bp/jun99/nutrients.html
"Root beer products, however, are non-carbonated..."
Wah? Maybe they mean non-caffeinated? When I pop open a root beer, bubbles come out...
Even if they did mean non-caffeinated (which would be strange because caffeine isn't mentioned anywhere else in the article), that's not true of all root beer.
From the Mug Root Beer web site (this is the type of root beer used in the study):
Contains: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, modified food starch, ascorbic acid (to protect flavor) and quillaia extract.
Sure looks to me like it has both carbonation and citric acid.
So, does this mean that fruit (especially citrus) juices are also bad? (Must be a fair amount of citric acid in the grapefruit juice I drink with dinner). And how does the sugar content compare with soft drinks?
Yes, citric juice are not really good for your teeth, i.e., sucking on a lemon can help to quickly destroy enamel.
You know I'm surprised I have any enamel left from all the energy drinks and sodas I consume. But I've really been trying to cut back (as well as increasing my daily brushings). Sugar is truly worse than crack, and if you buy at the volume I do, it can be just as expensive.