Rethink Your Drink Campaign

In addition to being a major culprit that contributes to weight gain, poor beverage choices also wreak havoc with your dental health. Many are loaded with corrosive sugars and acids that contribute to severe tooth decay.

At Implant and General Dentistry in Raleigh, we love the Rethink Your Drink campaign from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  They provide nutritional information on typical drinks - and drink serving sizes - that can be very eye opening.

For instance, they show a realistic example of a person who chooses a medium cafe latte made with whole milk with their breakfast, a 20-oz non-diet cola with their lunch, a 16-oz sweetened lemon iced tea in the afternoon, and a 12-oz glass of ginger ale with dinner as adding 796 calories to their day!  Wow - for some of us, that's almost half of our daily recommended caloric intake just for drinks. Check their site to see alternatives that add up to only 155 calories.

Here are some tips from the CDCP on how to choose the best drinks for your overall health.

Learn to be a savvy label reader and go for beverages that have zero to very little added sugar and artificial ingredients. Of course, water is always the best choice, but for those times when H2O won't do, please consider the ingredients and pay close attention to the sugar content.

For ideas about healthier alternatives, review the following suggestions and see if there is any room for improvement where your "go-to" drink options are concerned.

• According to the American Heart Association, "women should limit added sugars to only 100 calories per day (approximately 6 teaspoons), while men should take in no more than 150 calories in sugar (about 9 teaspoons a day)." It was recently revealed that the average American consumes 22 teaspoons a day!  Be on the lookout for these added sugars:
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Honey
• Sugar
• Syrup
• Corn syrup
• Sucrose
• Dextrose
• Make Better Choices:
• Let water be your #1 drink choice
• Try using less or 0 sugar in coffee and tea
• Make a "natural" soda by mixing ½ seltzer with ½ fruit juice
• Try lower calorie and lower glycemic sweeteners like Stevia and Agave syrup
• Keep soda and sugary drinks out of your house-just don't buy them! Instead, chill jugs of water and use lemon slices and fruit or herb filled ice cubes to make H2O a more enticing choice!
• Invest in BPA free water bottles and carry them with you daily
• If you have to have a soda, go for the 8 or 6-ounce size
• At mealtime, set the table with water goblets and fill an attractive pitcher with ice water

By changing just a few habits, you will likely see a big improvement in your overall well being, not to mention your dental health.

If you have questions regarding your dental health, please don't hesitate to contact our Implant and General Dentistry office in Raleigh, NC to schedule an appointment: 919-782-0548

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