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Sports Drinks & Tooth Damage


Drinking Sports Drinks? If yes, then don't smile...

Many of us have been told over the years that soda based beverages will rot out our teeth.  Brace yourself, because sodas are three to eleven times less risky in causing damage to tooth enamel than popular sports drinks, bottled lemonade and energy drinks.  

Here's the nutrition facts and risks to dental health:

Recent studies have indicated that drinking sports drinks, bottled lemonade and energy drinks can cause irreversible damage to teeth.  

Beverages attack the protective cover of the tooth - the enamel. The result is potential tooth decay. In many cases, the decay can be severe, and again - irreversible. In other words, your pearly whites are damaged forever and not even the tooth fairy can repair them.

A qualified dentist can - but the repairs will be in the form of 'fake' goods because the original tooth cannot recover.

 The chief enamel invader in sports drinks, bottled lemonades and energy drinks is the organic acids and additives. Colas and sodas do not come off spotless in health and science studies, but are way down on the totem pole when it comes to blowing tooth enamel to smithereens.

Yet one more great reason to drink milk.  Make sure it's skim or reduced fat.

Let's take a look at the nutritional data for a popular sport's aid drink. As we can see right off the bat, it's very pricey in caloric values, any organic acid or additives aside. For 117 calories, that's quite a hit.

Food Group: Beverages

Common Name: thirst quencher

Carbohydrate Factor: 4
Fat Factor: 9
Protein Factor: 4
Nitrogen to Protein Conversion Factor: 6.25

Manufacturer: The Coca-Cola Company

Nutrition Facts:  COCA-COLA, POWERADE, lemon-lime flavored

Units

100 grams

1 fluid oz

8 fluid oz

12 fluid oz

Energy, Caloric Values kcal 32 10 78 117
Protein g 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total lipid (fat) g 0.05 0.02 0.12 0.18
Carbohydrate, by difference g 7.84 2.39 19.13 28.62
Fiber, total dietary g 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sugars, total g 6.11 1.86 14.91 22.30
Minerals
Calcium, Ca mg 1 0 2 4
Iron, Fe mg 0.09 0.03 0.22 0.33
Magnesium, Mg mg 0 0 0 0
Phosphorus, P mg 1 0 2 4
Potassium, K mg 18 5 44 66
Sodium, Na mg 22 7 54 80
Zinc, Zn mg 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.04
Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Thiamin mg 0.011 0.003 0.027 0.040
Riboflavin mg 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Niacin mg 1.565 0.477 3.819 5.712
Vitamin B-6 mg 0.153 0.047 0.373 0.558
Folate, DFE mcg_DFE 0 0 0 0
Vitamin B-12 µg 1.37 0.42 3.34 5.00
Vitamin A, RAE mcg_RAE 0 0 0 0
Vitamin A, IU IU 0 0 0 0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) mg 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Vitamin D (D2 + D3) µg 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Vitamin D IU 0 0 0 0
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) µg 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Breakdown of Lipids

Saturated

g 0.008 0.002 0.020 0.029
Monounsaturated g 0.011 0.003 0.027 0.040
Polyunsaturated g 0.028 0.009 0.068 0.102
Cholesterol mg 0 0 0 0
Other
Caffeine mg 0 0 0 0

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