I'm sure you know that your favorite fizzy sugary elixir is not doing a thing for your waistline, but did you also know it's rotting your teeth? You might think it is the sugar, but you would be wrong. Sodas rank high in acidity, and when it comes to your mouth, that acidity can speed up the development of cavities.
Here's the deal. Teeth become susceptible to cavities when the acid level of your saliva falls below a certain point. If the acid level stays below this point for an extended period of time (like if you are drinking soda all day), the outer layers of your teeth begin to lose minerals and a cavity can form.
The phosphoric acid in soda (which is no good for your bones as well), which is what keeps it nice and bubbly, dissolves the calcium out of your teeth's enamel, leaving them soft and unprotected. Sugar-free sodas aren't the answer, since they still contain the same amount of damaging phosphoric acid.
Fit's Tips: When it comes to your teeth, the worst thing you can do is to sip soda throughout the day. If you're not ready to give soda up completely, try and drink it at one sitting with a meal, and when you're done, immediately rinse with water.
Butterfly
Antica Murrina Veneziana
Velvet
I don't drink soda anymore. Products like Coke gross me out because I know there's so much sugar in it, and the light products gross me out because I know there are so many chemicals in it. I love me some H2O and OJ!!!
1I read once that people who clean up a crime scene use cola to dissolve the blood stains in concrete. Makes you wonder what the amount of acid is that you're drinking...
I never drink sodas anyway, unless I have a low blood sugar level and a need a quick fix.
2This is why I drink soda with a straw, but now I'm trying to drink more tea. I'm not a coffee drinker, but a girl has gotta get her caffeine somehow.
3This is one reason why I hardly ever drink soda. The other of course is the extra weight it adds.
4This is why water and unsweetened tea are my best friends!
5I love and crave soda all the time but I've stopped drinking it to protect my teeth and waistline ... so what I do is remind myself with the sound it makes ... if you open a can of soda for a few minutes it makes this gurggling sound and I imagine the soda sitting inside doing who knows what to my body ... it totally turns me off to consuming it and I reach for water instead ... but sometimes I cave and I try to use a straw!
6I have learned that water is my best friend. I have been drinking and refilling my Nalgene at least four times a day. I have noticed my skin feels fresher and i seem to have more energy, and i am not as hungry nor do i have cravings for the bad stuff.
7I was drinking Diet Ginger Ale but I know even that has acid too. After reading this I don't think I'll be drinking too much soda. I'll stick to my homemade iced tea, some bottled water, and milk.
8It cracks me up when the people I wore with drink diet soda all day like its so much better than regular. I stick with water and green tea, theres nothing better.
9I haven't been a regular soda drinker in years, when I try to drink a soda it literally burns my throat and mouth. So, I don't even bother. Only time is an issue is when you go to someone's house, so now travel with bottled water in my purse.
10I just read an article in a magazine about a month ago covering this topic. The research that they did showed that all beverages - soda, orange juice and even water - had a negative effect on our teeth. Orange juice was one of the worst, right along side regular soda.
The most surprising, though, was that water (I'm assuming city water because it did not specify) is actually worse for your teeth then Diet Coke. It specifically recommended Diet Coke as it has less of the acid that decays teeth than other diet sodas.
11i'm not much for drinking soda - except for those once in a blue moon days where i need a quick sugar fix.. but even then i drink it with a lot of ice and rarely finish it... i remember in middle school and the science fair where there's always someone that shows how a tooth can dissolve if left in a cup of soda... i don't know why but that image has always stayed in me and everytime i'm about to drink soda - i literally feel like my teeth are dissolving - it's defnitely a quick way to stop yourself from the craving and go for something else.
12My boyfriend bought us a water cooler about 4 years ago, so I drink almost exclusively water. I never liked pop, too fizzy.
13Thank you Chamrick! Just because OJ isn't fizzy, doesn't mean it isn't extremely acidic and won't rot your teeth. It will. So will lemonade or any other citrus drink. My dentist told me if I have to drink diet soda (I'll never give up my occasional Diet Cherry Coke), then drink it through a straw. Something about how it'll have less contact with your teeth...
14I love soda and have at least one every day. I ain't givin' it up. I just brush my teeth 3 or 4 times a day (even at work!)
15I used to be a Coke-a-Holic a few years ago and it was soooo hard to give it up, too! Within a month after switching off Coke (regular and diet), I lost almost 10 pds. (while excercising) and felt a lot better! I still crave the newtrasweet flavor from diet soda, though. So instead, I drink flavored H20 or just a lot of water.....but, uice is just as bad for your teeth!
16is diet sodas just as bad for waistlines?
17i mean, i know that it's zero calories but something is just so fishy.
This doesn't surprise me. I've never been able to drink soda because it hurts my mouth and throat to drink it. Maybe I'm super-sensitive or maybe my mouth just never got used to it, but I just can't drink more than a few sips usually...and slowly. I have the same trouble with beer.
18We once tried something nice in school when I was a kid: we put a piece of meat in a glass and then put Coke on it. A few days later it was a disgusting cloudy broth, the Coke actually dissolved the meat!! Nothing more to add ...
19genetics or something else has to be a factor in this...my husband will drink up to 5 REGULAR cokes daily and his teeth are perfect, its crazy...he also loves OJ and cranberry juice...he brushes, rinses, and flosses morning and nightly, thats all...i, however, will drink one diet coke on occasion and a ton of water, have the same routine, and i have a root canal coming up. i despise him for this!
20i know that alot of people love soda including me...but unless you want your teeth to fall out dont drink to much soda water is healthier.
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