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Next time you consume a sports drink think about the impact on your teeth.
Sports drinks and energy drinks were originally created to improve health but have had the opposite effect. With the amount of sugar in these drinks, people who consume them are seeing their teeth destroyed. The sugar combines with the acid, meaning these drinks have no redeeming quality for teeth.
After just one day of soaking in Gatorade, Red Bull or coke, the enamel of the teeth already was slightly eaten away, according to research by the University of Iowa.
Although these drinks are ruining teeth, there are ways to reverse their negative impact. Drinking cold beverages and limiting consumption of sports drinks to before a physical activity—when a person is not yet dehydrated—will be a start. It also helps to hold off on brushing teeth and to drink with a straw.
The best solution, however, may be to drink more water and milk instead of sports drinks.
The Indiana Dental Association demonstrates the harmful effects of sports drinks by soaking a hard-boiled egg in sports drinks and milk over night. The eggshell, representing the enamel, gets harder when soaked in milk. Conversely, the eggshells soaked in sports drinks get eaten away.
There are, however, some conflicting studies regarding the negative impact of sports drinks. Ohio State University analyzed 300 athletes and did not detect a link between food, drinks and dental erosion.
According to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, all sports drinks accomplish are decrease dehydration and boost saliva flow, actions that lower cavity risk.
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