Why Is There So Much Sugar in Drinks and Sports Drinks?

In this day in age children are more exposed than ever to dental problems, such as tooth decay, thanks to the abundance of sugary foods and drinks that exist in our day-to-day lives. If you do nothing about it, your child could develop more severe consequences than you might think. Not only does tooth decay lead to cavities and infections, but it can also lead to severe pain that compromises a child’s eating habits to the point of nutrition problems. 

Continue reading to understand why supposed healthier drinks like sports drinks are still damaging to your child’s oral health and how to avoid them.

Do Sports Drinks Have as Much Sugar as Soda?

Not really, but they don’t fall behind either. The added sugar in both sports drinks and soda is way over the recommended daily intake. The only difference between the two is that athletes that exercise for more than one hour a day with rigorous training do see some benefits from consuming sports drinks as they replenish minerals lost in sweat and can use the extra sugar to gain some energy. For anyone else that doesn’t exercise, sports drinks offer no real benefit. 

According to Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, the most popular sports drinks have around 21 grams of sugar in them, while a 12-ounce cola drink has close to 39 grams. Even if it contains less sugar, drinking sports drinks without exercising strongly increases the risk of various health problems like obesity, diabetes, gout, cavities, and more.

Many experts point out that kids who go and have one game of their favorite sport or have training that’s not intensive simply don’t need the drink. For these situations, the best option will always be water.

Recommended Servings of Sugar

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, where they state that added sugars, like the ones in sports drinks, sodas, and processed foods should be less than 10 percent of the calories in your daily diet. That means around 50 grams of added sugar daily if your diet consists of 2000 calories a day. 

Now let’s remember that a 20oz coke has 65 grams of sugar in them, while sports drinks of the same size as Powerade and Gatorade contain 34 grams of sugar. One sports drink represents more than half the amount of added sugar that an adult needs, factor in all the other processed foods that we might eat in a day, and we easily exceed the recommended amount.

Excess sugar consumption can have serious health complications like obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc. Because of this, it’s important to try and reduce our sugar intake levels. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a stricter diet where added sugar should be at most the equivalent of 100 calories a day. That’s around 36 grams of sugar instead of the previously recommended maximum of 50.

What Can Sugar Do to Your Teeth and Gums

Excessive sugar consumption can lead to various dental issues like tooth decay, cavities, tooth loss, gum disease, and more. Part of the problem with sugar is that it’s not only heavily present in sodas and sports drinks. They are in almost every snack and meal you can get at the grocery store. The abundance of sugary foods and drinks, as well as our excessive consumption, is what leads to the various health issues we have already mentioned.

When you consume sugar, it mixes with bacteria in your mouth that processes the sugar particles and leaves acid behind. This acid is capable of eating away the enamel of your teeth, a hard layer that protects the inside of your tooth. The problem comes when the acid, bacteria, saliva, and food residues come together to form plaque. This thin, sticky film will stay in your teeth until you brush them properly. If plaque, and the acid within it, remain for hours at a time on your teeth undisturbed on a daily basis, you run the risk of suffering from tooth decay, which happens when the enamel of your teeth starts to break away. This, in turn, leads to cavities forming, your gums receding away from your teeth, and more issues mentioned earlier.

You can avoid these dental health problems by simply limiting your sugar consumption, including sports drinks, and by brushing your teeth twice a day every day. This, coupled with regular checks with your orthodontist, allows you to keep your smile clean and healthy.

Check with Your Roanoke Pediatric Dentist

If your children have pain, sensitivity, or soreness in their teeth, schedule an appointment with us now! At Parkway Pediatric Dentistry we’ll be more than happy to help your child maintain their natural and beautiful smile. Contact us today at +15409893639