Drinking Juices

We are presented with this often in our office when seeing children, toddlers and teens. Your child won’t drink enough water and so offering them juice in the next best option, right? Care givers often think that because it’s not pop and made out of fruit it can’t be that bad. While fruit in its natural form does contain some sugars, it also has fiber, made from the skin and pulp. This fiber is important because it tells our body when it is full. This is why we don’t consume 4 apples in one sitting. Commercial made juices have eliminated all the wholesome parts and leaves behind mostly just the sugars, equivalent to 30 grams!! This sugar feeds the bacteria in our mouth leaving behind a by product of acid.

So here are some ideas to improve hydration in your routine.

• Start early !! babies at age 6mos and eating solid food can have water introduced.
• Lead by example – be their water role model.
• Schedule times to have water in the day, with a meal, before or after a nap and before bed .
• Remove the juice from your kitchen, out of sight out of mind.
• Eat water rich foods like cucumber, lettuce, watermelon and strawberries.
• Make your water attractive with a colorful bottle, or add sliced orange peel and blue berries to your water.

In short please limit sweet liquids to one time a day with a meal for optimal oral health. Before you grab that water enhancer, please do your research on finding the right brand with the least amount of dye and chemicals. I used to tell my own children that water made them taller, just like a tree . Worked like a charm!

Keep hydrated !!

Karen C. RDH