Study: Choose Water for Your Workout

When you head into the gym and realize you forgot your water bottle, do you buy a sports drink out of the vending machine?

You might want to think twice about that.

Not only do sports drinks contain calories that sabotage your weight loss goals, they can also ruin your teeth.

A new study shows that the high acidity levels in these drinks erode tooth enamel, particularly among adolescents.

“Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda,” said lead author Poonam Jain, in a news release from the Academy of General Dentistry. “Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid.”

Damage to tooth enamel is irreversible. Without its protection, teeth are sensitive, prone to cavities and more likely to decay.

Dr. Jennifer Bone, a dentist and spokeswoman for the AGD said teens usually are unaware of what’s causing their symptoms when they come to our office.

“They don’t realize that something as seemingly harmless as a sports or energy drink can do a lot of damage to their teeth.”

To reduce exposure, Bone recommends minimizing the number of sports and energy drinks a person drinks. Rinsing the mouth with water and chewing sugar-free gum after consuming these beverages increases saliva, which helps return the mouth’s acidity levels back to norma, Bone said.

Additionally, people should wait an hour to brush their teeth because they could spread the acid in their mouth onto the tooth surfaces, eroding the teeth more.

And if you find yourself at the gym without a water bottle, look for a drinking fountain. Water doesn’t hurt your teeth or your waistline.

Alice Warchol is a freelance health blog writer and fitness instructor.

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