well, to totally get off the subject of sugar, a brand of juice (cant remember the name, its in the organic section at dierbergs though) says on the label that juices not from concentrate have high levels of micronutrients, phyto-somethings (ill look it up later) and antioxidents, as well as many other things. So, if you want to drink juice, go with that which is not from concentrate, otherwise, stick to water
The chief beverage-related concern for your teeth is whether or not the stuff you drink has sugar in it. The pH of a particular drink would only be a concern if you literally hold the drink in your mouth all the time; otherwise, the acids involved are quickly washed off the teeth by your saliva.
Sugar, on the other hand, is great food for bacteria, and they stick to your teeth tightly (in that fearsomely disgusting plaque stuff) and excrete acids that stay up against your tooth enamel for long periods of time, leading to cavities.
Diet sodas don’t provide food for mouth bacteria (the bacteria can’t digest artificial sweeteners) and so don’t contribute to cavities.
Well, Vitamin C is ascorbic acid. Have we not already concluded that OJ has a large amount of C whereas soda has none?
It’s my understanding that this may be mistated. When we drink artifically sweetened drinks, our body (and brain) continue to have cravings for that sweet taste. We continue to eat more and more to satisfy that “need” for sugars. As confirmed in Rick’s cite, Sucralose has no effect on blood sugar levels or insulin production.
The Snopes quote compared phosphoric acid in Coke with all acids in OJ (“May pointed out that the .055 percent level of phosphoric acid was far below the 1.09 percent acid content of an orange”). I was thinking this meant all vs all, but I see elsewhere Coke also has citric (and of course carbonic, due to it being fizzy) acid in it so my statement was wrong in literal terms.
Coke per se has a pH of 2.53, “Florida” OJ of 3.30-4.15, and something called “Orange Minute Maid” of 2.80; but soft drinks and juice products in general overlap so it’s not a given either way. I found fruit juices from 5.50 (guava) to 2.00 (lime and lemon), and soft drinks from 3.7 (diet 7up) to 2.50 (RC cola, Pepsi).
The point remains that these drinks are only in your mouth for seconds and are quickly buffered by saliva anyway. So the acid content is pretty much irrelevant to their effect on dental health.
That site says “Sucralose has no effect on blood glucose utilization, carbohydrate metabolism or insulin production.” and I’m sure it doesn’t, directly. However the fact is you are experiencing a sweet taste without a corresponding sugar intake, and my understanding is that is all that’s required to trigger the effect I mentioned.
I can’t find anything on Sucralose having the effect I mentioned, that’s true. I did for Aspartame though
and I can’t see how the effect would differ as it purely comes from the impression the brain has that it is about to have to deal with incoming sugar, and has none to deal with.
From the link This Year’s Model provided, regarding Qagdop’s Hierarchy of Beverages… (Catchy, that.)
- Water
- non-caloric & non-carbonated flavored beverage
- Skim milk (may rank higher if the individual needs the calcium, lower if they don’t)
- Vegetable juice (watch the salt load, tho!)
- non-caloric carbonated flavored beverage
(I’d also consider 1-5 above to all be basically healthy or neutral) - 1 or 2% milk
- Fruit juices
- fruit juices or “punches” with added sugar
- Carbonated sodas with sugar
(6-9 above may be ok in the proper amounts but too many folks consume
enough of them to turn them into liabilities rather than assets) - Whole milk (waaay too much sat fat for most)
- Maple syrup (when used as a beverage)
… I rarely drink any milk products anymore, and rarer still carbonated or non-carbonated flavored beverages.
Lately when I drink juice, I further dilute it by 50% with tap water. So does my diluted juice beverage with half the sugar content and twice the water content rise to the top five?
What’s a gastric juice?
… fuck… I whooshed. Gastric juice, har har.
I’d agree with this statement in general, but two of my aunts are dental hygienists and they mentioned once that some of the most damaged teeth they see are in folks who very slowly sip diet soda all day long. Since there’s a few minutes before the acid in the soda is completely rinsed away, if you drink it slow enough, you can essentially bathe your teeth in acid all day. Patients can end up with very severe tooth decay as a result. If folks did that with juice, I’d imagine it’d be about as bad.
I wouldn’t trust the claims on a package to be accurate or reliable. The fact is that “phytochemicals” is an extremely vague term describing thousands upon thousands of chemicals present in plants. Plants contain chemicals that are beneficial and harmful; a very large proportion of a plant’s weight is chemicals designed to kill insects, and plants naturally produce carcinogens and all manner of other bad things.
That said, the benefits of consuming fresh fruit and vegetables obviously outweigh the risks. Less so for fruit juice, since it’s easy to drink excessive amounts of sugar and you’re missing out on the fiber and the feeling of satiation that might motivate you not to eat something else.
Very few of the purported benefits of “phytochemicals” have been clearly shown to have significant health effects. Keep in mind that often times, larger studies demonstrate that the previously promising dietary trends end up not panning out; a large study of beta carotene, for instance, showed that it can actually increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Large amounts of vitamin E may worsen heart problems.
So claims about “phytochemicals” and their health benefits are very vague and unconfirmed. Some of them may be destroyed in processing, but it’s hard to say which ones are relevant anyway; you can bet that the manufacturers of that brand of orange juice don’t have any special knowledge beyond what’s already known.
Sure I drink a lot of Diet Rite, but I ususally knock off a couple of pints of Log Cabin before bedtime. 