100% Fruit Juice – Is it as Healthy as You Think?

Dental Health:

You’ve seen or even purchased different types of juices from the grocery stores because they were labeled, “100% fruit juice.” You may think something like this would be a good alternative to sodas or drinks with a lot of sugar. You may also want to give them to your children because they seem healthier. Well, that’s not necessarily the case. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently reevaluated the recommendations they’ve made that allow younger children to have fruit juices.

What Has Changed?

One of the specific changes to the recommendations is not allowing children to have fruit juices the first 12 months. The cap used to be at 6 months, where they allowed children over 6 months to have the fruit juices. However, this year that has changed. They suggest that children 12 months and younger should not have fruit juices. Listed below are some of the reasons why.

Why Have the Changes Been Made?

Although fruit juices can be provide a good source of vitamins and minerals, they also contain a high amount of sugar. Some fruit juices may contain up to 2 teaspoons of sugar for approximately 3 fluid ounces. That’s a lot of sugar. If one cup contains 8 ounces of fluid, we’re looking at about 4 ½ teaspoons of sugar in one cup!

What Does the Academy Advise?

This amount of sugar can be harmful for teeth and overall dental health. It is the leading cause of cavities (tooth decay) in most children. The academy advises no fruit juices for children under 12 months, but also advises that older children (ages 1-3) should only consume 4 ounces of fruit juice per day. Children ages 4-6 can have a little more juice, about 4 to 6 ounces per day. Also, they recommend only having about 8 ounces of fruit juice per day for ages 7 to 18! That is no more than one cup per day.

What about Adults?

Children are not the only ones that should be cautious though. Adults are still prone to getting tooth decay and sugar still plays a big role in their dental health. Overall, sugar drinks should be minimized. If fruit juices are consumed, it is best to brush afterwards and not allow the sugar to remain on the teeth.

Dental Visits:

It is important to look after your teeth because they are the only part of the body that don’t heal themselves. Having said this, it is important to keep up with your regular visits to the dentist (for both adults and children) to monitor the teeth and make sure new cavities are not forming.

If you haven’t had your teeth checked recently, it’s time to make your appointment and get a routine check-up… especially if you’ve been having a lot of sugar-drinks.

Dr. Arthur A. Kezian DDS 443 N. Larchmont Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 467-2777