8 Healthier Alternatives to Drink When You’re Craving Soda
Soda is delicious to say the least for our taste buds but harmful for the body in the longer run. Its acidic content and high sugar quotient can cause serious damage to your teeth as well as your gums. Being a sugary drink, soda accelerates the development of bacteria while acidic properties erode the teeth’ enamel. Occasional consumption of the beverage is fine if one is following the recommended oral hygiene routine. Yet, the dentist near you would recommend you to consider healthy alternatives to soda. This article will help Americans to find 8 healthier alternatives to drink when they’re craving soda to improve their oral health.
What are Some Healthy Alternatives to Soda?
Water:
Water is the best drink for everyone without a shred of doubt. First, it cleans your teeth by washing away food debris and harmful bacteria. This gives you fresher breath while rejuvenating your oral health. Importantly, water boosts saliva development while fighting pH levels and acidity at the same time. So, there is nothing better than clean water.
Milk
Soda’s acidity effect is negated by milk. Also, milk contains calcium and phosphorus which makes your teeth nice and strong. Not just, the enamel is strengthened by milk consumption as it contains casein. So intake milk and consider it as a healthy alternative to soda.
Iced Tea
Iced tea is one of the healthy drinks to substitute soda in your diet. It’s sweet enough to fill your craving for sugar but doesn’t contain sugar content as high as soda. Do check the sugar content in each iced tea before buying one or make one at home. You can use honey instead of sugar to make it healthier.
Iced Coffee
If you are a caffeine lover, you can switch to iced coffee over soda. Avoid tons of sugar in the coffee and you have other healthy drink alternatives to soda. Plus, iced coffee provides better caffeine than soda will ever do.
Homemade Juice or Smoothies
Homemade smoothies are other healthy drinks to replace soda. Also, always add them instead of the store smoothies as they have high sugar content. You can control the sugar intake in the smoothies thus satisfying your soda cravings while getting the required nutrients and minerals.
Coconut Water
Coconut water can be considered a healthy drink to replace soda for Americans. It’s sweet and refreshing while rehydrating and restoring balance to the body through electrolytes.
Flavored Mineral Water
Flavored mineral water is among 8 healthier alternatives to drink when you’re craving soda. So, make sure that it has low sugar content or healthy sweeteners like stevia. Also, mineral water is packed with calcium phosphate, which protects your teeth’ enamel. Importantly, it’s mineral-rich so there are a host of added benefits of drinking a healthy alternative to soda drinks.
Kombucha
Kombucha is a fermented tea drink emerging as a popular healthy drink to replace soda. It consists of yeast, bacteria, and sugar among others. The fermentation happens when the bacteria and yeast is added to the tea and sugar mixture. Despite the presence of sugar, kombucha brings health benefits like probiotics which prevent constipation. Importantly, you will get the same fizzy feel as the soda. This will reduce your craving and will be healthy alternatives to soda.