Juice: Is It Good For You Or Not?

For many years doctors have encouraged parents to give their children juice but during the past few years more are offering up water and milk as better alternatives again. So why the change?

Honestly, doctors are beginning to recognize that starting off your children with juice early on in life can perhaps lead to more issues then it was one time believed. First off, since most children drink before they eat they are being taught to appreciate the tastiness of sugar from an early age which in fact can be a major contributing factor to poor eating habits, obesity, and even diabetes down the road.

Secondly, since most juice is sugary and some of it is acidic these all natural juices begin rotting away the surface of a child's teeth as soon as they bud not even allowing them time to develop healthy teeth and this can be seen not only in the kids of today but in the adults and how many dental problems they are experiencing as well. Since technically juice has only natural ingredients no one really predicted this long term affect on the teeth.

Another issue about drinking a lot of juice is the calories that are involved in drinking juice. Water is a healthier alternative and milk in small quantities is essential for the bones. Juice also tends to fill up children and provide them with too many extra calories and many children drink nothing but juice all day long which can lead to poor eating habits later on as well.

Of course, you will find that juice is a delicious alternative to soda but most doctors feel that prolonged juice drinking during early childhood also leads to a potential sugar and soda addiction down the road. Training the body to rely on sugar as its primary source of energy is another problem that drinking a lot of juice creates. Sugar, even natural sugar, is a very addicting substance and one that will affect the overall function of the body over time and once the body gets used to using sugar for energy it can be a very difficult habit to break.

Encouraging your children to drink mostly water is better for their overall health, works well to maintain their body, and also helps them to maintain a healthier weight. Packing on a whole lot of unnecessary calories by guzzling juice all day ought to be discouraged by both parents and physicians. This healthy alternative is generating plenty of issues down the road.