Arsenic in Apple Juice: What is the risk?

Apple Juice Safe ... but ...

Arsenic in Apple Juice

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a new "action level" for inorganic arsenic in apple juice of 10 parts per billion, the same level set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. The FDA tested hundreds of samples of apple juice for arsenic and found the overall level of arsenic is low. Because a small proportion of samples had higher levels of arsenic, the FDA is proposing the new action level. The FDA is not recommending any change in juice consumption and has emphasized that the data show it is safe for children and adults to drink apple juice.

The AAP is reminding parents that it is not necessary to offer children any juice to have a well-balanced, healthy diet. For years, the AAP has recommended limited intake of all sweet beverages, including juice, to reduce the risk of poor nutrition, obesity and childhood cavities. If parents want to include juice in their children’s diet, juice should be limited to 4 to 6 ounces a day for children ages 1 to 6 years, and 8 to 12 ounces a day for children age 7 and older. Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits to meet their recommended daily fruit intake. 

Photo credit: FDA.gov

Bad Teeth...Bad Grades!

A recent study at USC and published in the Journal of Public Health verifies that children with poor oral health have, on average, lower grades. They also miss more days of school due to tooth aches and dental appointments. It also pointed out that parents of these students miss more days of work due to the need to care for their children's dental appointments.

One of the tragedies here is to know this is so simple to prevent, though without adequate information, parents find it difficult to accomplish. An early start (age 1) with good instruction will demonstrate to parents how simple it is to give children an excellent start to a lifetime of good oral health.  Cavity free, healthy, beautiful smiles.

Tips for Optimum Oral Heath During Pregnancy

Pregnant?  Your and your baby’s optimum oral health and general health can begin today!

In a previous blog I emphasized how important oral health is to the health of your pregnancy and your baby.  What can you do now, even before a good dental examination to maximize your oral health?

Gum Chewers and Mint Poppers 
If you chew gum or use mints, be sure to buy ones with xylitol as the first ingredient, and preferably the only sweetener in the ingredients list.  Xylitol is well documented as a cavity-preventing sweetener.  Find xylitol (gum, mints, toothpaste, etc.) at your health food store, Internet, and checkout stand (spry, glee, ice cubes, frost, epic, & more).

Then vs Now: Why So Many Cavities?

The rising number of cavities the last 30 years, especially in children, has far outgrown the dental industry’s ability to fill the cavities!  There are simply not enough dentists.  How could this be?  We only need to go back a couple hundred years and cavities were not a problem for anyone except the Royalty and the rich.  Only the rich had dentists, typically in the royal court.  And there is our first clue.

Only the rich could afford the sugar, which needed to be shipped around the world to be used in the Royal Court’s confections and white pastries.  There is a second clue.  Refined white flour, when cooked, becomes a cooked starch that is capable of feeding the bacteria that cause cavities.  Additionally, the starch sticks between the teeth (flour and water paste) where it holds dissolved sugars from a variety of otherwise healthy foods like fruits.

Is juice a problem for my child's teeth?

For over 2 generations now juice has been espoused as a health food. Though dentists have been aware for decades this is not really true, it has not been until very recently that the health industry and the medical establishment has taken a closer look at juice. It is definitely not a health food. The question arises if it is even healthy!

Juice now sits on the top of the list as a probable causative agent for the medical chronic disease pandemic facing our children; namely diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, among others. The journals of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have in recent years recommended that juice be avoided in an infant’s diet. They also recommend that if it is introduced to a toddler that it be limited to 6 oz. daily (a small glass) and consumed with a meal.

Juice is at the top of the list of causative agents for dental disease for our children and youth. For that matter, in today’s culture it probably is equally at cause for adult dental decay.

Juice is worse than soda! That doesn’t mean soda is good; it is also terrible for teeth and health. But, juice is worse. If you look at nutrition data for foods and compare juice with whole fruit, you quickly see what is lost when juice is squeezed from fruit. A couple highlights:

You do get water and calories; i.e., an 8 oz glass of orange juice has the calories squeezed from about 5 oranges. Who ever heard of eating 5 oranges in one sitting? And today we often do this at breakfast and again in the afternoon. Yikes… all those empty calories!

Lost with the fruit when we make juice is a) nearly all the vitamins except some of the water soluble vitamin C, b) insoluble fiber, roughage, c) soluble fiber, unique to fruit and an important aid in digestion, d) and minerals, key components to our enzyme systems that process our body functions. Without the minerals the enzymes cannot use the calories we consume so the calories get stored as fat.

Rarely mentioned about juice is the acid. Acid that will dissolve your teeth. Those of us that took analytical and organic chemistry in college know the issue here. Though organic acids are often called “weak” acids, they are far more effective in organic systems like mouths because of their sustaining power. They don’t register in the pH scale as strong (lower number) as inorganic acids because they hold their acid potential in “reserve.” As the acid is used (dissolving calcium out of teeth) the reserve releases more acid out of solution. This is part of the steady state (homeostasis) systems that sustain organic (life supporting) systems. When misused (juice rather than fruit) the power released can be devastating. It turns out the acid potential (titrateable acid) of juice is nearly twice that of colas!

So put juice at the very top of the destructive beverage list that includes: juice, sports drinks like Gatorade, sodas, juicers and sweet energy teas.

Juice Revealed - Not So Sweet!

For over 2 generations now juice has been espoused as a health food. Though dentists have been aware for decades this is not really true, it has not been until very recently that the health industry and the medical establishment has taken a closer look at juice. It is definitely not a health food. The question arises if it is even healthy!

Juice now sits on the top of the list as a probable causative agent for the medical chronic disease pandemic facing our children; namely diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, among others. The journals of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have in recent years recommended that juice be avoided in an infant’s diet. They also recommend that if it is introduced to a toddler that it be limited to 6 oz. daily (a small glass) and consumed with a meal.

Juice is at the top of the list of causative agents for dental disease for our children and youth. For that matter, in today’s culture it probably is equally at cause for adult dental decay.

Juice is worse than soda! That doesn’t mean soda is good; it is also terrible for teeth and health. But, juice is worse. If you look at nutrition data for foods and compare juice with whole fruit, you quickly see what is lost when juice is squeezed from fruit. A couple highlights:

You do get water and calories; i.e., an 8 oz glass of orange juice has the calories squeezed from about 5 oranges. Who ever heard of eating 5 oranges in one sitting? And today we often do this at breakfast and again in the afternoon. Yikes… all those empty calories!

Lost with the fruit when we make juice is a) nearly all the vitamins except some of the water soluble vitamin C, b) insoluble fiber, roughage, c) soluble fiber, unique to fruit and an important aid in digestion, d) and minerals, key components to our enzyme systems that process our body functions. Without the minerals the enzymes cannot use the calories we consume so the calories get stored as fat.

Rarely mentioned about juice is the acid. Acid that will dissolve your teeth. Those of us that took analytical and organic chemistry in college know the issue here. Though organic acids are often called “weak” acids, they are far more effective in organic systems like mouths because of their sustaining power. They don’t register in the pH scale as strong (lower number) as inorganic acids because they hold their acid potential in “reserve.” As the acid is used (dissolving calcium out of teeth) the reserve releases more acid out of solution. This is part of the steady state (homeostasis) systems that sustain organic (life supporting) systems. When misused (juice rather than fruit) the power released can be devastating. It turns out the acid potential (titrateable acid) of juice is nearly twice that of colas!

So put juice at the very top of the destructive beverage list that includes: juice, sports drinks like Gatorade, sodas, juicers and sweet energy teas.