“The real reason you should drink lemon water!”
“Lemon Water: Refreshing, Hydrating, Healthy”
“Lemon water is a delicious way to stay hydrated – Das It”
These are just some of the titles of the thousands of TikTok videos touting the benefits of lemon water, a drink that’s simply lemon juice added to water and has become a hot topic in recent years for its purported health benefits, including boosting hydration, providing a vitamin C boost, and serving as an alternative to sugary drinks like soda and fruit juice.
But drinking lemon water comes with potential health risks, says Dr. Stephanie Dumanian, owner of Park Rex 60 Dental, who spoke with HuffPost co-hosts Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson about the secrets to keeping your teeth healthy on the Huffington Post podcast, “Am I Doing It Wrong?”
“Honestly, I see all sorts of effects that drinking lemon water has on my patients’ enamel,” she says. “I say, ‘What’s wrong? Do you have acid reflux? What’s changed?’ And they don’t understand. So I say, ‘Do you drink lemon water in the morning?’ And they say, ‘Every morning!’ And I say, ‘Ahhhhh!’ And I say, ‘Do you also brush your teeth right after?’ And they say, ‘Yup!’ And I’m like, ‘That’s gross!'”
Doumanian explained that you don’t want to brush your teeth after exposing them to the high amounts of acid found in lemon water, or other drinks or foods.
“It’s basically like putting acid on your teeth,” she says.
Instead, they recommend brushing your teeth before drinking, or waiting 20 to 30 minutes after drinking, or rinsing your mouth with water to wash the acid away before brushing your teeth.
“Alternatively, you can drink it through a straw,” she says. “Some of my patients say they like it warm, but I tell them, ‘Just let it come to room temperature and drink it through a straw.'”
She noted that using a straw can help keep acidic drinks from coming into contact with your teeth, and this method also works well when drinking coffee.
“Coffee staining is also minimized because your teeth are less exposed to coffee.”
Dumanian also revealed why some people are more susceptible to tooth decay than others, as well as surprising reasons why you may have bad breath.
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