Warming Up a Wisconsin Winter with Hot Beverages: How to Counter the Sugar

Ask most Wisconsinites how they keep warm during the cold winter months and many will tell you a hot chocolate, tea, or latte! A Delta Dental survey recently confirmed just how much we love our pumpkin spice lattes. Big numbers. A whopping 72% of all American adults (more than 175 million people) consume seasonal beverages such as pumpkin spice lattes and caramel apple ciders as the colder months descend upon the nation.

Those who do indulge, do so quite often. 39% of those surveyed, who say they do drink the seasonal beverages, drink them at least once a week.

Millennials are top consumers. Nearly nine in ten (86%) 18-34 year-olds consume beverages like pumpkin spice lattes during the fall and winter compared to fewer (67%) of those 35+ who do the same.

Over half (55%) of Millennials who drink seasonal beverages do so at least once a week compared to fewer (31%) of their older counterparts.

Parents are much more likely than Americans without children (53% v. 33%) to consume such a drink at least once a week.

More women than men (77% vs. 68%) enjoy seasonal beverages during winter months.

It is OK to warm up and indulge in your favorite winter drink, but remember a few quick steps can help protect your teeth and oral health:

• Consider decreasing the number of “pumps” of flavoring added to your drinks to cut back on some of the sugar (a little over one teaspoon per pump).
• Try to limit the amount of other sugary foods you consume throughout the day if you are going to treat yourself to a sugary beverage.
• Enjoy your favorite winter drink with a meal, not as a standalone treat. That way, other foods will help keep the sugar from clinging inside your mouth.
• Brush your teeth for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste soon after finishing the beverage, if possible.
• If you can’t brush your teeth, chew a sugar-free gum to help neutralize the acids that attack your teeth.
• Follow sugary beverages with a glass of water to help wash sugar and acid from your teeth.