To ask if no added sugar squash is really that bad?

[Supportingeachother1983]

I have a 2 year old who drinks diluted apple juice (1 part juice and 4 parts water) and a 6 year old who drinks rocks blackcurrant squash. The dentist was horrified when I told her this. She said they should be drinking no added sugar squash. My friends mostly use robinsons no added sugar for their DC. I had always been wary of sweetness though, my dad told me they are not good for us. How bad are they? I am thinking of changing to sugar free squash but something is telling me not too!

I saw it too. It might still be on the iplayer. Was called Trust Me I'm A Doctor or something like that.

Here's the quote from WebMD -

Sugars are naturally occurring carbohydrates. These include brown sugar, cane sugar, confectioners’ sugar, fructose, honey, and molasses. They have calories and raise your blood glucose levels (the level of sugar in your blood).

Reduced-calorie sweeteners are sugar alcohols. You might know these by names like isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. You'll often find them in sugar-free candy and gum. They have about half the calories of sugars and can raise your blood sugar levels, although not as much as other carbohydrates.

Artificial sweeteners are considered "free foods." They were designed in a lab, have no calories, and do not raise your blood sugar levels.

The FDA has approved 5 artificial sweeteners -
Acesulfame potassium (Sunett)
Aspartame (NutraSweet or Equal)
Sucralose (Splenda)
D-Tagatose (Sugaree)
Saccharin (Sweet 'N Low)

Disclaimer: just from a v quick google search, not a full review of the evidence!

Squash is just unnecessary though If you don't start buying it for toddlers they just get used to drinking water.

It has no real nutritional value and tastes disgusting, so why would you bother? I'm not anti treats - I'd rather the DC had a biscuit with water than drink endless amounts of 'calorie-free' junk.

It's not just about kids though is it? My children don't drink it but we buy it every week as DH drinks it everyday and I have a few glasses a week. This aspartame hysteria isn't about children is it?

Why do people keep putting 'squash tastes disgusting' as fact?
No, it tastes disgusting to you, not everybody.
Just like i love cokelife yet my dh can't stand it.

Artificial sweeteners taste disgusting to me.

The BBC programme mentioned suggested that artificial sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame (not Stevia though) interfered with gut bacteria. Seems to be a bit of research being done on this.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/

Sweeteners are rank. Such a bitter aftertaste. Why must companies add them to everything? Like Dr Pepper, Sprite etc. If I want the sugar free version, I'll buy it. But why have the standard one as sugar and sweetener? I understand it's so they can say 'wow less sugar, less calories' but I'm not buying it because sweeteners make me ill I miss Dr Pepper.

Anyway, as this is about squash, I tend not to buy sugar free versions as the sweeteners affect me and I don't want it to be the same for my children? I just buy normal and use less but they tend to ask for water anyway. I wish I enjoyed water

Personally, I don't give my little one either of those, as I see them as completely unnecessary. Water is good! I think it depends a bit on which sweetener they use, but because I worry about teeth, I would choose no added sugar squash instead - although preferably just water tbh.

To the people saying why not just give water - as many have said you can't ultimately control everything your DC drink. My DD is looked after by various family members, some of whom introduced squash. I could have insisted that she drink only water yes, and refused to let her have squash at home and put up with tantrums, but why? You have to choose your battles and I really can't see the harm in sugar free squash, with no proven health concerns, and find it difficult to justify a restriction when I drink it myself! Life is rather to short to control your child's diet in this way just because of random internet myths. Water may well be better but nobody is going for a peffect diet at all costs are they?

By the way, I don't like the taste of sugar free blackcurrant (eg ribena) but never noticed a bad taste to anything else. Not sure if they use a different sweetener but it is disgusting to me.

If I drink something with sweetener at the same time as eating actual sugar then the sweetener tastes weird to me but otherwise I don't notice.

So far DS has only ever drunk milk and water but if he insists when he's older I'd rather he had sugar free, mainly because of his teeth. He can tell me if he thinks it has a disgusting taste I guess.

Sugar free gives both me and my son terrible squits, I have stomach probelms and it must be hereditary because he gets similar to what I get from having sugar free stuff. Lucky to be a milk household here although I've heard that comes with its own problems too.

Glucose fructose is found in ribena and some high juice brands.
Some biscuits (as mentioned) and cereals.
In the states a selling point will be made on packaging - informing the consumer that it is 'HFCS free' . High fructose corn syrup is made from corn. It is the American name for glucose fructose. It can not be broken down in the body. It is a major culprit in the obesity problem there.

Thank you for all the replies. I feel confident to change to no added sugar squash now. I'm going to go with the sainsburys one with sucralose.

I think its important for parents and grandparents to realise that no-added-sugar does not mean sugar free. Drinks labeled as no-added sugar still contain sugar and cause tooth decay! Still water is the healthiest and safest drink for sure.

There is a good page on the Dental Choices website about squash drinks - well worth a read.

Due to baseless scaremongering nonsense, Aspartame has become one of the most tested/studied products consumed by humans. Decades of studies haven't proven any of the scaremongers correct.