Why You Should Reconsider Drinking Through Straws

As you can imagine, I was dismayed when I found out why we should reconsider drinking through straws:
 
1. Puckering your lips to sip through a straw leads to fine lines  and wrinkles  around the mouth.

           

Sipping through a straw helps make way for wrinkles around the mouth, much like the wrinkles that people get from smoking cigarettes. Constantly pursing the lips forms wrinkles, especially when you reach your mid-thirties and have less collagen to fill in those creases. 

Suggestion: Moisturize! Keep your skin healthy to reduce the severity of your wrinkly fate. 

 
 
2. Drinking through a straw bathes your teeth in sugary and acidic liquids.
 

 The truth is that tooth erosion can’t be avoided if you choose to drink sodas and iced teas. However, aiming the straw at the back of your mouth may put your teeth directly in harm’s way by giving them a dangerous bath of phosphoric and citric acids found in soda and flavor additives found in teas. Your teeth will suffer from enamel erosion from consuming inorganic beverages anyway, but the straw puts them right on the spot.

 
Suggestion: Whatever you do, don’t let soda or tea sit in your mouth for too long before you swallow because it harms your teeth. 
 
3. The extra air in the straw will bloat you.          
Not only are you sipping water, but you’re also sipping air. Each sip draws air from the top of the straw to be swallowed. This can contribute to bloating and nobody enjoys feeling like a human blueberry (like Violet in Willy Wonka).
 

Alright, so the effects of drinking through straws might not bother you. Clearly, Janice Dickinson isn’t worried because she surgically alters her face anyway! Rest assured, the rest of the world isn’t worried either. It all depends on you! I can’t decide if I am deterred from sipping through my green Starbucks straw.

I find it hard to believe that I could stop using straws, especially since wrinkles don’t take immediate effect. However, I sip through a straw more often than most! I think I’ll buy myself a new water bottle to lessen my severe straw dependency.

 

Think about decreasing your straw usage. Warning: it may be a challenge. As children, we were given fun, twisty straws.  Straws come in so many different, pretty colors, which make them hard to resist! We stick them in our iced lattes, lemonades, sodas, milkshakes, and smoothies. Which do you value more: smooth, wrinkle-free skin around your mouth or the convenience of a straw? 
 

 
Sources:
Finetouchdermatology.com
Sciencedaily.com
Everydayhealth.com
Glamour.com
Abcnews.com