Water and soft drinks

Water is a healthy choice any time and fruit juice is a great choice with a meal. And don't forget about milk, which is a nutritious choice especially for children. Remember to check the labels of drinks because they can often have hidden added sugars.

Water

Water is the best choice for quenching your thirst between meals. It is totally calorie free and contains no sugars that damage teeth.

If you don't like the taste of plain water, you could try sparkling water, or add a slice of lemon or lime. You could also try adding some squash or fruit juice for flavour.

Milk

Milk contains vitamins and minerals such as calcium and it doesn't cause tooth decay. For a healthy choice, choose semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. Watch out for flavoured milks, milkshakes, condensed milk and milk-based energy or malt drinks, because these tend to contain added sugar, which is bad for teeth.

Milk is especially important for young children. They should drink whole milk until they are at least two years old because they may not get as many calories as they need from semi-skimmed milk.

After the age of two, children can gradually move to semi-skimmed milk as a main drink, as long as they are eating well and getting plenty of calories and nutrients from a varied diet.

Don't give 1% or fully skimmed milk to children until they're at least five years old because it's too low in calories. Skimmed milk contains only very small amounts of vitamin A, which children need.

Fruit juice and smoothies

Fruit juice and fruit smoothies contain lots of vitamins that are good for our health, especially vitamin C. A glass (150ml) of fruit juice counts as one of the five fruit and veg portions we should be having each day.

But fruit juice also contains a kind of sugar that can damage teeth, so it's best to drink it with a meal.

The sugars found naturally in whole fruit are less likely to cause tooth decay, because the sugar is contained within the structure of the fruit. But, when fruit is juiced or blended the sugar is released. Once released, these sugars can damage teeth, especially if fruit juice is drunk frequently.

When you are choosing fruit juice, remember to check the labels carefully to make sure you are buying 100% fruit juice and there is no added sugar. Also watch out for 'juice drinks', which contain as little as 5% fruit juice and contain a lot of sugar.

Fizzy drinks, squashes and sports drinks

Fizzy drinks, squashes and 'juice drinks' contain lots of sugar - which means they contain a lot of calories - and very few nutrients. So try to keep these to a minimum. The added sugar they contain can also damage teeth.

Drinking fewer sugary drinks is a good way to reduce your energy intake because you won't be missing out on any nutrients by cutting down on them. This will also be good news for your teeth.

If you or your children like fizzy drinks try diluting fruit juice with sparkling water instead. Remember to dilute squashes well for children and this is also a good idea for adults if you want to reduce how much sugar you're getting. For the sake of your teeth, remember if you do have sugary or fizzy drinks, it's best to have them with meals.

Research shows that children and young people in the UK eat too much sugar, and more of it comes from fizzy drinks than any other type of food or drink.

Children who have lots of sugary drinks, such as fizzy drinks and squashes, are more likely to be overweight and to put on weight.

So getting children to drink fewer sugary drinks is a good way to reduce the amount of sugar they eat. The best drinks to give children are water, milk and milkshakes without added sugar.

'Diet' versions of fizzy drinks also contain very few nutrients, so milk or water are much healthier choices especially for children.

Sports drinks
These types of drinks can be very useful when you're doing endurance sports and need an energy boost.

But they are no different to any other sugary soft drinks, which means they contribute to tooth decay and are very high in calories. So unless you're taking part in endurance sports, water is probably the best way for you to rehydrate.

Tea and coffee

Most people love their cup of tea or coffee and there's some evidence that some chemicals in tea may be beneficial for the heart.

But tea and coffee also contain compounds, called polyphenols, which can bind with iron making it harder for our bodies to absorb it. Cutting down on tea and coffee could help to improve iron levels in the body. This is important particularly for young or pregnant women and toddlers who are most at risk of iron deficiency anaemia.

Pregnant women need to watch how much coffee they drink. Neither tea nor coffee are suitable drinks for toddlers and children.

Caffeinated drinks such as strong tea, coffee and caffeine-containing energy drinks, can act as mild diuretics, which means they make the body produce more urine.

Some people are more susceptible to this than others, but it also depends on how much caffeine you have and how often you have it.

It's important that caffeinated drinks aren't your only source of fluid.

When you are pregnant
It's important not to have too much caffeine. This is because high levels of caffeine can result in babies having a low birth weight, which can increase the risk of health problems in later life. High levels of caffeine might also cause miscarriage. It's best not to have more than 200mg of caffeine a day when you're pregnant.

The amount of caffeine in food and drink will vary, but as a guide each of these contain roughly 200mg or less of caffeine:

• 2 mugs of instant coffee (100mg each)
• 1 mug of filter coffee (140mg each)
• 2 mugs of tea (75mg each)
• 5 cans of cola (up to 40mg each)
• 2 cans of 'energy' drink (up to 80mg each)
• 4 (50g) bars of plain chocolate (up to 50mg each). Caffeine in milk chocolate is about half that of plain chocolate

So if you eat a bar of plain chocolate and drink one mug of filter coffee in a day, or if you drink two mugs of tea and a can of cola, you'll have almost reached 200mg. But don't worry if you occasionally have more than this, because the risks are likely to be very small.

Remember that caffeine is also found in certain cold and flu remedies, so always check with your GP or another health professional before taking any of these.