photo by redevolve
Are you drinking all your calories?
Many beverages have lots of calories that can fill you up and add to your weight gain. It you are striving to lose weight, you should consider what you are drinking along with what you are eating as many beverages have “hidden” calories that can add up! Most Americans are unaware that they are getting 25% of their calories from beverages.
Here’s a look at the calories we are drinking:
Soda- most sodas like Coke, Pepsi and Sprite have between 129 -189 calories per 12 ounce (a can) serving. These calories are from sugar or “empty calories “because they do not provide any nutrient benefit to the body and can add excess body fat. A can of soda contains nine teaspoons of sugar! The recommended daily intake for sugar is about 10 teaspoons or 40 grams. So if you drink 2 cans of soda a day, you have drunk 25% of your recommended calories for the day and have doubled the recommended daily amount of sugar for the day.
Diet soda may not have the sugar or calories of regular soda, but it is full of other chemicals, like caffeine, artificial sweeteners, sodium and phosphoric acid that can lead to health risks like hypertension and certain cancers.
Flavored Water- not all flavored waters are equal. Some flavored water drinks like SoBe (40 grams sugar /500ml) and Vitamin Water (25 grams sugar/ 500ml) have as much sugar as 3 donuts. Be sure to read the nutrition label before choosing a brand of flavored water.
Energy Drinks- You may think that energy drinks are low in calories, but many contain lots of sugar and sodium. For example, Red Bull may be low in calories (110) but contains 200 mg sodium and 27 grams of sugar in a 6-ounce can! Five-hour drinks like Java Monster and Full Throttle Coffee Energy add approximately 250 calories and 370 grams sodium in a 12-ounce can. Eating or drinking an excess of sugar and sodium may cause additional health risks like hypertension and diabetes.
Specialty Coffees- adding milk, whipped cream and flavored syrups to you coffee can make your cup of coffee into a small meal. McCaffe Latte’s: 380 calories; Starbucks vanilla latte: 200 calories; and Dunkin’ Donuts Carmel Swirl Latte: 280 calories. You can cut down on these calories by requesting skim or fat-free milk or whipped cream and skipping the flavored syrups.
Tips to cut down on drinking your calories:
• Have no more than one specialty drink per day.
• Drink more water. Daily.
