[lead]Sugar, yes please….no thanks.[/lead]
Sugar consumption is one of the leading causes of the increasing obesity epidemic in United States. Taking a look at the sugar content in some of the most popular beverages, it’s not hard to see why.
Seeing the amount of “grams” of sugar in a certain beverage doesn’t really resonate with a lot of people (myself included….I’m more of a visual person). So I created the following pictures to illustrate sugar content. Each sugar cube represents 4 grams of sugar.
Diet Soda isn’t in the clear either. The amount of sweetener in a can of diet soda is equal to 5 packets. If you have 2 cans a day, that’s 10 packets of sweetener just in beverages alone!
Yesterday’s post was dedicated to the harmful aspects of soda (you can read more here), but as you can see, it isn’t just soda that is unhealthy.
- Sweetened Iced Tea
- Sweetened tea is full of sugar and calories
- Choose unsweetened tea then add some fruit slices for extra flavorings (oranges, lemon, strawberry, peach, etc)
- Lemonade
- Made with hardly any actual “lemons” at all, loaded with sugar and calories
- Choose lemon flavored water, sparkling water with lemon or consider cutting lemonade with water to reduce the sugar
- Vitamin Water
- Often thought of as a “healthy” choice for people but still contains a lot of sugar and calories
- Consider sparkling water and then adding your flavor with a splash of 100% fruit juice
As with anything, it’s all about moderation. Is it horrible if you have a lemonade once in awhile…absolutely not. However, you have to look at how much of these types of beverages you are drinking on a daily/weekly basis. If you have one (or more) daily, think about the amount of calories you are wasting on a non-filling beverage.
I suggest starting slow if you are trying to reduce the amount of sugary beverages you drink and not quitting cold turkey. Try reducing your daily amount by one each day until you meet your goal.
