What? A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that around 37 percent of our total daily liquid calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks. And here's the really crazy part: Those beverages have a bigger impact on our waistlines than anything else we eat.
You may be drinking up to 400 extra calories a day!!!
Here are drinks to go easy on:
1. Whole Milk: Go for the skim or fat free varieties.
2. Sweetened Tea: Unsweetened tea is a great beverage to sip but when you start loading up on the sugar you are loading up on the calories. The super plus about tea - studies have found that compounds in green tea known as catechins rev your metabolism for up to 24 hours—meaning it actually helps you burn more calories. So drink the tea but skip the sugar and the artificial sweeteners - add a splash of lemon instead.
3. Alcohol: Most wines ring in between 100 and 120 calories a glass. A frozen Margarita has appx. 180 calories (all carbs) for a 4 oz serving. Considering the average margarita glass holds 12 oz you're looking at 540 calories. A 12oz. beer has from 75-200+ calories depending on the make. Oh - so sad!
4. Diet Soda: You think because it has "diet" in the label that it is OK to drink but new research from Purdue University suggests that drinking these artificially sweetened beverages can alter with the brain's ability to measure caloric intake. Drink them often enough and you may actually start to crave sweets more, eat more, and GAIN more weight.
What should You Drink?
1. Water (the old fashioned plain and simple kind)
2. Tea (unsweetened, of course)
3. Coffee (unsweetened of course - skim or fat free milk, avoid any kind of whipped cream, chocolate shavings and syrups - they can add up to 200+ calories.
Some info from womenshealthmag.com Article - Think Before You Drink 7/21/2009
Image from: recipes.lovetoknow.com
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