RETHINK YOUR DRINK – Well-Being Wednesday

Sugary drinks contain extra calories that provide little nutrition and can lead to unwanted weight gain. Being overweight and/or obese increases the risk of many chronic diseases, including: • high blood pressure • heart disease • cancer • stroke • type 2 diabetes Drinking a lot of sugary drinks can also lead to tooth decay - even diet drinks contain acid that can cause cavities. In addition, drinks with added sugar often replace healthy choices like. Be careful some of them might look healthy by their packaging, but don’t get fool… always look at the label behind.

Is sugar hiding in your drink? High-calorie sweeteners go by many different names and are not always obvious in the ingredients list. If one or more of the following appear in the ingredients list of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugary drink: • Corn syrup • Dextrose • Fructose • Fruit juice concentrates • High-fructose corn syrup • Honey • Sucrose • Sugar • Syrup

What can you do? Make smart drink choices...try the following tips: •When thirsty, think water first. •Drink water when eating out! Or another best choice Sparkling water, Fresh coconut Water •Drink 100% juice in limited amounts or mix juice with water to reduce the calorie intake in a drink. •Make flavor infused water by adding lemons, limes, berries, cucumbers, mint leaves or other natural flavors for a refreshing treat. •Choose unsweetened coffee or tea and lightly flavor it yourself. •Cut portion sizes of sugar-sweetened drinks by choosing a “small” instead of a “large” size.

Drink Pounds Away Many of us watch what we eat but not what we drink when on a diet. That’s a mistake. The average American drinks one out of five of their daily calories. Choosing the right drinks can tweak your metabolism, curb your appetite, and help cut calories. Which drinks are spoilers and which are helpers on the path to weight loss?

Helper: Water Replacing carbonated soft drinks with water will cut hundreds of calories per day. Drinking two glasses of water before a meal may also help you feel full faster, so you don’t eat as much. And drinking enough water may have a positive effect on your metabolism.

Jury’s Out: Fruit Juice Juice can have as many calories as soda, but it has more nutrients. This presents a dilemma: You want the vitamins and antioxidants without all the extra sugar. Look for 100% fruit juice. Steer clear of juice drinks that have added sweeteners. Check the nutrition label for the percentage of real juice. You can also slash calories by drinking water with a tiny bit of juice added.

Helper: Vegetable Juice Vegetable juice is as nutritious as fruit juice, with about half the calories but a lot more sodium. One cup of tomato juice has 41 calories, compared to 122 calories for orange juice. Choosing juice with pulp provides some fiber, too, which may help control hunger.

Jury's Out: Smoothies Blend a banana, strawberries, and blueberries into a frothy smoothie, and you’ve got a delicious drink. Make your own, so you can control the ingredients: skim milk (or an alternative, like almond milk) and fresh or frozen fruit are all you need. Restaurant smoothies may include ice cream, honey, or other sweeteners that boost the calorie count sky-high.

Spoiler: Energy Drinks Most sports and energy drinks are calorie bombs like soda. They may have more added nutrients, but you can find the same vitamins and minerals in low-calorie foods. When you're working on weight loss, stay hydrated with water rather than sports drinks, unless you need the extra nutrients because you're exercising hard and sweating a lot.

Helper: Black Coffee When you need a shot of caffeine, coffee is a better choice than soda or energy drinks. Black coffee is calorie-free and rich in antioxidants. Studies have shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee (about 3 to 4 cups a day) may improve mood and concentration, and may also lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer.

Spoiler: Fancy Coffee Once you add heavy cream, flavored syrups, or a snowcap of whipped cream, your mug of black coffee is full of fat and sugar. Specialty coffees can have up to 570 calories per cup: possibly more than an entire meal! If you don’t like your coffee black, add a little skim milk and artificial sweetener to keep the calorie count low.

Helper: Green Tea Green tea is an excellent choice when you’re looking for a little boost. Not only is it calorie-free -- some research suggests green tea extract may stimulate weight loss. It's not clear exactly how that works, but caffeine and micronutrients called catechins may each play a role. The benefit appears to last only a few hours, so it may help to drink green tea at least twice a day.

Spoiler: Coolers Coolers may sound light and airy, but they are heavy on calories. A 12-ounce cooler containing wine can have 190 calories and 22 grams of carbs. The same size hard lemonade or bottled alcoholic "ice" can have as much as 315 calories. Regular wine is not exactly a diet drink, with 100 calories in a 5-ounce glass. A low-calorie alternative is a wine spritzer: Mix a dash of wine with some sparkling water.

Spoiler: Cocktails A shot of hard liquor has fewer calories than wine or wine coolers, but once you mix in soda or cream, watch out. An 8-ounce white Russian made with light cream has 715 calories. A less fattening option is to mix rum or vodka with diet soda.

Helper: Light Beer OK, beer is not really going to help you lose weight. But if you’re out with friends and want to share a pitcher, light beer is the way to go. A 12-ounce serving has about 100 calories, compared to 150 calories for regular beer.

Cheers everyone ;-)

Source: http://healthyshasta.org/rethinkyourdrink.htm

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