It's hot and you're thirsty! But don't just grab the first cool drink that comes along. What you choose to quench your thirst can make or break your weight loss efforts.
The way I see it, high calorie drinks are one of the main reasons why Americans are overweight. Think about how many people you know who drink multiple soft drinks every day. Now let's do the math:
- A 12-ounce soft drink (non-diet) contains approximately 150 calories (equivalent to 10 teaspoons of sugar).
- So three soft drinks per day are about 450 calories (equal to 30 teaspoons of sugar).
- This means that we would save approximately 3,150 calories each week (which is equivalent to 210 teaspoons of sugar) if we switched from drinking three cans of soda per day to drinking three calorie-free drinks.
There's simply no point in spending your precious calories on sugary drinks that add calories without any nutritional value.
Here are a few drink facts to discourage you from sipping these empty calorie drinks.
Fact 1: Most people don't drink enough water. Then do your body a favor; If you get thirsty, grab water first.
Fact 2: If you choose a drink that contains calories, choose one that also contains important nutrients, such as fat-free or low-fat milk or 100% fruit juice. According to a national food consumption survey, as people's milk intake increased, their micronutrient intake increased (vitaminsand minerals). But in the end, they did not consume more fat or cholesterol.
Fact 3: Liquid calories are generally not satisfyingon theas well as calories from solid food.
What you need to know about soft drinks
- It stands to reason that if Americans drank less regular soda, the numberoverweightand obese people would also fall. In a recent policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that overconsumption of soft drinks can lead to overweight or obesity because of the calories it adds to the diet. A recent study of an educational program that encourages children aged 7 to 11 to drink less soft drinks shows just that: Cutting back on carbonated drinks was associated with a modest decrease in the number of overweight and obese children over a year.
- The more sweetened drinks children drink, the less milk they consume. Researchers from Cornell University followed thirty children for two months. They found that the children who drank more than 12 ounces of sweetened drinks or soda per day gained significantly more weight than children who drank less than 6 ounces per day. The children did not appear to eat less to compensate for the extra calories they drank.
- African American teens who drank four or more soft drinks per day had a systolic reading six points higherblood pressurethan white teenagers who drank the same amount of soda.
Healthy drinks without calories
In the interest of reducing excess calories, it is wise for all of us to avoid regular soft drinks and other sweetened beverages whenever possible. The best way to do this is to drink calorie-free drinks instead. Some of the more obvious options include flavored mineral water, seltzer water with a slice of lemon or lime, diet soda in moderation, and regular tea and coffee.
It gets even better if the drinks contain substances that can help protect your health! Green and black tea contain phytochemicals (flavonols and catechins) that are thought to have health benefits. Most studies suggestCancer-protective effects have been shown with green tea, but black tea may also have protective properties.
Antioxidantsconstitute one-third of the weight of dried tea leaves. And one of these antioxidants is EGCG, which has been shown to slow its buildupartery- plaque clogging in mice in a recent study.
Keep in mind that when it comes to the phytochemicals in tea, freshly brewed tea is best. Apparently, bottled tea contains less of these phytochemicals than freshly brewed tea.
Tips for iced tea
Iced tea is a good summer sipper, as long as it is not sweetened. I've discovered that great tasting iced tea doesn't need any sweeteners at all. And any deliciously flavored tea can be made into iced tea by simply letting the pot cool in the refrigerator after brewing.
One of my favorite iced teas is the Paradise brand Tropical Tea (Premium black tea with tropical fruit nectars), also available in a caffeine-free version.
If you can spare a few calories, make your own iced drink by mixing your favorite iced tea with 100% fruit juice or nectar. Start by mixing half a cup of iced tea with half a cup of fruit juice or nectar, then taste. Add more of both until you get it just right!
Tip about coffee house
If you're looking for drinks that are low in calories and high in taste, coffee and tea can fill that bill. They contain zero calories when you drink them in their "brewed without additives" form. The problem is that we often pump them up with syrups, honey, sugar, whipped cream, etc.
“If we flavor coffee, we can easily go from zero calories to about
250-500 calories.”
Add the word "mocha" or "caramel" to coffee, or the word "chai" or "tazo" to tea, and it's a completely different story. When we flavor coffee, we can easily go from zero calories and zero grams of fat to about 250-500 calories and about 4-18 grams of fat.
Follow these three general rules to survive the coffeehouse without breaking your calorie bank account:
1. Skip the whipped cream. Say "yes" to "whip" and you've just saved 130 calories and 12 grams of fat (8 gramsSaturated fatand 50 mg cholesterol). I love whipped cream as much as any girl, so when I feel like adding it to my drink, I ask for "light whipping" (I've found that a little goes a long way). But I usually just skip it because what I look forward to most is the coffee flavor of the drink.
2. Skimmed milk is the milk par excellence. Asking for fat-free milk in your coffee drinks can reduce calories and fat while increasing protein contentcalcium. Example: A Starbucks "long" Iced Caffe Mocha with fat-free milk contains 130 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. The same drink made with whole milk contains 170 calories and 6 grams of fat.
3. When choosing a coffee with calories, order the smallest size available. Example: A "large" Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino (no whip and with skim milk) has 210 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. A "Venti" size of the same drink contains a total of 390 calories and 4.5 grams of fat.
Fruit juice Fun
If a calorie-free drink isn't enough, 100% fruit juice is a good choice because it contains somenutrients, asvitamin C, phytochemicals, fibers andfolic acid. But the calories can still add up if you drink a tall glass of juice.
Cut the calories in your fruit juice in half by mixing it with some low-calorie seltzer water, soda water or mineral water. One of my favorite juice spritzers is 1/2 cup mango or passion fruit juice/nectar mixed with 1/2 cup seltzer water.
Warning: When purchasing flavored mineral waters and seltzers, make sure they are calorie-free. Some brands are both sweetened and flavored.
Here are some recipes for various cool, low-fat summer drinks.
Lemon Cucumber Seltzer
Journal as: You don't need to journal because it provides 0 calories.
8 cups seltzer water (or substitute club soda or mineral water)
24 slices of cucumber, with or without peel (about 1/2 large cucumber)
16 lemon slices (about two lemons)
- Pour 8 cups of seltzer water into a clear pitcher. Add cucumber and lemon slices and two containers of ice cubes. Stir occasionally and let the ingredients cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
- When pouring into glasses, make sure that each serving contains some ice cubes, a few slices of cucumber and a few slices of lemon.
Yield: 1 can (about 8 servings)
Per serving: 0 calories, 0 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 mgcholesterol, 0 g fiber, 40 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 0%.
Light smoking only
Magazine as: 1 portion skimmed milk + 2 teaspoons sweetened cocoa mixture or 2 teaspoons sugar (tochocolatesyrup).
1 1/2 cups cold decaffeinated coffee (on the strong side)
1/3 cup fat-free half-and-half
1/3 cup skim milk
2 tablespoonschocolatesyrup
2 tablespoons of Splenda
- Pour the coffee into an ice cube tray. Freeze until firm (at least two hours).
- Add the coffee ice cubes, the fat-free half and half skimmed milk,chocolatesyrup and Splenda in a blender. Mix until a smooth substance. Pour into two glasses.
Yield: 2 servings
Per glass: 90 calories, 5 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 0.7 g fat (0.4 gSaturated fat0.2 g monounsaturated fat, 0 g polyunsaturated fat), 3 mg cholesterol, 0.3 g fiber, 90 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 6%.
Cran-Orange chiller
Magazine as: 3/4 cup 100% fruit juice.
1 1/2 dl orange juice (calcium- reinforced, if available)
2 1/4 cups light cranberry juice co*cktail (or light cranberry-raspberry juice co*cktail)
- Pour the orange juice into an ice cube tray and freeze until firm (at least two hours). In the meantime, put the cranberry juice co*cktail in the refrigerator.
- Pour about 3/4 cup of cranberry juice co*cktail into a clear glass, then add about five ice cubes. Repeat with the remaining cranberry juice and ice cubes.
Yield: 3 servings
Per glass: 85 calories, 1 g protein. 19.5 g carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0.3 g fiber, 63 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 0%.
