What are some unhealthy drinks?

Who doesn’t want to stay hydrated and satisfy our thirst?  There are so many healthy ways to do so.  There are also many not-so-healthy drink choices.  Eat This, Not That! Has a great article on the “50 Unhealthiest Drinks on the Planet”.  Catchy title.  We won’t review all 50 of those unhealthy drinks, but we will review a few and tell you why they are so bad for your health.  But first, let’s review what are healthy drink choices.

What are some drinks one should choose to satisfy thirst and to stay hydrated?

 As noted in a previous blog, Is water the best for hydration? , some of the best choices for hydration are plain water, cow’s milk and 100% orange juice. After exercising, one can skip the sports drink and have a glass of water and eat a banana.    

What should you try to avoid when choosing a healthy drink? 

Basically, avoid drinks with a lot of added sugar.  The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines provide guidance on healthy eating patterns.   They recommend we shoulld “Consume less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugars”.   For a 2000 calorie diet that would be limiting “added sugars” to 200 calories a day.  Not easy to do if you are drinking sugar-sweetened beverages during the day.  

What are some of those unhealthy drinks?

1.     Orange Drinks = fake juice, not real juice

The next time you are in a grocery store or Walmart, look at the carts full of food and I am sure you will see carts with gallon jugs of Sunny D.  Eat This, Not That states: “Sunny D isn’t actual juice; it’s just a mix of water, high fructose corn syrup and a few token dribbles of juice concentrates, canola oi, and chemicals”.  Lot’s of chemicals.  Compare the ingredients in Sunny D to the ingredients in Tropicana Orange Juice.  The only ingredient is “100% Orange Juice”.  No chemicals, no high fructose corn syrup, just real, 100% juice.  What about frozen orange juice or orange juice made from concentrate?  All good choices.  Read the ingredients and see if it is 100% juice.  Read the label and avoid any label that reads “juice drink” as these products are not real juice.  Hi-C contains only 10% juice, high fructose corn syrup and added chemicals.  Many Capri Sun drinks are “juice drinks” and not real 100% juice.  For kids, a good choice is Juicy Juice .  All are 100% juice and their product label clearly says, 100% Juice.

100% juice

2.     Chocolate Drinks – not real milk

Real chocolate milk can be a treat for kids and provides a good quality protein, calcium and vitamin D.  A not so healthy choice are chocolate drinks, like Yoohoo Chocolate Drink  that really isn’t chocolate milk.  A look at the ingredients in chocolate drinks shows water as the first ingredient, then high fructose corn syrup and finally some whey protein.  Basically, the drink is mostly sugar water.  In fact, these drinks can provide 65% of the calories as added sugar calories.  Before you buy a “chocolate drink”, read the ingredients.  Is it chocolate milk or mostly flavored sugar water?  When you get chocolate milk at McDonalds, it is actually real milk and not a chocolate drink and McDonald’s Chocolate Milk is fat free.  Nesquik Chocolate Lowfat Milk is made from 100% real milk.  Not true of the Nesquik Chocolate Non-dairy Oatmilk which would not provide the nutrients real milk provides.  

3.     Sweet Tea

Tea is actually a very healthy drink, full of good antioxidants.  Add all that sugar to Sweet Tea and it is no longer such a healthy choice.  Some of the bottled sweetened teas are full of added sugar, up to 48 grams of added sugar (192 sugar calories).  Order a Large Sweet Ice Tea from fast food like Sonic and you can add 78 grams of added sugar or 312 calories of added sugar to your day.  Instead of sweet tea, go for the unsweet tea.  If you find it hard to give up your sweet tea, then wean yourself from it.  My daughter loved sweet tea.  She would go to a fast food drive through and just order sweet tea.  I finally convinced her it was loaded with added sugar so she started to mix the sweet tea with a little unsweet tea, then up to half sweet tea and half unsweet tea and now she drinks just unsweet tea.

4.     Smoothies in a bottle

A student in my class recently asked me if smoothies were healthy.  It depends.  Make your own smoothie with real fruit, real veggies, real milk or real yogurt and it is very healthy.  Buy a bottled smoothie from the store and maybe not so much.  Before you indulge in that store-bought smoothie, check the ingredients.  How much added sugar are you adding to your day?  With a homemade smoothie, you can be sure there is no added sugar because you didn’t add any. The sweetness comes from the fresh fruit you put in.

5.     Vitamin Water

Students often ask me if vitamin water is healthy.  Most of the “vitamins” these drinks have are common vitamins one gets in their diet.  Even white bread provides some “B” vitamins.  Some vitamin waters not only have added vitamins but added sugar. If you are buying Vitamin Water, look at the Nutrition Facts label to see how many calories it has.  Vitaminwater fire – spicy watermelon has only 20 calories so not a bad option if you are into vitaminwater.    On the other hand, if you choose a 20 ounce bottle of vitaminwater revive fruit punch, this packs in at 120 calories and 32 grams of sugar.  

Read the nutrition facts label and look for added sugar and calories.

Lots of choices when you are trying to satisfy that thirst.  Stick with the healthiest choices, water, 100% juice or real milk.  The next time you reach for refreshment in a bottle, read the Nutrition Facts label to see how many calories you are getting and look at the ingredients to see if what you are drinking has added sugar.

Not real juice.  Lots of added sugar.

Sources:  article , Is water the best for hydration? , Dietary Guidelines , Tropicana , Hi-C,   Juicy Juice , Drink , McDonalds , Chocolate Lowfat Milk , Oatmilk , Sweet Ice Tea , Vitaminwater fire – spicy watermelon , vitaminwater revive fruit punch   Images: Juicy Juice , Juice Drink   , Vitamin water