Hidden Drink Tax
No matter how you pour it, we’re slurping up way too many calories these days. A study from the University of North Carolina found that we are now consuming 450 calories a day from beverages, nearly twice as many as we were taking in 30 years ago. All told, this increase amounts to an extra 23lb per year that we’re forced to work off or carry around with us.
And it’s not just soda that’s stretching our waistline — it’s now coffee drinks, cocktails, beers, even smoothies that are doing much of the damage.
The good news is that they are the easiest calories to cut from our diet, as long as we know where they’re coming from.
Drink This, Not That
This short video snippet on the Today show this morning yielded information that really surprised me. Prepared by the Mens Health Magazine editor and author of “Eat This, Not That”, it includes great tips on switching drinks and opting for smarter, lower caloric options. I was shocked by the findings on beer and cocktails. This kind of information is gold to the determined new years resolutioner!
Ms. Wakame
Yeah! What a surprise the Guinness calorie count was. I was one of the people who firmly believed a thick and creamy beer has to be loaded with calories like a slice of chocolate cake. Not that Guinness is a light beer by any means but its actually a lighter beer than many other ‘light looking’ imports.
KittyKatze
*cries for Long Island Iced Tea*
Just as well I love guinness more than LIIT. :/
Ms. Wakame
As part of a healthy lifestyle that includes some moderate exercise… I believe it is actually healthy to opt for smoothies made with raw cane sugar (not corn syrup!), in moderation and as special treats.
I strongly believe its very harmful to frequently glug daily amounts of 0 calorie drinks laced with carcinogenic aspartamine / saccharine / Splenda / chemicals. I also would never give diet drinks to a child because they are guaranteed to contain some of these harmful chemicals. I encourage our kid to enjoy a child-sized portion of 100{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} real fruit juice a day (or fortified organic soy milk which he often prefers) and drink water the rest of the day. That’s what his growing body and brain really needs – good hydration… I’m really hoping its a healthy habit he’ll take into adulthood and even pass onto his kids one day.
All that said… at a stretch I guess I’d probably opt for the diet drinks myself if I had an unbreakable and severe soda/caffeine habit or a massive weight problem… so its all about balance and choosing the best option for your lifestyle, cutting down the bad habits at a realistically achievable pace.