Stop drinking your calories!

When we want to lose some weight we start eating healthier. Sometimes, however, we forget about the calories we get from drinks. We tend to think liquids don’t have that many calories, sugar or fat because there is nothing to chew or to “properly” digest. Nothing could be further from the truth. We also tend to think that the only "evil" drinks are sodas. We all know have more sugar per serving than the daily recommended intake and a bunch of empty calories. A 375 ml coke has 40 g of sugar versus 30 g approx. of the recommended daily intake and 161 calories.

Here are some examples of what we think are healthy drinks

- 1 glass of natural orange juice (yes! the one you squeeze at home) – 45 calories and 8 g of sugar.

- 1 smoothie – it can be high in sugar and calories if you do not watch you put in it. Going easily to 600 calories and beyond.

- 1 Starbucks cappuccino tall with semi-skimmed milk– without whipped cream, 129 calories and 8 g of sugar (plus the sugar you add to it); with whipped cream, you can add 60 calories, 6 g of fat and 4 g of sugar.

- 355 ml of Nestea iced tea – 110 calories and 29 g of sugar.

And the list could go on and on…

Besides that, liquid calories do not help you feel satisfied, basically because they lack fiber, healthy fats and protein. You will be eating more calories (the ones in the drink and the ones that you have to eat to feel satisfied!).

Imagine, you have a fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast, then a mid-morning cappuccino, a coke during lunch and a glass of red wine (172 calories) during dinner. That would amount 507 calories and 58 g of sugar (almost the double amount of the daily recommended intake)!!!

If you reduce your intake of calories by 500 per day, you can lose 1 kg per week. These calories are calories that you can get rid of without affecting the nutrient intake your body needs, as most of them have almost zero nutritional value.

Another problem with a diet as the one described above is the high content of sugar of these beverages. Sweet beverages contribute to insulin resistance. They are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. Insulin is produced to tell your cells to absorb the sugar. If we are regularly providing sugar to our body, our pancreas is forced to produce more and more insulin. Cells stop hearing the insulin call, they become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance is associated with weight gain, especially around the midsection, as well as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and infertility.

I know what you are thinking, aha!, but I drink beverages with artificial sweeteners, so I am ok. The problem with artificial sweeteners is that we do not know much about their long-term effects on the human body. Some scientists believe that they may also cause insulin resistance.

Going back to our example, what about instead of juice you have the whole fruit or a cup of unsweetened coffee or tea in the morning. During the day if you do not want plain water, you can try adding some lemon drops, cucumber and meant or some berries. You can also experiment with sparkling water. If you want a cappuccino, go for skim milk and no caramel, whipped cream, etc. and if you need to add some sweet, try monk fruit or stevia. Regarding alcoholic beverages, we could have a whole blog on that, but for the time being, remember that wine is a better option than cocktails or other drinks that are mixed with soda (aka., full with sugar).

The bottom line: pay attention not only to what you eat but also to what you drink.