Sugar-sweetened drinks Archives | Science & Your HealthScience & Your Health

Here are 6 simple and easy steps you can take right now to lose weight and get started on a healthier lifestyle.

Drink 1 less sugar based drink a day — with the goal of no longer having it as part of your daily diet.
Downsize your drink. Ask for a small instead of a large. For example, a super-size soda contains the equivalent of 4 or 5 regular 12 ounce cans, which contains about 48 packets of sugar and has 720 calories.
Replace one sugary drink with water every week. Substituting water for one 20 ounce sugar-sweetened soda will save you about 240 calories.
Switch from fruit juice to real fruit. Fruit juice has added sugar.
Stop drinking energy or sports drinks. Water is all you need to stay hydrated, even when you exercise.
If you are a parent, don’t buy sugar-sweetened drinks. It is a lot easier to avoid drinking sodas and sugary drinks if they are not in the cabinets at home.

Reducing intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is one of the simplest ways to reduce intake of added sweeteners. And, given the strong association of sugar-sweetened drinks with body weight and obesity, it is also a very simple way to reduce calorie intake and therefore lose weight.

Certainly, it is most optimal to cut out sugar-sweetened drinks entirely. However, just by eliminating one sugared sweetened beverage (SSB) a day, you will be well on your way to better health.

Read the AMA Council on Science and Public Health Report on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Russell Kridel, MD

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been strongly and consistently associated with obesity and a number of related cardiometabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. A child’s risk of becoming obese increases by 60% for every additional sugary drink consumed per day. And, women who drink one sugar-sweetened beverage each day have almost twice the risk of diabetes.

Americans consume 200 to 300 more calories each than we did 30 years ago. And, nearly half of these extra calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks, often displacing other foods and drinks rich in nutrients from a diet, such as skim milk and whole fruit. For example, a 20-oz serving of a sugar-sweetened soda contains the equivalent of 16 packets of sugar.

Limiting consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages will improve your health. An average person would lose about 9 pounds a year by eliminating sugar-sweetend beverages from their diet. For example, substituting water for one 20-ounce soda will save you about 240 calories.

Read the AMA Council on Science and Public Health Report on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Russell Kridel, MD

Science & Your Health

Questions answered by Russell W.H. Kridel, M.D. as a public service to patients concerned about current health issues. Facts and information are gathered from published reports of the AMA Council on Science and Public Health, AMA site and some other articles published in the public domain.

Tag Archives: Sugar-sweetened drinks

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