Declare your Independence from Sweetened Beverages
Following a weekend of celebrating our independence, make July the month to break free from the control sweetened beverages may have on your life. Back in 1776, beverage choices were simply water, tea, coffee, milk, and some fresh squeezed juices. Today there are hundreds of beverage selections resulting in a $906 billion dollar industry. With revenues so high, companies run advertising campaigns to convince consumers their product will make them look, feel, and perform better. The selection is so large, 3-4 aisles in any grocery store are dedicated to beverages that contain sugar, artificial sweetener, or both. I am not just talking about soda but also juices, sport drinks, coffee drinks, fruit drinks, teas, and energy drinks. Whether regular or diet, drinking sweetened beverages can have a big impact on your health and take a big bite out of your budget.
According to the Centers for Disease Control "Frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney diseases, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout, a type of arthritis (1)." Sugar has been shown to increase dopamine in the brain, which correlates with the phenomenon of sugar addiction (2). Do you have a sweet beverage that you drink everyday and feel you couldn't get through a day without? This addictive effect is great for the beverage industry, but not good for your health. The negative impact of sweetened beverages has become such a public health concern many governments have initiated action to reduce their intake through taxation, limiting portion sizes, limiting availability in schools and marketing to kids, and through public awareness campaigns.
What about zero calorie artificially sweetened diet beverages? The American Heart Association admits there is not enough concrete research at this time to issue an official warning against diet beverages, but there is enough evidence to take caution. The AHA's science advisory counsels against regular and long-term consumption of diet beverages and urges people to replace sugary and diet drinks with plain, carbonated, or unsweetened flavored water (3). Diet beverages can serve as a good transition away from the extra calories of sugar sweetened options, but long term use doesn't break the sugar cravings and can lead to higher consumption of total daily calories in food (4).
Bottom line, it is in your health's best interest to drink unsweetened beverages. End the sugar cravings, slow the hunger cycle, stop the weight gain, and protect your health. Drinking unsweetened beverages can make food taste better and help you feel more satisfied with less food which can improve blood sugar control, make it easier to manage weight, and give you more energy. Your beverages don't need to be flavorless, just make most of them unsweetened.
-If you still want to support the beverage companies, feel free to try some of the new unsweetened flavored seltzer waters.
-If you want to save money and reduce waste, buy yourself a refillable water bottle and flavor your water with fresh fruit, lemon or lime juice, fresh mint leaves, cucumber slices, herbal tea, or a splash of fruit juice.
-Save sport drinks for when you are playing an endurance sport that last longer than 60 minutes.
-If you really like your orange juice in the morning, treat yourself to buying oranges and making a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice instead of the store bought concentrated versions.
-Continue to enjoy your morning cup of coffee or tea and all the anti-oxidants that a cup of java comes with, just skip the sweetener.
Save the sweet drinks for special occasions only while keeping your daily hydration unsweetened and you will be amazed at how much better you feel.
(1) https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/sugar-sweetened-beverages-intake.html
(2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6587329/
(3) https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/sip-smarter-infographic
(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953764/