If you drink juice, regular soda, sugar-sweetened ice tea, punch or other sugar-sweetened beverages throughout the day, you’re ingesting extra calories you may not be aware of. Look at the calorie content in these drinks:
| Drink |
Calories |
| 12 ounces of soda |
140 |
| 16 ounces of sweetened iced tea |
200 |
| 16 ounces of orange juice |
200 |
| 10 ounces apple juice |
150 |
| 32 ounces of sports drink |
200 |
16 ounces of punch |
240 |
Don't "super-size" your favorite drink; one 32 ounce soda is loaded with 400 calories.
Water, flavored seltzer, low-fat or nonfat milk, and un-sweetened iced tea are some better choices. Start by replacing one sugar-sweetened drink with one of these no or low-calories alternatives a day and increase your substitutions weekly.
(Adapted with permission from Jacobson MS, Cooperman N. Pediatric weight management – a family approach. New Hyde Park, NY: Schneider Children’s Hospital; 2003.)
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