Sugary Beverages

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Sugary beverages – soda, sweetened coffees and teas, energy drinks, vitamin waters – are increasing in popularity. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over one half of Americans consume a sugary beverage daily, particularly teens and young adults. These sugary beverages provide no nutritional value and are loaded with calories.
Look at this daily scenario of beverage consumption and see how the calories really add up:

Occasion	Instead of…	Calories	Try this…	Calories
Morning coffee run	Medium latte with whole milk	265	Small latte with non-fat milk	125
Lunch break	20 oz. soda	220	Water	0
Afternoon break	Sweet tea	180	Unsweetened tea flavored with lemon	0
Dinner	12 oz. soda	140	Water	0
Total		805		125

As you can see, if you consume a sugary beverage at each mealtime, you could be drinking nearly half of your calories needed for that day. Water, unsweetened tea, and black coffee are all zero calories. It may take time to get used to drinking unsweetened tea or black coffee, so make small changes. Start by ordering tea half sweet/halfunsweet until you can drink it unsweet. When it comes to drinking coffee, small changes such as switching to non-fat milk and leaving the whip off can save nearly 100 calories. Soda also contains around 100 calories per 8 oz – that’s not even a whole can! And, to burn off those 100 calories, you would have to run 1 mile or walk up 33 flights of stairs.
So, think twice before you consume a sugary beverage loaded with calories. You don’t want to “drink” you calories for the day!


Stephanie Bailey - Dietetic Intern - University of Memphis


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