Sugary Drinks to Avoid this Summer

With the hot summer sun beating down on you, you may want to quench your thirst with an ice cold soda. When you need a boost on energy at work, you may find yourself reaching for a coffee or energy drink. Sugar and caffeine are addictive, so after a while, it’s easy not to put much thought into what’s in your drink. At Central Ozarks Medical Center, our Lake of the Ozarks healthcare providers are here to help you make conscious healthy decisions. Here’s how much sugar is in your average sugary drink. You may rethink reaching for that soda, energy drink or coffee after you know what’s in it. To make an appoint at any one of our health clinics at the Lake of the Ozarks, please give us a call today. All of our Lake of the Ozarks health clinic locations can be found on our website at www.CentralOzarks.org.

Soda

According to the Food and Drug Administration, you shouldn’t consume over 50 grams of sugar a day. The hard truth is that the majority of sodas are only a few grams within the daily limit, meaning that when you pop open a can of soda, the large majority of your day’s preferred sugar intake is consumed within those 12 fluid ounces. And many fountain drinks come in larger sizes than that! At many fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, you can choose a large range of sizes when it comes to your soda—with the largest being sold at a certain convenience store measuring in at an entire GALLON of soda. Think about how much sugar is in that!

The idea of a fountain cup of soda holding an entire gallon of soda is a little mind boggling and you’re most likely not consuming that much soda in a day. However, in just 12 fluid ounces, most popular soda brands contain 37 to 46 grams of sugar. Most dark sodas fall between 40 to 50 grams of sugar and most light-colored sodas contain 30 to 40 grams of sugar. Meaning that drinking two cans of soda puts you well over the daily limit for sugar intake. While a soda every once in a while is acceptable for your health, try your best to cut down on daily soda consumption.

Energy Drinks

Energy drinks provide a major boost of energy, but at what cost? Loaded up with both caffeine and sugar, the sugar that is found in one 16 fluid ounce energy drink typically exceeds the FDA’s recommended daily sugar intake count. Four of the popular energy drink brands have between 54 and 60 grams of sugar within one can. Some brands offer “mega” drink options that contain 84 grams of sugar! That’s almost two days worth of sugar in one drink.

While a kick of energy may be what you need to get through a hard day at work, the effect that energy drinks could have on your health may not be worth it. You don’t have to ditch your daily caffeine intake when you’re cutting back on energy drinks though. There are other healthier options for a caffeine boost that don’t have the drawbacks of a major sugar crash. These include green tea, black coffee, and caffeinated water.

Coffee Drinks

Coffee is a common morning routine for many workers and students. While black coffee contains no sugar and is fairly healthy for you, the sugar count can add up quickly for popular coffee drinks that contain sweeteners like crème, milk, sugar, foam and some even contain whipped cream. These coffee drinks include (but are not limited to): lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffees, and macchiatos.

While these sweet drinks give you a delicious caffeinated kick to the day, they are loaded with sugar. You could be consuming close to your entire sugar intake before you even make it to work! Sixteen ounces (a medium drink) of a caramel macchiato is 33 grams of sugar, a vanilla latte contains 35 grams, an iced mocha with flavoring is 49 grams and one of those sweet blended frozen coffee drinks topped with whipped cream can have up to 71 grams of sugar. When grabbing your morning coffee, opt in for black coffee to cut out sugar. If the taste of a black coffee is a little too bitter for you, you can sweeten it with alternative milks like almond or coconut milk, or think outside of the box by adding honey or cinnamon.

We Can Help!

Here at Central Ozarks Medical Center, we understand that it can be hard to break unhealthy habits sometimes, especially with the size of today’s serving sizes and the convenience of buying sugary drinks. We can help you create a plan for a healthy lifestyle. Stop by our mid-Missouri health clinics for a check-up today. Our multiple locations in the Lake of the Ozarks area can be found at www.CentralOzarks.org.

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