Make Better Beverage Choices!

A healthy eating style includes all foods and beverages. Many beverages contain added sugars and offer little or no nutrients, while others may provide nutrients but too many calories from saturated fat. Here are some tips to help you make better beverage choices.

Drink Water! – Drink water instead of sugar drinks. Non-diet soda, energy drinks or sports drinks, and other sugar-sweetened drinks contain a lot of calories from added sugars and few nutrients.

How much water is enough? Let your thirst be your guide. Everyone’s needs are different. Most of us get enough water from the foods we eat and beverages we drink. A healthy body can balance water needs throughout the day. Drink plenty of water if you are very active or live or work in hot conditions.

A thrifty option – Water is usually easy on the wallet. You can save money by drinking water from the tap at home or when eating out.

Manage your calories – Drink water with and between your meals. People take in about 400 calories per day as beverages — drinking water can help you manage your calories.

Kid-friendly drink zone – Make water, low-fat or fat-free milk, or 100% juice an option. Have ready-to-go containers available in your refrigerator. Adults can drink up to 1 cup of 100% fruit or vegetable juice each day. ** 100% juice is part of the Fruit or Vegetable Group

Don’t forget your dairy! Select low-fat or fat-free milk or fortified soy beverages. They offer key nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and potassium.

Enjoy your beverage – When water just won’t do, enjoy the beverage of your choice, but just cut back. Remember to check the serving size and the number of servings in the can, bottle, or container to stat within calorie needs. Select smaller cans, cups, or glasses instead of large or supersized options.

Water on the go – Water is always convenient. Fill a clean, reusable water bottle and toss it in your bag to quench your thirst throughout the day. Reusable bottles are also easy on the environment.

Check the facts – Use the ‘Nutrition Facts’ label to choose beverages. The food label and ingredients list contain information about added sugars, saturated fat, sodium, and calories to help you make better choices.

When it comes to weight loss, there’s no lack of diets promising fast results. There are low-carb diets, high-carb diets, low-fat diets, grapefruit diets, cabbage soup diets, and blood type diets, to name a few. But no matter what diet you may try, to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than your body uses. Most people try to reduce their calorie intake by focusing on food, but another way to cut calories may be to think about what you drink.

Calories in drinks are not hidden (they’re listed right on the Nutrition Facts label), but many people don’t realize just how many calories beverages can contribute to their daily intake. As you can see in the example below, calories from drinks can really add up. But there is good news: you have plenty of options for reducing the number of calories in what you drink.

Substituting no- or low-calorie drinks for sugar-sweetened beverages cuts about 650 calories in the example above.

 

(https://choosemyplate-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/tentips/DGTipsheet19MakeBetterBeverageChoices.pdf)

(https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/drinks.html)