The joy of that occasional sweet treat will, more often than not, make us break out into a smile and give us that unmistakable sugar rush.
Overindulging, however, and making a high-sugar diet part of our lifestyle, will certainly make us put on more pounds than needed and may even lead to serious health complications.
The dangerous thing about sugar is that some of us may be unaware that we are imbibing more than what our bodies need.
The savvy marketing spins of some ready-to-drink teas and fruit drinks mislead us into thinking that these are healthy beverages that will make us have bodies resembling that of the models they utilize in their advertising campaigns. Sugary drinks disguised as health drinks is a diet and health pitfall we must certainly avoid.
Make sure to read nutrition labels so we know what we are putting in our bodies. Most ready-to-drink juices contain copious amounts of sugar and practically trace amounts of actual fruit juice, if at all.
Such drinks contain anywhere from 30 to 40 grams of sugar per serving. That’s around five teaspoons full of sugar we don’t need. The unkindest cut is when we believe that these drinks are actually doing our bodies good and helping us slim down and live a healthy lifestyle.
It is worth repeating, although we may have heard this countless times in the past: added sugars like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrups (watch out for these items in nutrition labels) are high in calories with no nutritive value for our bodies. They are called empty calories for a good reason.
While we are well aware that cakes, pastries and candies are generous providers of sugar in our diets, we often overlook these ready-to-drink juices and teas. Even the bottomless iced teas served in restaurants provide you with an equally bottomless supply of sugar and empty calories.
As it is, sugar is abundant in our regular diets. We need not supplement on faux health drinks to get our required daily dosage. Our cells need glucose to properly function. And the carbohydrates we take in, whether from rice, fruits and vegetables to name a few, are eventually broken down into glucose, ending up in our bloodstream and fuelling our cells.
Unutilized sugar is stored in our bodies as fat. Thus, wolfing down too much sugar equals unwanted body fat and curves in all the wrong places.
We must be aware of what we are putting into our bodies and not wholeheartedly trust those sneaky and oftentimes misleading ads about this and that healthy new drink. Let us make it a habit to read labels. If there is too much sugar in a particular brand of drink, consider less sugary options. As a rule of thumb, 8 grams of sugar is equal to about a teaspoonful of table sugar.
Chances are, if we cut out excess sugar from diets, it will show in our bodies.
Thirsty and needing to rehydrate after that tough workout? Stick to good old H2O.
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