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How can a simple liquid be so harmful?? Though grabbing a tasty drink is easy and most of the time done without thinking, that liquid in your hand can shoot your daily caloric intake off the charts!!! HERE’S WHY…

1. Plain and Simple  more calories=risk of gaining weight! Liquid calories do not “run right through” our bodies, we actually metabolize the nutrients. Ask yourself these questions… -How much do I weigh? -How tall am I? -How active am I daily? Then calculate how many calories YOU need per day! Now, do you have extra wiggle room to add in mindless sugary beverages? There are four mechanisms that link high caloric beverages with increased weight gain.

2. Sweetened beverages have a chain reaction in the body When ingested, sugary beverages can increase your blood sugar or blood glucose levels Increased blood sugar can lead to health risks such as hyperglycemia (too much sugar in the blood) Your body secretes insulin to lower levels of sugar; but putting too much pressure on your pancreas can lead to hyperinsulinemia (insulin resistance) Both these conditions typically make you hungry which makes you eat more then paves the way for weight gain! Hyperinsulinemia can be early signs of TYPE II DIABETES!

Liquid calories often aren’t as satiating as solid foods; replacing solid foods for liquids might leave you feeling hungry, wanting to consume more calories. -If drinking your calories don’t fill you up, then compensation will occur causing you to take in more calories than you use or necessarily need.

4. Sweetened beverages end up replacing nutritious ones “Empty Calories” Nutrient Dense

How do I know it’s bad? Check out the Nutrition Facts: 1. How many calories are in this drink; how does that contribute to your daily caloric intake? 2. How many of these calories are from fat? 3. Avoid fats such as saturated or trans fat (you should aim for less than 16g of saturated fat and 2g of trans fat per day) 4. Check out the total carbohydrates; how will this percentage of carbohydrate contribute to your daily intake? 5. Remember that excess sugar (meaning carbohydrate not burned up as energy) will be stored in your body as fat! 6. Lastly, check out that serving size…now multiply all those values by that number and that is your nutritional facts for this whole beverage!!!

Go with water: Women should drink up to 9 servings of water a day and 13 servings of water for men. Unsweetened coffee and tea: As long as you aren’t using any type of sweetener at all, coffee and tea can have some positive health benefits; however, both contain caffeine which should be consumed in moderate doses such as mg/day. Skim/lowfat milk or fortified unsweetened soy drinks: Recommendation is about 2-3 cups a day. By sticking with skim or lowfat, you are eliminating unnecessary fat calories which contribute to overall caloric intake and possibly weight gain. Diet soft drinks and coffee or tea sweetened with artificial sweetener: Even though these drinks are calorie free, they may condition a preference for sweetness. Because of this, they are to be used in moderation. Trying staying under 4 servings a day. 100% fruit juices, whole milk and sports drinks : limit consumption to 1 serving a day. Athletes may incorporate these drinks in their diet to replenish glycogen stores and electrolyte levels in their bodies, but the general public should limit their intake due to high levels of glucose, fructose, carbohydrate, and fat. Soft drinks and juice drinks : Also high in sugar, recommendation is no more than 1 serving a day.

Alcoholic Drinks: The biggest culprit?! Alcoholic Beverages Beverage Serving Size (ounces) Number of Alcohol Servings/BeverageCalories Beer Light beer Dark beer Non-alcoholic beer12170 Red wine***51105 White wine***51100 Bloody Mary** (Vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, lime) Chocolate martini** (Vodka, Creme de Cacao) Cosmopolitan** (Vodka, Triple Sec, Rose's lime juice, cranberry juice) Daiquiri** (Light rum, limes, powdered sugar) Gin and tonic** (Gin, tonic water, lime) Margarita** (Coarse salt, lime, white Tequila, Triple Sec, lime juice, crushed ice) Martini** (Gin, dry Vermouth) Mudslide** (Vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream, vanilla ice cream) Pina colada** (Malibu run, pineapple juice, cream Rum and coke****) Screwdriver** (Vodka, orange juice) Whiskey Sour** (Whiskey, lemon juice, powdered sugar, cherry, lemon slice) How many servings do YOU typically consume?

Alcoholic Drinks: The biggest culprit?! Alcohol contributes mindless calories to your diet Alcohol often accompanies irresponsible eating Alcohol slows down your ability to metabolize fat Alcohol means more fat intake, which leads to less muscle. Less muscle = less fat burning Alcohol dehydrates you; your body needs to be well- hydrated to build and maintain lean muscle mass

“You are what you eat?” Are you what you drink too?! It is a common misconception that liquid calories are not as harmful as those from food sources. If you are going to drink your calories, aim for nutrient rich and low calorie drinks.

Choose your drink portions carefully And ask yourself this question… For help calculating your food and drink calories, visit

Bachman, C., Baranowski, T., & Nicklas, T. (2006). Is There an Association Between Sweetened Beverages and Adiposity?. Nutrition Reviews, 64(4), Retrieved from SPORTDiscus database. Moncur, Laura. (2006, June 24). Liquid Calories Count. Retrieved March 28, 2010 from: calories-count/. calories-count/ Joshi, Mohit. (2009, April 23). Liquid Calories More to be blamed for weight gain. Retrieved March 28, 2010 from: more-be-blamed-weight-gain more-be-blamed-weight-gain