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Rethink Your Drink
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.
What Do You Drink? It Makes More Difference Than You Think!
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.
| Occasion | Instead of… | Calories | Try… | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning coffee shop run | Medium café latte (16 ounces) made with whole milk | 265 | Small café latte (12 ounces) made with fat-free milk | 125 |
| Lunchtime combo meal | 20-oz. bottle of nondiet cola with your lunch | 227 | Bottle of water or diet soda | 0 |
| Afternoon break | Sweetened lemon iced tea from the vending machine (16 ounces) | 180 | Sparkling water with natural lemon flavor (not sweetened) | 0 |
| Dinnertime | A glass of nondiet ginger ale with your meal (12 ounces) | 124 | Water with a slice of lemon or lime, or seltzer water with a splash of 100% fruit juice | 0 calories for the water with fruit slice, or about 30 calories for seltzer water with 2 ounces of 100% orange juice. |
| Total beverage calories: | 796 |
125-155 |
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| (USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference) | ||||
Substituting no- or low-calorie drinks for sugar-sweetened beverages cuts
about 650 calories in the example above.
Of course, not everyone drinks the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages shown
above. Check the list below to estimate how many calories you typically take in
from beverages.
| Type of Beverage | Calories in 12 ounces | Calories in 20 ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit punch | 192 | 320 |
| 100% apple juice | 192 | 300 |
| 100% orange juice | 168 | 280 |
| Lemonade | 168 | 280 |
| Regular lemon/lime soda | 148 | 247 |
| Regular cola | 136 | 227 |
| Sweetened lemon iced tea (bottled, not homemade) | 135 | 225 |
| Tonic water | 124 | 207 |
| Regular ginger ale | 124 | 207 |
| Sports drink | 99 | 165 |
| Fitness water | 18 | 36 |
| Unsweetened iced tea | 2 | 3 |
| Diet soda (with aspartame) | 0* | 0* |
| Carbonated water (unsweetened) | 0 | 0 |
| Water | 0 | 0 |
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*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of
calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. ( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference) |
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Milk contains vitamins and other nutrients that contribute to good health, but it also contains calories. Choosing low-fat or fat-free milk is a good way to reduce your calorie intake and still get the nutrients that milk contains.
| Type of Milk | Calories per cup (8 ounces) |
|---|---|
| Chocolate milk (whole) | 208 |
| Chocolate milk (2% reduced-fat) | 190 |
| Chocolate milk (1% low-fat) | 158 |
| Whole Milk (unflavored) | 150 |
| 2% reduced-fat milk (unflavored) | 120 |
| 1% low-fat milk (unflavored) | 105 |
| Fat-free milk (unflavored) | 90 |
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*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of
calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. ( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference) |
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Learn To Read Nutrition Facts Labels Carefully
Be aware that the Nutrition Facts label on beverage containers may give
the calories for only part of the contents. The example below shows the
label on a 20-oz. bottle. As you can see, it lists the number of calories in
an 8-oz. serving (100) even though the bottle contains 20 oz. or 2.5
servings. To figure out how many calories are in the whole bottle, you need
to multiply the number of calories in one serving by the number of servings
in the bottle (100 x 2.5). You can see that the contents of the entire
bottle actually contain 250 calories even though what the label calls a
“serving” only contains 100. This shows that you need to look closely at the
serving size when comparing the calorie content of different beverages.
| NUTRITION FACTS LABEL |
|---|
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Serving Size 8 fl. oz. Servings Per Container 2.5 |
| Amount per serving |
| Calories 100 |
Sugar by Any Other Name: How To Tell Whether Your Drink Is Sweetened
Sweeteners that add calories to a beverage go by many different names and are not always obvious to anyone looking at the ingredients list. Some common caloric sweeteners are listed below. If these appear in the ingredients list of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage.
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrates
- Honey
- Sugar
- Syrup
- Corn syrup
- Sucrose
- Dextrose
High-Calorie Culprits in Unexpected Places
Coffee drinks and blended fruit smoothies sound innocent enough, but the
calories in some of your favorite coffee-shop or smoothie-stand items may
surprise you. Check the Web site or in-store nutrition information of your
favorite coffee or smoothie shop to find out how many calories are in
different menu items. And when a smoothie or coffee craving kicks in, here
are some tips to help minimize the caloric damage:
At the coffee shop:
- Request that your drink be made with fat-free or low-fat milk instead of whole milk
- Order the smallest size available.
- Forgo the extra flavoring – the flavor syrups used in coffee shops, like vanilla or hazelnut, are sugar-sweetened and will add calories to your drink.
- Skip the Whip. The whipped cream on top of coffee drinks adds calories and fat.
- Get back to basics. Order a plain cup of coffee with fat-free milk and artificial sweetener, or drink it black.
At the smoothie stand:
- Order a child’s size if available.
- Ask to see the nutrition information for each type of smoothie and pick the smoothie with the fewest calories.
- Hold the sugar. Many smoothies contain added sugar in addition to the sugar naturally in fruit, juice, or yogurt. Ask that your smoothie be prepared without added sugar: the fruit is naturally sweet.
Better Beverage Choices Made Easy
Now that you know how much difference a drink can make, here are some ways to make smart beverage choices:
- Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.
- For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle and refill it throughout the day.
- Don’t “stock the fridge” with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, keep a jug or bottles of cold water in the fridge.
- Serve water with meals.
- Make water more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon, or drink sparkling water.
- Add a splash of 100% juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.
- When you do opt for a sugar-sweetened beverage, go for the small size. Some companies are now selling 8-oz. cans and bottles of soda, which contain about 100 calories.
- Be a role model for your friends and family by choosing healthy, low-calorie beverages.
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Page last updated: June 20, 2008
Content Source: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion