Posted on March 22, 2010.
Liquid Calories count! Think about it. The first men survived by eating one hundred percent of its calories and ordinary drinking. No liquid calories! Today the average American receives more than one fifth of their calories from soft drinks, fruit juices, milk, alcohol, and, recently, sports drinks, coffee and tea.
Since the 1970s, the caloric intake of all these liquids have increased dramatically, contributing somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-300 extra calories per day. Unless you increase your activity or eating less, that many calories adds up to one pound of body fat every 20 days or more. Milk is about the only source of liquid calories has declined over the past 30 years.
How was the impact on our health? According to Dr. Barry Popin University of North Carolina School of Public Health, studies have shown that people who drink a quarter of non-caloric beverages with weight gain sweet, probably because they do not compensate by eating less . Popin said that drinking liquid calories do not subscribe to our control appetite.
To address this growing problem, a panel of nutrition experts are calling the leading beverage orientation was organized by Dr. Popin. The Committee made the following recommendations for making beverages:
Amount / day beverages based on a 2200 calorie diet
0-8 oz sweetened drinks like soda or calorie-juice
0-8 oz fruit juice
0 oz whole milk sparingly: sports drinks for athletes not
16 oz sports drinks for endurance athletes
0-1 drink alcohol for women
0-2 drinks of alcohol for men
0-32 oz of diet drinks
0-16 oz Low-fat, skim or soy milk
0-28 oz unsweetened tea / coffee (can substitute water)
20-50 oz water
If you need to lose weight and I think liquid calories may contribute to your problem, start by reading labels carefully to your. Do not forget that the total calories on the labels of products are expressed per serving, and most often not containers include 2 or even 3 servings. Since liquid calories are so easy to forget, you can write whatever you drink, make sure that the portion sizes are accurate.
How many drinks do you drink? A U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation found that the average American eats 53 gallons of soft drinks a year. It is 18.6 ounces each day, 365 days a year. Men aged 12-29 years mean 28.5 ounces every day!
One ounce can of soda contains 12 teaspoons of 10 sugar and 15 calories per teaspoon. The average American who drinks 18.6 oz of soda a day to get around 232 calories. It is the energy equivalent of two extra pounds of fat every month, or 24 extra pounds in a year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, people eating 1,600 calories a day should not exceed 6 teaspoons of refined sugar per day from any source! If you eat 2200 calories a day you should limit sugar to 12 teaspoons. Is 5-8% of your daily calories. The Food and Drug Administration is a little more lenient, recommending no more than 10% of your daily calories from sugar.
Besides the extra calories, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) accused the soft drinks in the U.S. system a number of risks to the health of others. Osteoporosis, tooth decay, heart disease, and kidney stones are associated with excessive consumption of soft drinks, not to mention the potential problems caused by caffeine and other additives.
To be fair, not everyone agrees. The Sugar Association rightly note that sugar is pure carbohydrate and low in calories compared to fat. The FDA confirms that the sugar has never been identified as an independent risk factor.
