Preventing weight gain: Watch out for high calories drinks
Counting calories, watching carbs, and staying active are the keys to staying fit and keeping your weight down. We all know we need to watch calories to prevent weight gain. Many of us are now counting or avoiding carbs as another step toward preventing weight gain.
High-calorie drinks often miss our attention when we are trying to prevent weight gain. Those sugary lattes and soda drinks during the day often do not get counted when we are counting calories and carbs.
One of the keys to preventing weight gain is to avoid high calories drinks. It is surprising how many calories there are in some of the drinks we indulge in every day. We know soft drinks and sugary juices are loaded with calories but there are a few other things that may miss our watch when we are counting calories and preventing weight gains.
What are the drinks that have the most calories? How can we avoid these drinks to prevent weight gain? And what can we do to cleanse ourselves of these high-calorie drinks? This guide will give you the information you need for preventing weight gain by learning to watch out for high calories drinks.
What are high calories drinks?
Most of us are familiar with the kinds of foods to avoid when we are trying to prevent weight gain. Fast food and plain junk food top the list, and we are careful to avoid these things but there are a lot of calories that get by us in the things we drink.
Often called “liquid calories,” these are drinks that are loaded with calories. Too many of us indulge in these things enough to prevent us from reaching our fitness goals and many of these drinks are simply bad for your health.
Following is a list of some of the highest calorie drinks:
Fruit juice
While fruit juices do often provide a good shot of things like vitamin C, there are also loaded with calories. If you stick to the fruit juices that are 100% juice, they are not as bad. Fruit juices with added sugar can add some serious calories to your day. For example, a single cup of average grape juice contains as much as 36 grams of sugar. Apple juice can contain up to 31 grams of sugar. These are nothing but calories and they will put on weight.
Hot cocoa
Again, this is one of those things we indulge in, especially on a cold winter day. Hot cocoa needs to be viewed in the same way you look at deserts, and it needs to be counted as calories in the same way as deserts. An average 16-ounce cup of hot cocoa with the whipped cream contains about 400 calories. That is more than an average soft drink.
Sweetened iced tea
Sweet tea used to be a local treat found primarily in the south. It has always been something of an indulgence but we find sweetened iced tea just about anywhere these days, and it is filled with calories. Iced tea itself is remarkably healthy. It contains antioxidants that help fight cancer and other dangerous illnesses but sweetened iced tea can have as much as 30 grams of sugar in a single bottle. Sweetened iced tea is more like a dessert than a refreshment.
Sweetened coconut water
Coconut water is a bit of a trend right now and for good reasons. Coconut water is filled with electrolytes. One 16-ounce glass of coconut water can provide 25 percent of the electrolytes you need in a day. It is great in the summer when you are losing electrolytes rapidly by sweating. However, some flavored coconut waters are also heavy in sweeteners. Some coconut waters can contain up to 30 grams of sugar in a 16-ounce glass. Try to stick with unflavored and sugar-free coconut water.
Energy drinks
Energy drinks are generally not supposed to be high in calories. However, some energy drinks contain as much as 25 grams of sugar. Although energy drinks do contain things like B vitamins, they are not necessarily healthy. Some have high sugar content and pack a lot of calories.
Sweetened yogurt drinks
Yogurt drinks are often thought to be healthy because of the probiotics so many of these drinks contain. While they do provide health benefits, some sweetened yogurt drinks have more in common with ice cream than a healthy drink. With 26 grams of sugar, you can be sure some of these drinks are high in calories.
Fancy coffee drinks
These may be some of the worst offenders when it comes to high calories drinks. Some people are shocked to find out how many calories are in some of these drinks. A grande white mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks contains 61 grams of sugar. When you start adding all the other things that come with these drinks, you are drinking about a third of a cup of sugar with each one. With all that chocolate and vanilla, these things are more like milkshakes than coffee drinks.
Types of high calories drinks
These drinks break down into types of drinks. With each one, you can count on an average number of calories that will work against you when it comes to losing weight and preventing weight gain. Here are some examples and the calorie content in each:
Soda
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 124-189
Diet soda
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 0-7
Bottled sweet tea
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 129-143
Unsweetened tea
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 4
Orange juice, unsweetened
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 157-168
Apple juice, unsweetened
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 169-175
Tomato/vegetable juice
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 80
Cranberry juice cocktail
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 205
Whole milk
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 220
2% low-fat milk
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 183
1% low-fat milk
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 154
Nonfat (skim) milk
Serving: 12 ounces
Calories: 125
As you can see, even some of the drinks we tend to think of as low in calories contain a significant number of calories.
How to prevent weight gain?
Learning how to spot these high calorie, high sugar content drinks is half the battle. To prevent weight gain, use some common sense, and try these suggestions.
Avoid soft drinks altogether
Soft drinks are linked to obesity. The mass consumption of soft drinks is one of the leading causes of obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Remember that it is better to eat carbohydrates than to drink them
Studies show that our bodies are better able to absorb and process carbs from food sources (even junk food sources) than with liquid sources. The metabolic pathways for processing carbs from foods seem to work more efficiently than when we drink our barbs in high calories, high sugar drinks.
Avoid alternative sweeteners
Alternative sweeteners do not get us out of the trap of hidden calories. A diet drink once a day does not seem to present much of a problem. When we rely on the fact that this diet, alternative sweeteners are truly calorie-free, we run into a problem. Research shows that consuming multiple drinks a day that contains things like aspartame can lead to weight gain. Experts suggest drinking things that contain sweeteners such as a sucralose blend.
Make your soft drinks
One simple way to avoid all of these issues is to make your drinks. A simpler recipe that cuts calories and sugar involves simply mixing some 100 percent fruit juice with your sugar-free seltzer water:
3/4 cup seltzer water, club soda, or fizzy mineral water
1/4 cup orange juice (as fresh as possible)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice detox to prevent weight gain
Another way to prevent weight gain is to try a juice detox program. This is a short-term program that is designed to cleanse your body of the calories, sugars, and other toxins that tend to build up from consuming these sugary drinks.
Making juices from fruits, vegetables, and herbs is an age-old practice. After modern juicing machines and methods were developed in the early part of the 20th century, many health and nutrition experts recommended juices as a health supplement.
Since fruits and vegetables are packed with nutrients and healthy chemical supplements, it stands to reason that they could help bolster your health. It has long been believed that drinking juices from fruits and vegetables provide the body with healing properties in addition to nutrition.
The idea is that by providing your body with a strict regimen of juices containing the correct kinds of nutrients and cleansing properties, you can eliminate the toxins that accumulate over time and set your body on a healthier path. A fast, or juice cleanse as it is often called, is simply a planned diet of juices for a specific time to achieve a specific end.
Juice detox benefits
Detoxifies cells and tissues
Because the juice fast increases key nutrients and things such as antioxidants while simultaneously depriving the body of chemicals that are damaging, the process of a juice fast opens channels of detoxification.
There are four principal excretory routes in the body: the skin, bowels, liver, and kidneys all play crucial roles in removing toxins from our physiology. A juice cleanse opens all of the pathways and flushes toxins out of the system. As these toxins follow the excretory pathways, antioxidants in the juices clean up things like free radicals which can cause serious damage to cells.
Help prevent chronic disease
The primary health benefit of a juice fast is the huge surge of antioxidants and fiber. Many antioxidants are bound up with fiber which is then separated in the digestive system.
High levels of juices can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. Particularly, apple and pomegranate juices have been shown to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels which leads to better heart health.
A juice fast that includes vegetable juices is known to reduce the levels of a chemical called homocysteine. This is a marker of oxidative stress. By reducing the presence of this chemical and others like it, vegetable juices reduce the risk of heart disease.
A solid juice fast detox includes a good mix of fruit and vegetable juices has also been linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers believe an increase in polyphenols from juices inhibits the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Juice detox and weight loss
Weight loss with a juice detox comes in the form of calorie control. This happens in two ways. First, by maintaining a strict regimen of juices through a juice fast you significantly reduce your calorie intake. Second, because a juice fast necessarily means keeping careful track of the types of juices and the quantities of juices you consume, it is relatively easy to calculate the exact number of calories you consume.
Counting calories and the sources of calories is half the battle for weight loss. Perhaps most significant for weight loss, a juice fast can recalibrate your metabolic rate. This will lead to a long-term benefit of not retaining calories in ways that lead to weight gain.
Product showcase - Detox Plans
The best juice fast plan available is the Spartan Detox Plan. Spartan offers several plans designed to meet your specific needs. Whether your goal is to lose weight or to bolster your immune system, Spartan Detox provides plans that include the juices and smoothies that will help you meet your goals.
Spartan Detox Plans are made from natural juices and smoothies are prepared every day using the best quality fruits, offering an exceptional taste and drink experience that will help your body feel energetic. Spartan Detox also provides support through your detox programs.
Conclusion
Counting calories and paying attention to our sugar intake seems like straightforward things. We simply watch what we eat and take care to avoid junk and fat. Anyone who has an eye toward fitness or watching their weight knows enough about these precautions to stay on top of them.
But it appears that many calories get by us, and these escape our notice because we are drinking these calories instead of eating them. Many of the things we drink on a normal day are high in calories and prevent us from losing weight the way we want.
We all know that soft drinks and sugary drinks are loaded with calories. We avoid them altogether or stick with the sugar-free alternatives. But things like fruit juices are high in sugar content. If we are not careful to stick with 100 percent fresh juice, we are drinking almost as much sugar as a soft drink.
Those fancy coffee drinks are also bad news. Many of these drinks contain the same amount of sugar as a milkshake or a desert. Even something as seemingly innocent as a glass of sweet tea can be almost as and a cola.
A juice detox is one way to flush these things from our system and get on a better track toward weight loss. Spartan Detox programs have multiple programs to help you cleanse and detox to get rid of excess sugar, calories, and other toxins. Not only will Spartan Detox help you lose weight, but these programs will also get you on a path to good health.
