You don’t usually think about them. You can’t see them. They often hide behind masks of fruit or “vitamins.” They find their way into your diet in any number of forms, and they’re super sneaky. Scared? Us too. What are “they,” you ask?
Liquid calories. **dun dun dunnnn**
Do you start off your day with a fresh glass of 7 teaspoons of sugar? You might, if you have orange juice with your breakfast. Lunch time rolls around, so you enjoy a refreshing pick me up of 10+ teaspoons of sugar. Ew, right? That’s what you’ll be drinking when you down a 12 oz. soda. And what better way to rehydrate after a good workout than with 7-14 teaspoons of sugar? Yeah, put down your sports drink.
It is so easy to overlook the amount of sugar that is in the beverages you drink regularly, but it’s important to take notice. The sugars hiding in your drinks can add hundreds of unnecessary calories to your diet. Controlling your sugar intake is a very important part of weight management, and maintaining a healthy weight is key to reducing your breast cancer risk.
Need more convincing? Check out this eye-opening picture showing you exactly how much sugar is in some beverages.
Hydrate your body in a healthy way, and don’t drink up all of your calories! Think water, water, water. It’s naturally sugar-free (duh…) and costs about nothing. If you can’t do without your flavored drinks and juices, try adding mint, berries, or lemon to sparkling water, and hand squeeze your juice so you know that the only thing going in there is, in fact, juice.
Here’s a picture from our girl Crystal. She mixed up a super refreshing drink with just sparkling water and blueberries!
