A study from the University of North Carolina found that we are now consuming 450 calories a day from beverages, nearly twice as many as we were taking in 30 years ago. All told, this increase amounts to an extra 23 pounds a year that we're forced to work off or carry around with us.
And it's not just soda that's stretching our waistline—it's coffee drinks, cocktails, even smoothies that are doing much of the damage.
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to liquid calories. The bad news is they are the most difficult calories for us to gauge, because we have none of the greasy, cheesy visual cues we get when we go face-to-face with a plate of onion rings or a triple cheeseburger. The good news is that they are the easiest calories to cut from your diet, as long as you know where they're coming from.
That's where David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, co-authors of the instant national bestseller Eat This, Not That!, come in: We've identified the most bloating beverages in America and replaced them with sensible and satisfying stand-ins that will help you lose weight in no time. So sip what you want—and skip the diet in 2008!
";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Minute Maid Kids Multi-Vitamin Orange Juice (8 oz)
120 calories
24 grams of sugar
Not that!
Welch's Grape Juice (8 oz)
170 calories
40 grams of sugar
Kids love grape juice for one reason: It's loaded with sugar. That also means it's loaded with calories. In fact, when it comes to sugar and calories, no juice is worse for you than grape. More than offering a huge calorie and sugar discount, enhanced orange juices like this are Mother Nature's multi-vitamin, providing your kids with monster doses of calcium and vitamin D for bone growth and protection, plus a host of powerful antioxidants. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Minute Maid Fruit Falls Tropical (1 pouch)
5 calories
1 gram of sugar
Not that!
Capri Sun Pacific Cooler (1 pouch)
100 calories
26 grams of sugar
You might as well just pack your kid a can of soda, because ounce-for-ounce, a Capri Sun has more sugar and calories than a Coke or 7-Up. Minute Maid's new line is a natural fruit juice-flavored water with 100 percent of your kid's daily vitamin C requirements, plus a healthy hit of calcium. Make this switch in the little ones' lunch boxes every day and you'll cut 20 cups of sugar—enough to make 1,280 chocolate chip cookies! — from their diets by the end of this school year. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Cosmopolitan
150 calories
12 grams of sugar
Not that!
Long Island Iced Tea
700 calories
40 grams of sugar
The LIT, the libation of choice on many a spirited Saturday night, is the absolute worst thing you can order at a bar. That's because it's loaded with five different liquors (gin, vodka, tequila, rum, and triple sec) and a huge hit of high-fructose corn syrup from the sweet-and-sour mix and Coke they use to drown out the strong liquor taste. One of these, in fact, has more calories than a slice of cheesecake! You get a similar buzz, and a similar fruity taste, from the Cosmo. A lighter hand with the liquor, plus healthier accents like fresh lime juice and a splash of cranberry, makes this colorful cocktail a dramatic calorie saver. Plus, cranberries have been shown to improve balance, coordination, and short-term memory, three big benefits that will prove particularly important after knocking back a couple of Cosmos.
";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Bloody Mary
150 calories
10 grams of sugar
Not that!
Pina Colada
625 calories
75 grams of sugar
The Pina Colada isn't far behind the LIT in the running for the world's unhealthiest cocktail. Most of the calories come from sugar-spiked pineapple juice and fat-laced coconut milk. In fact, the only thing healthy about this drink is the chunk of pineapple garnish hanging from the rim. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the brunch crowd’s beverage of choice, the Bloody Mary, is one of the healthiest cocktails you can belly up to. You get a couple of servings of vegetables from the tomato juice, plus a healthy punch of lycopene, a potent cancer-fighting antioxidant. Keep the salt in check by asking for low-sodium tomato juice or V8.
";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Guinness (12 oz)
126 calories
10 grams of carbohydrates
Not that!
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (12 oz)
200 calories
12 grams of carbohydrates
Most people think of Guinness as a beer milkshake: dark, thick, and rich enough to induce tremors of guilt in thirsty partakers. But a 12-ounce serving is as low in calories as some watery light beer selections and can save you up to 75 calories over other full-flavored brews like Sierra Nevada. Part of that comes from the alcohol percentage: Guinness has 4 percent alcohol, and the Pale Ale has 6 percent. Switch out a six pack a week and you've just saved yourself nearly 7 pounds this year.";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Double Espresso Macchiato
15 calories
0 fat
Not that!
Large Caffe Latte
190 calories
7 grams of fat
In the hierarchy of espresso drinks, lattes sit squarely at the bottom. That's because they're more milk than java, and are susceptible to huge pumps of sugary syrup from eager-to-please baristas. A Macchiato gives the same caffeine kick for a tiny fraction of the caloric cost by swapping out the excess steamed milk for a thick crown of frothed milk. It's a simple but meaningful switch for caffeine junkies looking for a healthier fix. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Venti Starbucks Peppermint Café Au Lait
170 calories
5 g fat
Not that!
Venti Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Latte
660 calories
22 g fat
People stopping off at Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up leave with a meal's worth of calories under their belt when they order this dubious drink. The latte packs just 100 fewer calories than a Whopper with a blood-sugar spiking mix of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and high-fructose corn syrup. Instead, you can have a similarly great-tasting winter drink by ordering a low-cal cafe au lait and having the barista add a few squirts of peppermint syrup to your drink. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Jamba Juice Power Mega Mango (32 oz)
420 calories
97 grams of sugar
Not that!
Jamba Juice Power Mango-a-go-go (32 oz)
600 calories
129 grams of sugar
This is the perfect example of how a few words on a menu board can mean the difference of 5 pounds by the end of the year! The \"go-go\" gets its zip from a huge scoop of pineapple sorbet, which is why it ends up with as many calories as a hot fudge sundae. But the Mega Mango is made from 100 percent fruit, so it's lighter on the sugar and the calories, and heavier on the vitamins and the antioxidants. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Dannon Light & Fit Strawberry Banana Smoothie (7 fl oz)
70 calories
12 g sugars
Not that!
Stonyfield Farm Organic Wild Berry (6 oz)
150 calories
25 grams of sugar
The Stonyfield is smaller in size but has more than twice the calories and sugar of the Dannon Light. Don't be fooled by the \"organic\" in the name—this yogurt smoothie is thick with added sugars, which spike your blood sugar and tell your body to start storing fat. (Definitely not the way you want to start your day.) The Dannon Light still gives you a nice protein kick to get your metabolism jumpstarted in the morning, but spares you the sickly sweetness that sinks the Stonyfield. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Honest Green Dragon Tea (16 oz)
60 calories
10 grams of sugar
Not that!
Arizona Iced Tea with Lemon (16 oz)
200 calories
25 grams of sugar
Arizona Tea is a closer relative of the soft drink than the steeped beverage you read about in all of those health studies. That's because the beverage barons of Arizona have a heavy hand with the sugar, all but canceling out any of the tea's formidable nutritional benefits. Opt for a bottle of Honest and you get all the cancer-fighting, metabolism-boosting catechins found in green tea, with only a tiny hint of sweetness. ";
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TDY_MH_Drinkthis[i-1].body = "
Drink this
Krispy Kreme Very Berry Chiller (20 oz)
290 calories
71 grams of sugar
Not that!
Starbucks Venti Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino Blended Creme (20 oz)
750 calories
120 grams of sugar
Let’s get one thing straight: Neither of these are the healthy, fruit-based beverages they may seem to be. Little to no fruit goes into either of these, and in the case of the Starbucks Frappuccino, this drinkable disaster contains as much sugar as six Haagen Dazs Vanilla and Almond ice cream bars. The Krispy Kreme Chiller proves to be a reasonable indulgence, with little of the excessive added sugar or whipped cream that plague most blended \"fruit\" drinks. "; // END editorial data