How Much Is Your Soda Aging You?
If your morning or mid-afternoon energy levels need a boost, you may want to think twice about running for the soda machine. You’ll be shocked when you see what a new study found that drinking soda was related to shorter telomere length in white blood cells. The researchers estimated that drinking 20 ounces of soda daily made you 4.6 years older.
Here are some of the most sugar-packed sodas:
Mountain Dew:
You know by now that Mountain Dew’s high caffeine levels amp your energy, but check this out….1 can has a whopping 77 g of sugar…that’s more sugar than is in 3 pieces of pumpkin pie!
Fanta Orange:
As sweet and innocent as orange soda may seem, I caught Fanta Orange red-handed with its 44 g of sugar and 160 calories. That may not seem out of hand, but the daily recommended allowance is 36g of sugar per day, which is actually quite a generous amount.
Pepsi Wild Cherry:
Although you may choose the cherry flavor to punch up your routine, I’d recommend not to. One 12-oz can of Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry will only serve you a blood sugar spike, with 42 g of sugar and 160 calories…that’s almost as much sugar as an entire bag of Skittles (47 g of sugar).
Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash:
In one standard can (12-oz), there’s 40 g of sugar and 160 calories packed in. WOW! That’s as much sugar as a Snicker’s bar!
Diet Coke & Diet Pepsi:
While yes, diet drinks are calorie free, they actually won’t help you lose weight. In fact, a study from the University of Texas found that over the course of about a decade, diet soda drinkers had a 70 percent greater increase in waist circumference compared with non-diet drinkers.
The Soda Alternative:
Water plays a key role in weight loss and overall health. From lubricating joints to giving your muscles their shape and form, water serves a multitude of bodily functions. It’s an essential element in our lives. Water comprises about 70% of our blood, and acts as the vehicle that transports fat out of the body.
Can’t kick the soda? Try cutting your daily soda allowance in half, and filling up on water or green tea throughout the day. Being properly hydrated will improve your digestion and help improve both your stamina and recovery process when it comes to workouts. And it’s key for beating the bloat: It may seem counterintuitive, but drinking plenty of water actually helps you lose water weight, by helping your cells to release extra sodium and flush it out of your system.
Boosting your water intake doesn’t have to mean wasting a ton of plastic by buying and throwing away multiple water bottles. If you spend most of your time at home, drinking plenty of water is easy – tap water is, of course, free and plentiful! Depending on your local water quality, of course, you may want to invest in a good filtration system. But if you’re at the office most of the day, it’s a good idea to get a good reusable water bottle – look for one that’s marked BPA-free to ensure that you’re avoiding harmful chemicals.
