Wellness Witness



Sugar in Our BeveragesI want to talk to you about the sugar in our beverages. I know, I know, you've heard it all before, but hear me out before you skip over this part entirely.?Although the numbers differ (you'll hear them give different ones in the podcast above), most sources recommend that women have no more than 24g of added sugar per day and men no more than 36g of sugar per day.?I wanted to give you some brief insight into what that might look like through the beverages we all commonly drink. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER so don't scroll past this!?Here in the South, Sweet tea is a beverage that many of us enjoy. In fact, you can get a LARGE size cup of it at any local McDonalds forjust $1.00.?? ? INCLUDEPICTURE "/var/folders/gc/7z20vj5x5dgf6mvy19j29qfh0000gn/T/com.microsoft.Word/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/912e4c23-ede5-476a-a914-2ff83e524ce4.png" \* MERGEFORMATINET In that cup, you'll get SIXTY NINE grams of added sugar.?From looking at that, you can see that there are 69 grams of sugar. Remember that 4g of sugar equals 1 teaspoon, so in this one cup of tea (which has a lot of ice in it also), you're getting over?17 teaspoons of sugar. Some people say, well just one glass a day can't hurt too much....Here's what 1 week's worth of sugar would look like if you had one large sweet tea every day:? INCLUDEPICTURE "/var/folders/gc/7z20vj5x5dgf6mvy19j29qfh0000gn/T/com.microsoft.Word/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/47281ce7-421d-47dd-8622-6d5d9441bcec.png" \* MERGEFORMATINET That is a LARGE quart jar...Crazy, right?!?!Here are some nutrition facts on other beverages:-A NONFAT hot chocolate: 59g so almost FIFTEEN TEASPOONS!-A Hi-C orange drink (like many of us feed our children) has 94 grams of sugar in a large which is TWENTY THREE TEASPOONS of sugar.-A chocolate milkshake: ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN grams of sugar or almost TWENTY EIGHT teaspoons of sugar.-A caramel frappe has 88 grams of sugar or TWENTY TWO Teaspoons.-What about a Smoothie, which many consider healthy? This one has SIXTY NINE GRAMS OF SUGAR or over SEVENTEEN teaspoons.-A large classic coke: 86g of sugar or TWENTY ONE and a half teaspoons.In case that number doesn't sink in, here's a visual example of what that looks like in packets of sugar:? INCLUDEPICTURE "/var/folders/gc/7z20vj5x5dgf6mvy19j29qfh0000gn/T/com.microsoft.Word/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/e4c06240-2632-4c75-a30c-7ca58bc110fe.png" \* MERGEFORMATINET ?Keep in mind: The daily recommended amount of sugar for a woman? 24grams or SIX TEASPOONS, so when we drink that ONE large coca-cola a day, we just TRIPLED our daily suggested amount of sugar.It's no wonder that we are tired, overweight, and craving sugar like crazy.When we dump that much sugar into our system, our bodies CANNOT process it all, and it's stored as fat, AND it increases hunger and cravings.This doesn't even take into account the effects of high fructose corn syrup on our bodies (which is in almost every beverage out there that isn't diet).And diet drinks? The research is becoming more and more clear: NOT A GOOD?OPTION. Not even a safe option. So what should we do?1- Work on increasing water.?Yes, it's hard, especially in the beginning. You may not like it. The thought of it may make you feel a bit nauseous. I've been there. And it took men a while, but eventually, I grew to love it. Truly. Keep trying. And if you haven't, be sure you go read the HEALTHY HABIT #1 info on the motivation page of the website.2- Find options that work for you.Does a carbonated water drink help you? Do you like stevia?I keep this product in my house and in my purse and use it often:It's liquid stevia from Trader Joe's. You can also order it online in multiple brands,?flavors, and varieties. There are several different stevia options out there, but read your labels carefully before purchasing. Some have some not-so-great fillers.Other options: Gradually switch from FULL sweet tea to half sweet and half unsweet. Then work your way down to 1/4 sweet, 3/4 unsweet. Eventually, you can drink it almost all unsweetened or you'll learn to love it with stevia...OR you'll learn to not need it as much.There are some good stevia sweetened soft drinks out there as well as some options for healthier drinks. Zevia is a good one, Honest FIZZ, and Bai. Some women love Bubbly or La Croix, or water flavorings without a lot of artificial sweeteners such as True Lime or True Lemon. BCAAs can also help. Here's a link to my favorites:?Kara’s link for BCAAs and Protein PowderIf you're currently addicted to either sugar sweetened drinks or diet ones (this includes any 'calorie free' options made with either sucralose or aspartame), it's time to start figuring out your plan for either weaning your way off, or just pulling the cord and going cold turkey. You'll feel better, have more energy, less cravings, and your body will be so much healthier!YOU CAN DO IT!!!And when you're not sure, just get out a jar of sugar and measure out the amount that you're going to be dumping into your system if you drink that beverage. Once in a while treats are one thing, but daily indulgences are a total other.Once we know better, we can do better! And if you need help with sugar cravings and how to reduce your sugar with more step-by-step information, refer back to last week's teaching topics that you can now find on the?RESOURCES AND DOWNLOADS?page of the website.?I'm not telling you that it will be easy, but I AM telling you that you were made for more. MADE FOR MORE and that your body isn't a trash can. Hard words to say, and they're ones I'm saying over myself today, too. We can do this. One step (or sip!) at a time! ................
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