These are the worst drinks for your health
Bottoms up! Some of the most popular drinks can be awful for your health – with the sweetest ones doing the most damage
- Energy drinks and pre-workout drinks as well as sweet alcoholic cocktails, soda and iced tea are among the worst drinks for your health
- Several nutritionists weighed in on the drinks they say are the worst
- Artificially sweetened drinks, frappuccinos and frozen lattes are also on the list
The next time you order your favorite coffee at Starbucks or order a juice at the gym bar, there are drinks nutritionists say should be avoided to help your health.
And it’s not just alcoholic drinks that could be detrimental to your health, but some of the most popular beverages.
But some of the most popular non-alcoholic drinks can be just as bad for you – with the sweetest ones doing the most damage, nutritionists say.
Energy drinks
Energy drinks contain excess caffeine and stimulants and can cause ‘increased blood pressure, stress and compromised sleep,’ Kylie Ivanir, a dietitian who runs Within Nutrition, told Fox News Digital.
‘Other side effects of excess stimulants found in pre-workout and energy drinks are headaches and nausea,’ she added.
The same is true of pre-workout drinks.
Energy drinks are some of the worst for your health, experts warn
She continued: ‘Pre-workout and energy drinks also contain artificial sweeteners and flavors, which disrupt gut health and brain health. The supplement industry is also notoriously unregulated, which leads to contamination with toxins or banned substances that are detrimental to our health.’
A healthier substitute could be coffee or matcha tea.
Sweet alcoholic cocktails
Sweet alcoholic drinks are bad for your health because they can contain a combination of alcohol and fructose syrup.
‘This compromises the liver’s ability to filter out toxins and hampers its conversion of fructose to glucose,’ Ivanir said.
Sweet alcoholic drinks are bad for your health because they can contain a combination of alcohol and fructose syrup
‘As a consequence, we can’t detox as well, and we also end up storing that excess fructose as fat. This can then cause a rise in triglycerides, a harmful blood lipid — and is one of the causes of a fatty liver.’
Artificially sweetened drinks
Artificially sweetened drinks are not any better for our health than sugar.
Artificial sugars like aspartame and sucralose ‘disturb the microbiome and damage our gut health,’ Ivanir said.
Other options for artificially sweetened drinks include Stevia or monk fruit-sweetened drinks that are also gut-friendly
‘This is harmful to our overall health since the gut plays a key role in many of our body’s systems such as our immune health, hormone recycling, serotonin production and nutrient absorption.’
Alternatives include Stevia or monk fruit-sweetened drinks that are also gut-friendly, she added.
Drinks sweetened with agave nectar
Agave-sweetened drinks may seem like a healthier option but ‘agave is pretty much high-fructose corn syrup with a glorified label,’ Ivanir said.
Agave syrup is made from agave plant sap, which has increased in popularity as a substitute for traditional sweeteners (like table sugar and honey), according to the National Library of Medicine.
‘Agave nectar can contain between 55% to 90% fructose — that’s higher than the amount of fructose in high-fructose corn syrup,’ Ivanir added.
Agave nectar can contain between 55% to 90% fructose — higher than found in high-fructose corn syrup
‘The problem with taking in a lot of fructose is that your body must convert it to glucose in the liver, but if you have too much, it gets stored as fat. Specifically, belly fat,’ she said.
‘Excess fructose is also pretty bad for your gut. Your gut bacteria don’t like large doses of fructose. For those with a sensitive gut, this can cause bloating, diarrhea and discomfort. It leads to increased LDL (your bad cholesterol) and decreases insulin sensitivity.’
‘If you’re thinking, ‘isn’t fruit high in fructose?’ consider this: ‘Some fruits are, but when fructose is in its natural and fiber-wrapped form, then it’s not harmful. So there is no need to avoid fruit,’ Ivanir said.
Juice ‘cocktail’
Just because a drink has ‘juice’ in the label does not always mean it’s health.
Experts say when the word ‘cocktail is included in the label, it means juice is mixed with added sugar.
Added sugar found in juice cocktails can add extra calories to your day
‘Added sugar is unnecessary and adds extra calories to your day. But not surprisingly, per the CDC, sugar-sweetened drinks are a top source of added sugar in the American diet,’ Ivanir said. ‘Shop for 100 percent fruit juice instead.’
Soda
Nutritionists say soda is bad for your health because of all the added sugar.
‘A 12-ounce can of cola contains about 10 teaspoons worth of added sugar,’ Amy Gorin, a plant-based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Master the Media in Stamford, Connecticut, told Fox News Digital.
A soda can contain 10 teaspoons of added sugar per drink
She said people should opt for ‘seltzer or sparkling water and adding a squeeze of lime, lemon or orange juice for flavor.’
Iced Tea
Some Iced teas have just as much sugar in them as soda, experts warn.
Jinan Banna, a registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at the University of Hawaii, told Fox that the high consumption of such drinks could lead to type 2 diabetes.
High consumption of sugary drinkis, such as ice tea, can help contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes
‘A high consumption of sweetened drinks such as iced tea has been shown to be associated with the development of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes,’ she said.
Frappuccinos and frozen lattes
Frappuccinos, frozen lattes and other sweet coffee drinks contain ‘sweet fats’ that ‘hijack our brain circuits, making us want more and more.’
‘Frappuccinos and other sweet coffee drinks contain what I call ‘sweet fats’ — a combination of sugar [from the syrups and flavors] and saturated fats [from the cream]. While this combination of sugar and fat makes the drink taste deliciously creamy, it leads to excess fat storage due to a rise in the hormone insulin (our fat storage hormone),’ Ivanir said.
‘Sweet fats’ can hijack or brain circuits, making us want more and more, experts say
‘They also drive up insulin, leading to insulin resistance and higher lipid levels and ultimately metabolic syndrome,’ Ivanir added.
‘In some establishments, this drink may contain more sugar than a can of coke, such as the caramel latte that is found in some businesses,’ Banna said.
‘Sweetened coffee drinks have been identified as an item in the diet that makes a notable contribution to intake of added sugar,’ she added.
She pointed to a report published in the National Library of Medicine titled, ‘Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among adults.’
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