Beverages may have far more of an impact on your weight than you might realize. The average American consumes more “liquid” calories than ever before and those calories seem to not register with the body in the same way as solid foods. This makes the task of balancing calorie intake with energy expenditure much more difficult.
The average American today consumes about 22% of total daily calories from beverages (Tufts, March 2007). In the 1970s that figure was only 13 to 15%. That might not seem like much of a difference but if you look at the actual calories you might see why this is a problem. Most age groups are consuming 150-300 MORE calories EACH DAY as beverages than 30 years ago.
The extra calories from beverages could be displacing other more nutritious foods. Or the additional calories could explain why the average person is taking in more calories each day. The rapid increase in the number of overweight and obese individuals in the
United States parallels the availability and increased choices of sweetened beverages on the market.
(If you would like to see a startling picture of the rapid increase in numbers of overweight and obese individuals in the United States in a relatively short time take a moment to visit CNN.com. At this site you will find a timeline map that reveals the magnitude of the increasing problem over a short 20 years. There is a similar trend in many other countries as well.)
[UPDATE: March 25, 2009 - My apologies the obesity map is no longer available.]
Which Beverages are a Problem and Why?
Most of the increase in beverage consumption has been with soft drinks and fruit drinks. For some people it is extra calories from alcoholic beverages or high calorie coffee or tea blends and for others it might be smoothies.
There seem to be a number of reasons why Americans are drinking more of their calories. To begin with, there are more beverage choices than ever before with aggressive advertising campaigns to get your attention. Also, the portion sizes are much bigger!
All of these changes are enough of a concern but scientists have learned something new about liquid calories that underscores WHY it is important to watch your calorie intake from beverages. Evidently our bodies are not programmed to recognize calories from beverages in the same manner as solid foods! In other words, liquid calories don’t register well with our appetite controls so we may not compensate for these calories by eating less food later.
Evidently we have separate thirst and hunger mechanisms because our bodies need both fluids and calories from food. Until relatively recent times, the fluids humans drank did not have calories. Why? Throughout most of human history, our ancestors were accustomed to drinking only water.
With the exception of breast milk for infants, water is the only beverage we actually need. Humans did not get many calories from beverages other than sweetened teas and coffees till the last century. Soft drinks were only introduced after WWII.
What are the Best Beverage Choices?
Water is by far our best choice for a beverage. We need 6-8 8oz. servings on average each day. But that amount can vary from one person to another. Some need as much as 20 servings a day and others as little as 4! One of the added benefits of water is that it can help to reduce consumption of the calorie-laden beverages.
Second to water, unsweetened tea and coffee provide a good source of liquid. Milk is needed by some adults but does not seem to be essential if calcium, protein, and Vitamin D needs are met in other ways.
A small amount of fruit juice is fine (4-6 oz.) but otherwise choose to eat whole fruit. Most fruit juice provides less in the way of nutrients and fiber than the whole fruit and contains a significant number of calories. Because our bodies may not recognize the additional calories coming from liquids, fruit juice can easily add unnecessary calories to total caloric intake.
Diet sodas may be a suitable choice for some. The FDA has determined a number of sweeteners to be safe. However, if you still have concerns about these sweeteners just stick with water or tea. Another concern to keep in mind with respect to cola soft drinks, including diet colas, is that they may adversely affect bone health.
Fruit drinks and caloric soft drinks are simply not a good choice. They provide no health benefits and are a significant source of calories! In addition they may increase your risk for weight gain, diabetes, and dental caries. A few studies suggest that the sweetness of these drinks may actually condition both children and adults to have a high preference for sweets. But this theory needs more research.
How does the body perceive soup? Interestingly enough it seems to register as food and not a beverage. Thus soups, especially broth- based soups, can serve to not only fill you up but also to limit the total number of calories you consume unlike beverages.
Do take a moment to assess your calories coming from beverages each day. Replacing unnecessary beverages with low calorie choices might give you an easy way to reign in your total calorie intake
