Beware of Liquid Calories!

Calories… calories… calories… – it’s what everyone talks about when you’re trying to lose weight. But have you ever given thought to the amount of liquid calories you’re consuming daily? If not, you should think twice before drinking that second glass of soda or that tall caffe mocha.

Liquid calories count in a big way, which add up big time at the end of the day. Just think about it. If you have a mocha in the morning, a couple of sodas or sweetened bottled teas in the afternoon, then a glass of wine in the evening – let’s see how many liquid calories you’ve consumed:

Caffe mocha, 16 oz., (nonfat milk, no whip) – 220 Calories
12-ounce soda – 140 Calories
12-ounce sweetened bottled tea – about 116 Calories
8 ounces white wine or 12 ounces of beer – about 150 Calories
Total: 626 calories

And that’s just the liquid part of your diet!. Add that on top of your 1,800-2,000 calorie a day of food consumed and you’ve pushed up the number to 2,426-2,626 calories!! If you’re looking to lose weight, liquids are definitely something that should be taken into consideration since ultimately the less calories consumed, the more weight that comes off.

A national Beverage Guidance Panel made up of six leading nutrition experts recently decided on U.S. beverage guidelines. They ranked beverages that should fulfill our daily liquid needs.

1. Water was ranked as the preferred beverage
2. Tea and coffee; low-fat (1% or 1.5%) and skim milk and soy beverages.
3. Artificially sweetened beverages
4. Fruit juices and alcoholic beverages (which have calories but some nutritional benefits)
5. Whole milk
6. Sugar-sweetened drinks

Bottom line is that liquid calories don’t seem to register in the stomach like food calories, so they don’t seem to satisfy hunger as well yet they still add up in your daily caloric intake. You should try to cut out any drinks that are too high in calorie and/or sugar/high fructose if your goal is to lose weight and improve your overall health.

Read our Top 5 Diets Here.