Do You Drink Too Many Calories?

"That Cow don't hunt!" :-)

The thing is: Americans are drinking too much fatty, sugary drinks like shakes, fraps, sugary sodas, and more.

Now you can consume "some" shakes and fraps (as long as it ain't tainted with hydrogenated oils), but stay away from sodas and diet sodas.

There's going debation about milk (Is skim milk better or worse than you than full-fat milk), since this headline popped up that full-fat milk may actually be better for you than skim milk in weight management. But what concerns me is that the homogenization and pasturization of the milk damages the fat structures (which leads me back to skim milk as the healthier form of milk).

But on to other things:

Soda (even diet soda) is a health hazard. Avoid.

Juices: Aim for the 100 percent and read the labels. Anything that has a long list of ingredients should be avoided. To make it easier, drink organic or all-natural juices without added sugar. Chances are, if the ingredient list on the package is simple and short and does not contain sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, or aspartame, than you've choosen the right juice.

Don't drink milk when eating dark chocolates. The milk proteins binds with the antioxidents, cancelling the health benefits.

Avoid alcohol. They are a hazard to your liver. Açaí juice (from the Amazon rain forest) is a great alternative to red wine as they provide much more antioxidents. But keep it in moderation, they contain calories. Plus, chicken, and meat, and vegtables provide you with vitamin B6 and folate (By the way, the reason why folate is dropping among women is because of more junk food consumption)

Now you can have your shake or frap and enjoy it, but do so in moderation. Though they are a great source of calcium and vitamin D and other nutrients, they are a choc-full of calories. My recommendation, do it no more than a few times a month.

Ok, I thought about it... What "governator" once said still stands: "milk is for babies." :-)

Skim milk, water, and sometime diet caffine free soda
skim milk smoothies
I rather eat my fruit than drink it

I may be a weird exception, but a pint of whole milk actually makes me as full as a solid meal, but with much fewer calories. This is definitely not true for juice or soda though.

I try not to drink calories, except alcoholic beverages on occasion. I do, however, count those calories into my daily total. I learned quickly that liquid calories like those in sodas and that sort of thing do NOT fill you up like food does.

For those who haven't heard the news, HFCS is just sugar, no better, no worse for you than any other sugar. The New York Times explains it, and explains the background of the high fructose corn syrup myth. I know conspiracy theories are fun to pass on and hard to let go of, but let's drop this one, people.

The issue, as the first sentence of the post makes clear, is calories. Drink too many, you get fat, fat is bad for you.

The only calories I drink are skim milk and wine or beer.
Once in a while I will have a root beer or regular red bull but otherwise I drink sugar free. In fact, the other day I had a regular root beer with a meal and my friend was like "What is going on, you're drinking regular pop!"
I told him it was bizarro world, ha ha!

I agree with the glass of whole milk = fullness of a meal person. Can't go wrong with milk. Whole milk is satiating.
I hate soda - it's nice for a dessert drink or maybe a sugary snack, but not as a thirst quencher. Seltzer is marvelous though. Also, drinking juice has been linked to preventing Alzheimers (not sure how to spell it but it's true). I don't like juice but I drink it because the high vitamin C content aids iron absorption.
Additional note: Calories and all, life would be quite a bit less tasty without Starbucks blended coffees.
PS: what is red bull? this may sound odd but I have no idea what's in it so I never bought it.

Also, what is the big deal about the milk industry trying to help itself out? Buying, selling, and advocating milk is hardly a sin. Let's stop critisizing the milk industry and start aiming our critiquing a bit higher - say, the government , for example.

The only liquid calories I get are in the form of daily milk (which I see as a food rather than a drink) or, very rarely, alcohol or diluted juice. I can see how sodas and fancy coffee drinks could add a meals' worth or even two to daily calorie intake.

It doesn't matter who funded this study, the findings would still be the same, that too many people are drinking too much soda. I'm not a fan of the way the dairy industry as a whole operates, but there's cynicism and then there's paranoia. Like Mark said about the HFCS, it's time to lay the conspiracy theories to rest.

Well said Grace, I agree.

Can I comment to say I love reading the comments?! I don't have a problem with "drinking calories." Perhaps drinking too many would be an issue.

I find milk very filling too. I drink it as a snack.

Other than that, I just drink water and Diet Pepsi. Yes, I know, the sweeteners will kill me. I work 14 year hour days regularly and I need the caffeine fix to keep going.

I don't think the issue is so much drinking calories as much as it is the fact that most people don't tally them into their daily calorie needs. Some of those coffeehouse drinks or smoothies you can get can have almost half a day's worth of calories in them but leave you completely unsatisfied...so you still eat what you normally would.

I also get full on milk...must be the protein in it or something. I don't like it plain though, so I usually drink milk only when I'm eating cereal.

I think it doesn't help that fast-food restaurants sell giant cups of soda that the average American doesn't think twice about polishing off with their burger and fries.

I go to burger places (meaning In-N-Out Burger), but only for a burger. I never get fries or a drink, unless it's water.

I go to fast-food places only for the giant (diet) soda, haha. So cheap.

I hardly ever eat out, and fast-food even less often.

James said:
The thing is: Americans are drinking too much fatty, sugary drinks like shakes, fraps, sugary sodas, and more.[...]

James! It's called a frappe!

(it's driving me nuts!)

I was just reading the label from the cranberry juice I was drinking from. Even though it contained the labels "100% Fruit Juice, no sugar added" and so on, how come the juice contained so many calories. I was scared to drink the juice. Is that how you guys feel, too?

Even though they don't add sugar to some juices, naturally occuring fructose in the fruit itself does contribute to the calorie content. The reason I don't drink juice is because I'd rather have an entire orange for 60 calories instead of a little glass of OJ that has 120 calories in it. Plus, the juice usually lacks fiber and it makes your blood sugar spike. Occasionally, juice is probably fine, but you have to realize that if you drink it all the time, those calories will add up.

Juice, even if it is no sugar added, makes me hungrier. I'd rather make a smoothie then, with some yogurt and oat bran thrown in with the fruit, cause that is a meal.

Telling me that the New York Times said so means nothing to me. I am constantly hearing of retractions all those "all knowing" NE papers must print, I understand this is off subject but yellow journalism is the Times cup of tea.

i am going to get some milk right now. just fyi, skim milk has 110 cal per serving, as does the orange juice in my fridge. coke has 100, but no flavenoids or protein. thats why i drink milk and thats why im not fat

Why are the diet sodas considered so evil?