SubscribeThe 7 Most Sugar Filled Drinks
Added sugars are the bane of our modern diet - and drinking sugar is arguably the easiest way to over-indulge.
What are the most sugary drinks?
Hype
Per 8oz: 64 grams
Per 8.45oz / 250ml can: 67.5
Hype is an energy drink that is known for it's "cotton candy" taste. That's because it has an impressive amount of sugar in it.
Sources: 1
Minute Maid Cranberry Grape
Per 8oz: 38 grams
15.2oz bottle: 72.2 grams
Note: "25% Fruit Juice". Also - Cranberry drinks often have a lot of added sugar because cranberry is a very bitter fruit.
Sources: 1
Tropicana Twister Soda - Orange
Per 8oz: 35 grams
Per 20oz bottle: 87.5 grams
Sources: 1
Sunkist Orange Soda
Per 8oz: 35 grams
Per 12oz can: 52 grams
Per 20oz bottle: 87.5 grams
Sources: 1
Fanta Orange
Per 8oz: 34.3 grams
Per 12oz can: 51.5 grams
Per 20oz bottle: 85.8 grams
Sources: 1, 2
Sun Drop
Per 8oz: 33 grams
Per 20oz bottle: 82.5 grams
Sources: 1
Sobe Adrenaline Rush
Per 8oz: 33 grams
Per 8.3oz can: 35 grams
Per 16oz bottle: 66 grams
Sources: 1
Reference
Go do the math. Knocking back a 20oz bottle of Fanta is the same as chowing down on around 21.5 teaspoons of sugar.
Special thanks to the Energy Fiend sugar in drinks database.
Er, actually, according to the math, it would be around 20 teaspoons. Which is still ridiculous. There are three teaspoons in a tablespoon, four tablespoons in a quarter cup. That's over a cup of sugar. Kinda puts the trepidations that keep me from adding ONE packet of sugar to my coffee into perspective.
Reply...wait. By "over a cup," I meant, "Almost half a cup." Of course. STILL ludicrous.
ReplyI was a Pepsi-holic before I made my lifestyle changes. I would drink a minimum of a 6 pack a day. I honestly think I was addicted to the sugar.
Now, I can't stand the taste of it. I don't even drink Diet sodas anymore. I think this was one of the keys for my weight loss success.
Brian
ReplyYeah. And, just in case you're thinking soda = low class: over at Starbucks, a venti Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino Blended Coffee (no whip) has 83 grams of sugar and a venti Dulce de Leche Latte (no whip) has 70 grams of sugar. Adding whip adds fat, for the most part: a venti Java Chip Frappuccino Blended Coffee with whip has 80 grams of sugar, 25 grams of fat, and 650 calories (but it does have 3 grams of fiber!)
ReplyIt is amazing to see how our kids just pop those cans as if it where water...
ReplyI thought it was interesting, too, how many of these were "fruity" flavors, which would suggest to the naive that they might be slightly healthier. I would have thought colas took more sugar to sweeten than fruit flavored drinks.
I made myself switch to diet soft drinks but not happily. This, however, is a good reminder not to even think about going back.
ReplyHalf a cup of sugar! It is half water, half sugar when you think of it. Scary.
ReplyWhat's more, the vast majority of "sugar" in these drinks is not actual sugar (sucrose), but high-fructose corn syrup.
ReplyAbout 21.5 teaspoons of sugar ...
ReplyI've never tried any of those drinks. But I have had some other types of cranberry juice before. I loved craisins until I took a look at how much sugar they have to add to make them edible.
I agree that sugar is an addiction. And there are no redeeming qualities. One of my “diet secrets” is “Don’t drink the calories!” Getting off of soft drinks is one of the easiest ways to improve your diet.
But it’s amazing how many people tell me that they don’t like plain water. I suggest that they try unsweetened tea or coffee or add a lemon or lime slice. Another technique is to add a small amount of unsweetened cranberry, blueberry, or pomegranate juice to your water. My favorite Starbucks drink is a non-fat latte. Just skim milk and espresso – yum! They have soy milk too, for those who don't do dairy.
ReplyI know from experience that I have cut out Dr. Peppers from my diet and have lost weight were I am now dpwn a dress size in just 2 months. I also drink lots of water every day.
ReplyThe worrying thing is most kids are brought up on this stuff and it's like eating bags of sugar...Even if we ignore the teeth decay issues. The obesity in kids is not being helped by the multi million dollar promotions behind these products.
Another concern is the alternatives are diet soda's are packed full of chemicals which in the quantities people consume them in are probably going to cause cancer in later life.
Seems a real dilema if anyone even cared more about their customers health than their shareholders profits!
ReplyReally useful list of drinks that are full of sugar. We use these drinks very frequently and in a happy mood without knowing their effects.
ReplyI remember watching KoolAid commercials when I was a kid and they would say how much better it was for you than soda because it had a third less sugar then soda. And all I could think was, "Not the way I make it, sweetheart."
ReplyAvoid drinking calories - it's the easiest way to lose bloat and pounds. There's simply no need to drink juice, iced drinks, sports and "energy" drinks, ever! I think marketers have really conditioned people to think that it's acceptable to drink calories so long as there's the veil of either health or refreshment. But drinking calories is unnatural and unnecessary. Don't forget about all the coffee drinks which are really just glorified milkshakes! Those drive me nuts. :)
Replyhttp://www.marksdailyapple.com/calorie-award/
Graham,
Spare us the rhetoric. We've already had the "diet soda will give you cancer" discussion a few threads back and your side didn't fare so well because... well, because there's no facts behind your side.
Sugar isn't inherently evil, and aspartame has no ill effects. The "greedy" big businesses don't want you sick or dead, they want you alive so you can buy more of their product so they can make more money. That's a side of corporate greed you seldom hear about.
There is no "dilema [sic]" as you put it. The biggest dilemma people seem to face here is how to shift the blame (to the media, corporations, the government, etc.) so they don't have to feel responsible for being fat. It's a victim mentality that, ironically enough, just serves to keep you fat.
ReplyAnyway... yes most of these were not straight sugar but HFCS. Even so - if you have a 3-4 can a day habit, there's some serious sugar overload going on - particularly with the orange sodas.
ReplyYes – sugar IS addictive. And we all know that it’s the worst thing for us. Problem is, when I’m in a hurry and I need a drink to go with my lunch, it’s mostly the drinks on this list are among my options. Usually, I stick to water, but it’s nice to have someone around to help.
When that sugar-craving sneaks up, look around and see if you have any friends with you who will help encourage you to make the right choices.
-Doug Burns, SugarFitness.com
Replyive only heard of fanta out of all of them sugars ik for you just not alot of it
ReplyIt's not surprising that most of the juice drinks have high sugar content. Based on it's sweetness, you can already tell that it probabgly has huge amount of sugar.
ReplyEww. I've never really paid attention to the math and to how much sugar all ofthis amounted to, but I think I can be glad that I've given up on such drinks long ago. It's kind of frightening...
Replyi've never been a fan of sugary drinks, although i have a raging sweet tooth. i prefer eating sugar in the form of cookies and pastries as opposed to drinking it. plus, the carbonation in soda makes me bloated and that alone is enough to make me not want to drink it.
ReplyI make a point to never drink sugary beverages. I feel it's a waste of calories. The only liquid calories I take in are milk and beer (or vodka mixed with diet soda). I haven't had regular soda in about 4 years.
ReplyAnd that's why you have to drink unsweetened cranberry juice if you have a UTI. Because the sugar is bad for your UTI, and it negates the effect of the cranberry. Just a little public service announcement for all you women out there.
ReplyBased on the conversion, I never thought that those drinks would have that much sugar. This is probably what we get for choosing things that ready to drink. If we make our own drink, we can measure how much sugar we want and don't have to worry about it.
ReplyThe part that concerns me is that "big soda" has fiendishly invaded the schools and placed soda machines in oh-so-convenient locations.
Sure, you have a great deal of control over what your kids consume at home, but what about those many hours that they're at school, bending to the will of peer pressure and the crushing forces of manipulative advertising?
The way the fast food & "big soda" companies prey upon kids in school is kinda like shooting fish in a barrel. I wish more parents would get riled up by this exploitatory behavior... We're allowing these companies to grow future consumers from the ground up and it all just seems very insidious to me.
Replywe all know that there is a huge amount of sugar in soft drinks....
It is easy to calculate for any soft drink:
1 teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams = 15 calories.
( http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21SC.html )
Since all the calories in soft drinks come from the sweetener...
a can of coke at 150 calories / 12 oz = 10 teaspoons of sugar.
ReplyYou would be hard pressed to get that amount of sugar into a glass of iced tea! (unless you are a Southern iced tea drinker!)
It's not actually even sugar that you're drinking - those drinks are made with high fructose corn syrup which your body barely knows how to deal with. Sugar would be bad but isn't nearly as bad as the corn syrup.
from an article in the SF Gate - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2004/02/18/FDGS24VKMH1.DTL
"Loading high fructose corn syrup into increasingly larger portions of soda and processed food has packed more calories into us and more money into food processing companies, say nutritionists and food activists. But some health experts argue that the issue is bigger than mere calories. The theory goes like this: The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.
The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat."
They use the corn syrup because it's a fraction of the price of regular sugar. criminal.
ReplyThe horror of it all. And to think so many of these are marketed to and given to our children. Especially in lieu of real fruits. And what's worse is that these companies continue to put out these juices, some with less and some with more (and some with a lot more) sugar of all types, like the new juice from Nestle (http://almostvegetarian.blogspot.com), especially bearing in mind the national obesity epidemic. Shameful.
Replyi think that when you drink fizzy drinks it will decay your teeth (making u look bad) and as people are saying, people are getting addicted to suger so this must mean that people are spending more money to keep up there bodies suger demand.
Replyshocking i never new just how much sugar is in a can, i drink 4-5 of these a day, time for some changes
ReplyVery informative. Too bad the schools have no nutrition patrol to keep these ites off their cafeteria menu and out of the machines .I now drink Crystal lite
ReplyJust the thought of pouring that much sugar into my mouth makes me sick. I have a friend from the South who swears she cannot live without her sweet tea. She offered me a sip once and I could barely swallow it. It was awful. But she grew up on that and fried foods. She jokes that there isn't a vegetable alive that doesn't taste better dipped in batter and deep-fried, and she even puts sugar in the batter. She swears she is healthy as can be. Yeah. For now.
ReplyI use splenda or equal in my drinks. It is supposed to be better than using sugar. I wonder though if it is toxic. ugh!
ReplyCheck with your school district if you are that concerned. Ours recently changed our policies, so we have refrigerated vending machines that offer fruits and vegetables, and low sugar drinks because there were so many health concerns raised by parents. Our cafeteria now no longer serves pizza or any other high fat foods. It's easier than you think to make a change to benefit your selves and your families.
ReplySo,what does it mean if the only thing i drink is mountain dew.im thin but tired all the time. where i work we get free fountain drinks so its easy access.im prone to severe migraines and when i cut myself off the dew i get very sick and have the migraines. i want to stop drinking it because i think thats why im tired all the time.mountain dew is like a drug for me. i get happy at the very sight of the can.is there a mountain dew annonymous or something? dont suggest diet dew,diet drinks taste like crap.
ReplyI never realized how much sugar was in sodas......but after reading this , it is bye-bye soda, even the diet.
ReplyBralee,
Mountain Dew has a lot of caffiene, I think 55mg per can. What you are probably experiencing is a caffiene headache along with the high and sudden lows of the caffeine and sugar. It gives you an immediate burst of energy but then makes your energy levels sink to very low levels.
Caffiene withdrawel can take a week or so to get through but once you are through it the headaches should pass.
ReplySuprise! Mountain Dew has lots of caffeine, so it does have drug like effects. If you drink lots of it, and then stop suddenly, the sudden drop in caffeine can give you headaches, esp. if you already are prone to migraines. You need to taper off gradually, and not substitute other caffeine. Good luck.
Reply