6 Deceptively Delicious Unhealthy Beverages to Stay Away From
Unhealthy beverages are just as bad for your body as junk foods are. The problem is that unhealthy drinks have the deceptive appearance of being harmless and ephemeral, relative to unhealthy snack foods or junky fast food. If you had to pick between a cheeseburger and a glass of diet soda, chances are you would pick the glass of soda. If faced with such choice, I would advise you to pick none of the two. Soda is an unhealthy drink, and cheeseburger is junk food. Both are bad for your health. So, without further ado, here is a more expansive list of unhealthy drinks you should stay away from, on your quest for longevity and good health.
Frozen Mixed Drinks
Did you know that a 16-ounce pina-colada can contain up to 880 calories? This is the equivalent of 8 shots of rum. Cocktails are incredibly high in calories because of the different mixers used to make them. Stay away from these unhealthy drinks.
Fruit Smoothies
Fruits may be good to you, but a 32-ounce smoothie can contain as much as 700 calories. In addition, a 32-ounce smoothie contains only a negligible amount of protein, due to its high sugar content. Consuming this unhealthy drink, is equivalent to eating a mango, an entire pineapple, a cup of strawberries, and a cup of blueberries, all at once. You will gain weight when you ingest more than your body can burn.
Diet Soda
Diet soda may claim to be calorie-free, but it also has zero nutritional value. Furthermore, diet soda is loaded with artificial sweetener (aspartame), making it an additional health hazard. Swap this unhealthy drink with water or green tea, and you should see a progressive natural boost in your energy level.
Whipped Coffee
A regular large cup of this unhealthy drink contains approximately 840 calories. More than 2/3 of the whipped coffee calories come from the whipped cream, and about 1/3 of the calories come from sugar. In addition, a large cup of whipped coffee contains about 86 grams of carbohydrates, 81% of which are derived from sugar!
Flavored Water
You might be under the impression that flavored water is perfectly healthy. Though flavored water may claim to deliver vitamins, this unhealthy drink is packed with added sugar. Some flavored water brands have been recalled from the marketplace, because they failed to advise consumers on the insanely high level of sugar they contained. For instance, some of their advertising posters featured slogans such as: simple, natural, refreshment. This is very misleading at best.
Energy Drinks
Energy drinks are clearly unhealthy drinks because they are loaded with excessive amounts of caffeine and sugar. As a result, energy drinks tend to give you a short burst of energy, followed by a crash in your body’s major functions. If you need a long-term energy boost, learn to drink lots of water and green tea throughout the day.
Conclusion
In addition to drinking and eating healthy, you should also exercise regularly. I recommend doing body-weight exercises such as high intensity interval training, at least 3 times weekly. High intensity interval training is known to burn fat at a much faster pace than regular aerobic routines.