What is Sugar?

Most of the time, “sugar” means that sneaky added sugar, not the natural sweet goodness that comes from fruits. While the body needs sugar to thrive, added sugar has detrimental effects on your body’s overall health. 

Sugary Drinks and Health

No matter what way you slice it, the bottom line is sugar is bad for your health. 

Sugary drinks are no exception.

Sugary drinks tend to be one of the worst ways you can consume sugar because they have no nutritional value. 

While sugary drinks have many negative harmful effects, here are a few of the worst.

The Long-Term Effects of Sugary Drinks

1. Body Weight and Obesity

Sugary drinks do not register as calories. This means you remain hungry and are more likely to crave unhealthy, sweeter foods. Additionally, the sugar your body doesn’t need turns into fat which is why drinking sugary beverages are linked to weight gain and obesity. 

2. Bad Liver (Double Trouble When Pairing Sugar and Alcohol)

Just like alcohol, sugar wreaks havoc on your liver. When there is extra sugar in your body it turns into fat. Your liver stores these fat cells and this storage damages your liver leading to liver disease and liver failure (the same way alcohol does).

3. Diabetes

When you drink sugary drinks, your chance of developing type 2 diabetes skyrockets. This happens because consuming sugary foods and beverages spikes your blood sugar levels and increases your chance of becoming insulin resistant, a stepping stone to type 2 diabetes. 

4. Heart Disease

Sugar raises blood pressure, creates inflammation, and leads to obesity giving your heart a hard time! People who drink sweet beverages have a high chance of developing heart disease. Be sweet to your heart by avoiding sugar!

5. Bad Teeth

Turns out your mother was right, eating sugar is bad for your teeth. Sugar likes to pair up with bacteria to act as an acid in your mouth and corrode your teeth. Want a pearly-white smile? Stay away from sweets!

A Sugary Drinks List

An important note to keep in mind is that sugary drinks are not only soft drinks. While sodas have a lot of sugar, there are plenty of popular beverages that have a shocking amount too. 

Note: On average, women should keep sugar consumption to around 25 grams of sugar per day while men should consume around 37.5 grams of sugar per day (Healthline writes more about sugar consumption here). With these maximums in mind, let’s compare a few sugary beverages. 

Sodas

Everyone knows sodas aren’t great for your health, but flavored fruit sodas can be just as bad!

  • Coca-Cola 

One can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar. That’s equivalent to heaping 10 teaspoons of sugar into your tea or coffee!

  • Sprite 

One can of sprite has a whopping 33 grams of sugar. 

  • Sparkling Grapefruit IZZE

Even those fruit-sweetened sodas contain 29 grams of sugar in one 12 oz. bottle!

Energy Drinks

Most energy drinks are high in sugar content too! 

  • Monster

Just one Monster energy drink contains 29 grams of sugar. 

  • Redbull 

Redbull is no better, in fact, it’s worse. The average 12 oz. can of Redbull contains a staggering 37 grams of sugar, making this energy drink as bad as a can of coca-cola. 

Coffee

Unfortunately, early morning latte drinkers are in for bad news…caffeinated beverages tend to have high amounts of sugar as well. 

According to Starbucks’ own nutritional facts a 

  • 16 oz. latte with 2% milk…

Even though this drink is a simple coffee, it has 18 grams of sugar, which is not the worst, but gives little wiggle room for other sugar consumption throughout the day. 

  • Chai Tea Lattes

Even though tea feels like a less sugary alternative, Starbucks’ 16 oz. chai tea latte BEATS Coca-cola with 42 grams of sugar. 42! 

  • Mocha Frappuccino

Like your coffee blended? Unsurprisingly coffee milkshakes are ridiculously high in sugar content with a 16 oz. mocha frappuccino containing 51 grams of sugar, winning the title for the beverage with the most sugar so far!

Boozy Beverages

While mixed drinks can help hide the flavor of alcohol, these cocktails are often drowning the booze in sugar. Spoon University drank a few cocktails and came up with the following numbers. 

  • Cosmopolitan 

This delightfully simple cocktail does not skimp on the sugar. A classic cosmopolitan contains 12 grams of sugar...which means when you and your friends have two or three, you’re due for a hangover and not just because of the alcohol.

  • G&T 

Even though a gin and tonic only has two ingredients, sugar finds its sneaky way into this cocktail too. A G&T has 15 grams of sugar per drink. 

  • Margaritas 

While margaritas can greatly vary, their sugar content will shock you. Swap fresh lime juice for lime juice packed with preservatives, add a splash of triple sec, and a flavored syrup like mango or strawberry, and you will find yourself drinking a cocktail that has up to 55 grams of sugar, making it the most sugary beverage on the list. 

While this list can be daunting, being conscious about sugar consumption is an important step to make if you want to work your way towards a healthy body! 

 

Because sugar is addictive, cutting it out is hard. The good news is that you can start small. Try swapping sodas for soda water with a lemon, lime, or orange wedge. Keep your coffee simple and add Stevia or honey for sweetness. 

When you cut out sugar, you will feel better and live longer. Who doesn’t want that?

Start today! Take the step today towards a healthier body and skip those sugary drinks!