Article From Abigail Perez
You’re about to embark on a weight loss journey. You’ve been through your kitchen and thrown all the junk food into the trash. You’ve got a diet plan and you’ve taken those awkward "before" selfies. What is the one thing you might have missed?
Have you made the common mistake of underestimating the caloric content of your favorite drinks?
The majority of beverages consumed by the American public are packed with hidden calories. The drinks you might gulp down could be responsible for weight loss plateaus or lack of progress toward your weight loss goals.
The “healthy” smoothie from the organic store? It contains more calories than a double cheeseburger (a large Strawberry Surf Rider from Jamba Juice has 640 calories, a McDonald’s Double Cheeseburger has 440 calories). The coffee on your morning commute? It has the same amount of calories as two glazed donuts (a Venti Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino has 550 calories, while two Dunkin Donuts Glazed Donut have 520 calories). Having a beer with dinner? That’s more calories than a candy bar (a Lagunita’s IPA has 220 calories, while a Hershey bar has 214 calories).
The calories consumed from beverages may be adding hundreds of calories to your daily intake.
Whether it's juices, flavored coffees, sodas, beers, or even those popular “healthy” smoothies, they all contain high amounts of calories.
Instead of changing your diet, try rethinking your lifestyle. Don’t count calories, make calories count. The importance of getting the best nutrition out of every calorie will help you reach your goals. Here are a few of the best weight loss drinks to help you get there.
Drinking Your Weight
Most diets place emphasis solely on food—neglected is the significant nutritional value of what you drink. It’s vital to be aware of liquid calories and large quantities of sugar in drinks you're consuming.
Beverages do not trigger the same satiation responses compared to their solid food counterparts. Studies have shown that meals with solid foods provide better sensations of fullness compared to liquid meal replacements alone. When dietary calories are drastically reduced to kick-start weight loss, it becomes crucial that satiation is maximized. Every calorie counts when sticking to a healthy diet.
A typical 16oz bottle of soda has around 200 calories; that’s approximately equal to six ounces of chicken breast. An average juice smoothie from a national chain has around 300 calories; that’s the equivalent to four whole eggs. Most beer has at least 150 calories, equivalent to five pieces of turkey bacon. As you can see, choosing the non-beverage option in each of these scenarios will not only provide more nutritional value, but will also help you feel satiated.
There are several drinks that also tout themselves as diet or zero-calorie options. These drinks have a similar taste but are sugarless. Once sugar is removed, artificial sweeteners are often incorporated into the new drink for taste purposes. These added ingredients mimic the taste of sugar without the added calories.
There is controversy surrounding these sweeteners due to their potential side effects.
Studies have shown body weight, fat mass, and blood pressure may all be negatively affected by the consumption of sweeteners. Two of the most commonly added artificial sweeteners are aspartame and saccharin. Some research has indicated that with sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin, there’s a potential risk of adverse metabolic effects and type 2 diabetes. Monitor your intake of artificial sweeteners as they are often used in zero-calorie drinks.
Try to pick natural, non-processed drink choices that contain minimal artificial sweeteners to be safe.
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Everyday Drinks
Losing weight doesn’t have to mean sacrificing all beverage-based enjoyment. There are plenty of lower calorie, healthy options that can satisfy your taste buds and battle the bulge.
Green Tea
Green tea contains valuable antioxidants that supercharge weight loss benefits—extract from green tea is one of the most common ingredients added to fat burning supplements. Tea leaves contain many antioxidants such as catechins, which may help decrease body weight. In research on people drinking green tea along with caffeine, they lost an average of 0.2kg - 3.5kg compared to the control group.5
Matcha is a Japanese green tea with higher concentrations of catechins. It contains up to 137x the amount of catechins compared to standard green tea; this higher dose has the potential to further enhance fat oxidation.Caffeine, also in many green teas, may also help support weight loss. In one study, people who were able to maintain weight loss consumed more caffeine.
So, if you’re feeling "hangry," brew yourself a healthy green tea to help you stay on track.
Black Tea
Another type of tea, black tea, may help reduce body weight. Black tea contains polyphenols, which are micronutrients from plant-based foods. Mounting evidence suggests these antioxidants may help prevent obesity.
The polyphenols in black tea promote weight loss through calorie reduction, increased fat breakdown, and increasing friendly gut bacteria.9 Who would have thought the humble cup of tea could be a health drink?
Coffee
Coffee is synonymous with caffeine. Caffeine is the most widely-used nootropic in the world, with millions using coffee as a way to increase energy and potentially increase productivity. At one point people believed coffee was linked to heart disease and high blood pressure, but in fact recent studies have suggested coffee may actually help prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and liver disease.
Coffee may also have positive metabolic effects for both obese individuals and people of healthy weight.
Coffee can boost metabolism. A study found metabolic rate increased significantly three hours after drinking coffee. Furthermore, fat oxidation improved after consumption compared to a control group.
Not only does coffee help with weight loss, it also may help with weight maintenance. Studies have shown caffeine users are able to better maintain weight loss.
Coffee can also reduce energy intake as an appetite suppressant. One study suggests overweight adults who drank coffee were more likely to consume fewer calories. As a result energy expenditure is reduced.
Water
Water—the Earth is made up of it, your body is made up of it, you need it to survive. Puzzlingly, most people do not get the recommended daily amount. Drinking adequate amounts of water will improve overall health.
Besides the health benefits of proper hydration, water can also help with weight loss. Many people mistake thirst for hunger. There’s a chance you may be overeating if not properly hydrated.
A study performed on overweight adults found those drinking seventeen ounces of water before a meal lost 44% more weight compared to a control group. Having a glass of water before each meal can help control appetite resulting in fewer consumed calories.
Drinking water can also increase resting energy expenditure (REE). REE is the amount of calories consumed at rest over the course of a day. In a study performed on overweight children, REE was increased up to 25% for around 40 minutes after the drink. Consuming the daily recommended amount of water may result in weight loss due to increased expenditure. The results may be true in adults as well.
Some people think drinking regular old water is boring. If you need to spice it up a bit, try adding mint leaves or citrus to hot water or cold water to give it a flavor boost.
Out of the Box Options
Outside of those everyday drinks, there's a group of less common beverage options for potential weight loss.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar probably hides out in your condiments cupboard, but you maybe should bring it out more often. Emerging science suggests that it could be a great extra addition to your weight loss regime. It contains acetic acid, a compound linked to decreased belly fat and reduced accumulation of fat in the liver. In a study performed on rats, apple cider vinegar helped prevent obesity in those with type 2 diabetes. In another animal study, it also reduced body weight in obese mice.
The research on apple cider vinegar performed in humans is limited, but some research suggests it may improve metabolic health in humans. Consuming two tablespoons of ACV per day resulted in decreased body weight, waist circumference, and body fat compared to a control group.
Drinking apple cider vinegar on an empty stomach may help improve digestion; consuming it after meals may improve insulin sensitivity and help lower blood sugar levels.
The versatility of apple cider vinegar makes it a valuable tool for overall wellness.
Electrolyte Drinks
You may think athletes are the only ones who need to supplement with electrolytes, but everyone needs them to function properly. Drinking enough electrolytes is important to maintain proper fluid balance throughout the body. Sports drinks often have added electrolytes to counteract their loss in sweat as you workout. Unfortunately, many of these products contain high sugar contents, making them calorically dense. Every calorie counts on a diet. Luckily today, there are low-calorie electrolyte drink options available to provide proper electrolyte balance.
Staying properly hydrated is essential for overall health, and is important for weight loss.
While it seems counter intuitive, the body may retain extra water if not properly hydrated. This water weight can add extra pounds on the scale... (To be concluded on Friday)
This article is from HVMN, an organization that researches and presents articles discussing health, nutrition and diet, among other topics related to human optimization.
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