Many dieters don't think twice about the calories they get from beverages when they start a weight loss plan. But calories add up, no matter where they come from, be it food, iced tea, juice, milk or sugary soft drinks. Iced tea gets a pass from Harvard School of Public Health, as long as it's not sweetened. But be careful with the juice --- although fruit and vegetable juices give you essential nutrients, they're high in "liquid calories."
Tea
Harvard School of Public Health suggests dedicating no more than 10 percent of your daily calories to the calories you get from drinks. Around one-third of these can be devoted to tea --- as well as coffee. A 12 oz. serving of unsweetened, brewed tea has only 4 calories. Add a single packet of granulated sugar, and you've tacked 45 calories onto your iced tea. Add two, and you've increased it to 90, and at three packets, your iced tea has 135 calories --- almost as many sugar calories a regular cola, which has around 136. Canned and bottled sweetened teas can be prohibitively high in sugar calories. One beverage manufacturer sells a 24 oz. can of "extra-sweet" green tea that has 270 calories.
Juice
Fruit and vegetable juices are rich in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, says MayoClinic.com blogger and nutritionist Jennifer Nelson. A variety of unfounded health claims are associated with "juicing," and one of them attaches drinking juice to weight loss. However, Nelson points out that you lose dietary fiber when you choose juice over the whole fruit or vegetable. And some juices are just as high in calories as your average soft drink, if not higher. Harvard School of Public Health notes that cranberry juice cocktail has 200 calories in a 12 oz. serving --- more than your average cola or orange-flavored soda. A small 4 oz. glass of fruit or vegetable juice is enough for one day, says Harvard. A 4 oz. serving of fresh orange juice has around 56 calories. The same serving of tomato juice with no salt added has 26 calories.
Study
The results of at least one study published in the April 2009 issue of "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" shows that cutting liquid calories from your diet helps you lose weight. More than 800 adults participated in an 18-month study that measured weight loss results as beverage calories were decreased. Researchers considered a comprehensive range of caloric beverages, including soft drinks, milk, juice, coffee, tea, alcohol and diet drinks. They found that simply trimming 100 beverage calories daily resulted in 0.5 lb. of weight loss at six and 18 months, even more than cutting 100 calories from food, which resulted in 0.1 lb. weight loss when measured at the same intervals.
Beverage Choices
If you're on a diet, the best beverage is water. However, unsweetened iced tea is also a safe choice. There are ways to make your low-calorie drinks more exciting. Infuse plain water with cucumbers, citrus, apple slices and herbs and serve it over ice. Or, put a dash of your favorite fruit juice in a glass of chilled sparking water --- just enough to lend the drink a slightly sweet taste. Keep a pitcher of unsweetened, iced herbal of fruit-flavored tea in your fridge. If you don't like the side effects of caffeine, choose a decaffeinated brand. Harvard School of Public Health advises getting at least half of your daily fluid intake from plain water.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: Six Ideas for Low-Sugar Drinks
- Harvard School of Public Health: How Sweet is It?
- Harvard School of Public Health: Healthy Beverage Guidelines
- MayoClinic.com; Cutting Liquid Calories More Effective for Weight Loss; Katherine Zeratsky, et al.; April 2009
- "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Reduction in Consumption of Sugar-sweetened Beverages is Associated with Weight Loss: The PREMIER Trial; L. Chen, et. al; April 2009
- Cleveland Clinic; Eating Too Much Sugar? It's Time to Tame Your Sweet Tooth; Melissa Ohlson; December 2009
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