Health and Beauty tips

When it comes to weight loss, there is a huge variety of diets, from low-carb diets to blood type ones. But regardless of the type of diet chosen, to lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than your body uses. Most people try to reduce their calorie intake by focusing on food, forgetting to pay attention to what they drink.

Healthy weight is defined as a loss of 1-2 pounds per week. Most people need to cut about 500 calories a day to lose one pound per week. This can be achieved by reducing the number of calories taken in through both food and drink.

Calories in drinks are not hidden (they’re listed right on the Nutrition Facts label), but many people don’t realize just how many calories they take in with beverages. Fortunately, there is good news: there are plenty of options for reducing the number of calories in what you drink, and one of them is substituting no- or low-calorie drinks for sugar-sweetened beverages.

Sweeteners that add calories to a beverage go by many different names and very often are not obvious to consumers. If the following ingredients are listed on the Nutrition Facts label of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage: high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, syrup, corn syrup, dextrose.

Now when you are aware about the difference a drink can make, here are some ways to make smart beverage choices:

• Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened drinks.
• For a quick and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle, which can be refilled throughout the day.
• Instead of stocking the fridge with sugar-sweetened beverages keep there a jug or bottles of cold water.
• Serve water with meals.
• Water can be made more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon.
• Add a splash of 100% juice to plain water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.
• If you do opt for a sugar-sweetened beverage, choose small size.
• Be a role model for your family by choosing healthy, low-calorie beverages.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 27th, 2008 at 5:26 am and is filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.