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Just so y’all know… when I said this before, I got all kinds of angry responses on facebook. Someone has now said it better than I ever could, and in pretty little picture form, too:
So… thanks to the lovely folks at Health Science for this infographic.
Looking for more info on sugar?
For clarification, at least many fruit juices – that are not from concentrate and actually come from fruit – can provide nutrients. Soft drinks cannot. It doesn’t change the fact that eating the fruit is a much better option than simply drinking its juices, though. Annnnnd…. cutting juices entirely is a key component of curbing any sugar addiction.
Thoughts?
7 comments
Great infographic! I’ve always understood juice beverages, to be sugary false representations of actual juice, but i really didn’t understand how much it had in common with soda. If I was watching my weight and found myself in a situation where I absolutely needed to consume something to “tide me over until my next meal,” and if my choices where minutemaid cranberry juice cocktail, coke, or a fried chicken leg, I would have mistakenly chosen the “juice” if my next meal wasn’t too far off. I mean, wow. Eat the chicken leg, at least there’s some protein there.
*sigh* I really thought I could trust Ocean Spray, and that I was really doin somethin’ by watering it down. Back to just water. :/
Hi, Erika. Love this post. I’ve recently began my journey to becoming healthy and losing weight. My biggest problem is letting go of all the sugary juices and soda, but so far I haven’t had a soda in two weeks so baby steps I suppose. However, I am drinking more water but to get my juice fix, I drink the NAKED brand juices, which lists all the fruits and vitamins in and it says its 100% juice. I think its a good brand if you really want some juice. I was really wondering about Gatorade and vitamin water after you work out though ( I don’t know if you have a post on that already) Are they okay to drink? Or are they liars as well?
Pretty much. I started a post about making your own “energy drink” using wholesome ingredients and sensible stuff, but got sidetracked because I wound up digging deeper into the rabbit hole than I intended, LOL.
I mean, for crying out loud – Gatorade used to have HFCS in it until they got enough backlash to pull it out. Vitamin Water is… it’s glorified kool-aid. Anyone can take a dose of sugar after or during a workout and feel a “burst of energy.” That’s what sugar does. But if you genuinely desire replenishment of a more natural sort, then… you might simply be better off eating an actual meal. (and who turns down the opportunity to eat, dude? LOL)
I’m trying to not put my foot in my mouth here, because while I have a personal disdain for “sports/energy drinks,” they do serve a genuine purpose. You just have to find one that is suited to your personal needs. (and if one of your “needs” is that it be more natural, then…)
Honestly, what you said about orange juice a couple of months ago kept me away from fruit juices anyway…lol.
I stopped drinking pretty much everything except for tea and water in high school. Back then, I was running cross country and track, and our coaches told us that if they ever caught us drinking a sugar drink, especially anything that even remotely resembled soda or energy drinks, they would kill us. Plain and simple. This was before people really started marketing energy drinks as “a way to have enough energy for your workout in the morning!” or as “a way to stay alert at work/school!” My coaches knew what was up, lol, and they told us that the stuff would really have a negative impact on our overall performances.
I think it’s really sad, though, that all of these sugary “fruit drinks” are being marketed to kids. Those extra useless calories really add up, you know? Like, drinking an extra 150 calories of Minute Maid cranberry every day will add up to a gain of about 15 pounds in a year! Why would we want to subject children to that? And thinking of it this way, imagine how much healthier and happier children would be if they were only drinking water (and fresh squeezed juices if necessary…or, better yet, a freshly blended smoothie)? We’re loading them up with sugar and then freaking out when they can’t concentrate in school. It makes no sense.
Great information! I do not like to drink any of my calories unless it is milk. I however, am terrible with diet pepsi! I tried to pin this but your pin it feature is not working fyi 🙂
My kids are about to be real disappointed because I’m not buy any more fruit juice. I’ve been drinking water almost exclusively but hadn’t forced my kids to make that change. But I knew the time was going to come and this infographic just hit home. Tea (that I make where I can control the amount of sugar–if I use sugar at all) and water will be the only beverages in this house.
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