The saying may be “you are what you eat,” but you can’t forget that you’re also what you drink. If you’re trying to maintain your health in middle age, the beverages you consume are just as important as the foods in your meals. While there are plenty of healthy drinks to incorporate into your regimen, you should also know which ones to avoid. Choosing sugar-packed options could take a toll on your metabolism and add inches to your waistline.
We spoke to health experts Nataly Komova, RD; registered dietitian and fitness expert, Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN; registered dietitian and nutritionist and Dana Ellis Hunnes; and nutritionists Dr. Daryl Gioffre and Heather Hanks to get the low-down on a few of the worst offenders, from soda to specialty coffees. Find their warnings below.
1. Soda
While replacing any of your favorite high-sugar or high-calorie beverages with water is the optimal solution for inflammation and the best way to go, that may be difficult to do at first. If you often sip on sodas, colas or other similarly fizzy and sugary drinks, Hunnes suggests opting for kombucha instead, as it is a probiotic-rich, anti-inflammatory option. "The probiotics and the antioxidants [in kombucha] are anti-inflammatory and can aid in promoting GI health by helping to colonize the GI tract with healthy bacteria," she explains. Komova adds that soda in particular is one of the most inflammatory drinks out there, as it "can also cause insulin resistance and raise cholesterol levels, slowing weight reduction." Overall, preventing inflammation will only help your overall health (and/or) weight loss goals, as Komova says, since “inflammation can impact weight loss negatively as it alters leptin responses in the body.”
Changing these hormones impairs the brain's function in signaling the body that you have eaten to your maximum. “Leptin resistance triggers weight gain as individuals tend to consume more calories unknowingly.” The antioxidants in kombucha can not only help prevent this and aid your digestion, but also help prevent inflammation, Hunnes notes, promoting the health of the probiotics as well. “It is also thought that kombucha can slow down the digestion of carbohydrates by, likely in-part, because of the healthy anti-inflammation effects it has on the GI tract,” Hunnes says.
2. Sugary Sweet Tea
Super-sweet tea is a delicious treat once in a while, but should ultimately be avoided if you're prone to inflammation, Chatfield stresses. Drinking this often leads to excess sugar consumption that can cause weight gain, she says. Sugar-sweetened beverages like sweet teas are a big culprit because “we may not think of them as being high in calories, and our bodies also don’t recognize the calories in the same way as they do those from food,” Chatfield notes. This can lead to more calorie intake later on. This, she continues, may lead to changes in fat metabolism. “There is a heightened risk of fatty liver disease, where fat builds up in the liver. Too much insulin from high sugar intake can also be detrimental to artery and heart health,” she says, noting that the drawbacks of sweet tea concern more than just inflammation.
3. Sugary Fruit Juice
Another major culprit of inflammation is sugary fruit juice, such as store-bought orange juice and apple juice. While fruit certainly makes a healthy breakfast or snack, experts warn that most of the fruit juices you'll find at the grocery store are highly processed, packed with sugar, and stripped of nutrients. "When you drink just fruit juice, the fiber is stripped away and you can consume in one small glass of orange juice the amount of sugar and fructose found in five oranges, minus all of the innate goodness in that orange," Dr. Gioffre says, noting that it's basically "glorified sugar water."
And, as we all know, all of that sugar can lead to inflammation and a range of other health issues. "Sugar induces inflammation in the body and spikes insulin levels, which is essentially a fat-storing hormone. When we reduce sugar intake, we reduce insulin levels and essentially stop the body from storing fat," Hanks explains, adding that sugar from juice also enters your bloodstream quicker than sugar from food does. If you really can't kick your juice habit, it may be worth investing in a juicer so that you can make it at home—that way, you can leave the added sugar out, and you'll know exactly what's going into your body.
To promote your ideal health and prevent inflammation, she recommends instead sipping on unsweetened iced tea, as this does have health benefits from its flavonoid content. Ultimately, the high sugar content of sugary sweet teas (popular teas varied from about 28-44 grams of sugar per 12 oz. serving) can quickly put you over the maximum recommended sugar intake of 24 grams per day for most women and 36 grams per day for most men. Chatfield concludes that “unsweetened iced tea is a better choice” for this reason and to prioritize and care for your digestive health.
4. Sweetened Coffee Drinks
If you don't love the bitter taste of black coffee (although it is the healthiest option), you may enjoy a specialty drink from Starbucks from time to time. Among fan favorites is the infamous Frappuccino. Unfortunately, Komova warns that this, alongside other frozen coffee drinks, is one highly inflammatory beverage you should think twice about ordering if you want to avoid weight gain.
"Taking a cup of frozen coffee with creams and milks, especially from coffee shops, can significantly slow down metabolism and trigger weight gain," she says. In fact, these beverages can pack in as many as 1,200—say it ain't so!
If you really want some sweetness in your morning coffee, you're better off choosing natural sweeteners like monk fruit or stevia instead of choosing this calorie bomb.
