This article was written by Rebecca Straus and provided by our partners at Rodale’s Organic Life.
Even the most diligent of water drinkers need a little excitement now and then. But before you toss that new sports drink or supposedly healthy soda into your grocery cart, make sure they aren't on the following list of beverages to avoid at all costs.
If your ground coffee is infused with “hazelnut vanilla” or “pumpkin spice flavor,” that’s a sign you might be drinking both artificial and natural flavors in your morning brew. But what are they really? According to the Environmental Working Group, people often prefer to see “natural flavors” on a label—it’s more reassuring than “artificial,” which sounds fake and nasty. However, there's very little difference between the two. The distinction is that natural flavors must originate in plants or animals, while artificial ones are synthesized in a lab, though often they will contain exactly the same chemical structures. Both are mixtures of chemicals—sometimes as many as 100—that contain solvents, emulsifiers, and preservatives in addition to the flavoring agents themselves. These ingredients aren’t disclosed on labels, but they often include additives like BHT and BHA, which have been associated with cancer. Avoid flavored brews and dress up your joe with ingredients from your spice cabinet, such as ground cinnamon or pure vanilla extract.
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It’s no secret that the high sugar content of regular soda isn’t exactly good for you, but don’t think you can get around the negative health side effects by switching to diet. Recent research that appeared in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society found that diet soda drinkers were more likely to gain nearly three times as much belly fat as regular soda drinkers over a 10-year period, even after accounting for things like age, exercise, and smoking habits. Extra tummy weight is associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and increased rates of mortality.
Still not convinced to give up diet sodas? According to Harvard Health Publications, the artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks (iced tea included) may actually change the way we taste food. Artificial sweeteners are far sweeter than table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, so once we become accustomed to that intense sweetness, less-sweet healthy foods like fruits and vegetables become even less appealing. That means people who regularly drink diet beverages may become more likely to choose high-sugar, highly processed food over whole foods on a regular basis.
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Concentrated Fruit Juice + Bottled Smoothies
Just because they say “100 percent juice” on the label doesn’t mean they’re totally healthy. The Guardian reports that there's growing concern among food scientists that smoothies and juices may be the new sodas, increasing how much sugar per day we're consuming. According to a British study, many consumers mistakenly believe that, because sugar comes from fruit, it’s A-OK. But that’s simply not true—concentrated juice is often used as a sweetener in soft drinks, and it has the same effects as any other type of sugar. When we eat whole fruits, on the other hand, we get the fiber content that helps us metabolize the sugars and makes us feel full. Even though that fiber content is preserved in smoothies, research shows drinking whole fruits doesn’t make us feel satiated the way eating them would, so we’re more likely to snack later on. Bottled smoothies may also contain extra fruit concentrate as a sweetener, even if it claims to have no sugar added.
Learn how to make your next smoothie much more filling:
According to Today’s Dietician, flavored water is often seen as a healthier alternative to soda—it’s got “water” in its name, so you don’t need to feel guilty about drinking it daily or giving it to your kids, right? Not so fast. Flavored waters are often loaded with sugar, artificial sweeteners like aspartame, synthetic flavorings, and even food coloring—none of which belong in anyone's diet. If you’re craving a little something extra with your ice water, add in some fresh fruit to give it a natural flavor boost.
Sweetened, Flavored Nut Milk
If you’re passing on dairy for health or ethical reasons, don’t sell your good intentions short by opting for dairy-free alternatives made from nuts (or legumes like soy or pea) that are loaded with sugar and flavorings. For example, sweetened, vanilla-flavored almond milk clocks in at about 13 grams of sugar per cup, while the regular unflavored kind has just over half that. To put that in perspective, the World Health Organization says your recommended sugar intake should only be 25 grams total each day. Go with unsweetened, unflavored almond milk, which has zero grams of sugar, or learn to make your own nut milk.
Bottled water might well deserve the title of environmental enemy number one. Don’t believe it? Here are some staggering statistics from Bloomberg: 17 million barrels of oil are used to produce plastic bottles in the U.S. alone—and that’s not even counting the transportation needed to ship all that oil and all those bottles. The United States go through a whopping 5.35 billion pounds of PET plastic (which water bottles are made from) a year, only a third of which gets recycled. Much of that waste ends up in oceans, where it harms wildlife and our ecosystem.
But what about claims that bottled is better for you? According to The Environmental Working Group, studies have shown that bottled water isn’t any cleaner or healthier than tap (unless the tap water where you live is actually contaminated, of course). And—get this—half of bottled water comes from municipal water supplies anyway. Why pay a premium to drink tap water out of a BPA-laced plastic bottle? Invest in a pitcher with a built-in filter or a filtration system for your faucet instead.