Rethink your drink
Reducing added sugars helps you…
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Prevent chronic disease
- Make sure you fill up on foods with protective nutrients
Drinks with the most of the added sugars in American diets are:
- Regular soft drinks
- Fruit drinks, such as fruitades and fruit punch
- Milk-based desserts and products, such as ice cream, sweetened yogurt and sweetened milk
Reading the ingredient label on processed foods can help to identify added sugars. Names for added sugars on food labels include:
- brown sugar
- corn sweetener
- corn syrup
- dextrose
- fructose
- fruit juice concentrates
- glucose
- high-fructose corn syrup
- honey
- invert sugar
- lactose
- maltose
- malt syrup
- molasses
- raw sugar
- sucrose
- sugar
- syrup
Source: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/discretionary_calories_sugars.html
Tips to make better beverage choices:
- Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages
- Carry a bottle of water with you to keep you hydrated all day
- Fill your fridge with bottles of water rather than sodas
- Drink water with your meals
- Add a splash of 100% juice to sparkling water to make your own flavored water
- Can’t resist that soda? Try getting the smaller size to limit your sugar intake
Adapted from Center for Disease Control’s “Rethink your drink” brochure.