When you think about your meal plan for the day, you’re probably thinking about breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and maybe dessert. But you’re probably not thinking too much about the beverages you’re consuming and how they contribute to (or take away from) your health goals.
“Unfortunately, in this country, so much of the added sugar we’re consuming is coming from sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Heather Nace, a registered dietitian and the director of operations at Tulane University’s Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine in New Orleans.
Nace said that too much added sugar is detrimental to our health for a number of reasons: There’s a connection between added sugar and diabetes, a link between added sugar and cardiovascular disease and it can be tied to cognitive problems.
“We know it’s not good for us, [but] it can also be tricky to avoid,” Nace said.
But experts don’t say you should completely cut sugar-sweetened beverages from your diet. You can still have a soda here and there.
“I think there’s a time and place for everything to fit into a healthy diet,” Nace said, “but if you’re somebody who’s drinking soda as your main beverage throughout the day, it’s something to be mindful of.”
Why? There are a few reasons. Below, experts share the beverages they tend to avoid and the reasoning behind their choices.
Diet Soda
“For me, personally, I don’t like diet beverages and diet sodas,” said Carlie Saint-Laurent Beaucejour, a registered dietitian and owner of Crave With Carlie, a virtual nutrition practice.
Depending on the artificial sweetener in these drinks, she said she doesn’t enjoy the aftertaste.
And it’s “also the side effects … just because it can cause bloating and other digestive issues that may not be good — I do see that a lot in people that I work with,” she said.
Artificial sweeteners can affect your digestion, research shows. Additionally, artificial sweeteners affect your sweet tolerance and make…
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