Natalie Butler: What is the worst possible thing that you can drink? Well, I've done a video about the top 10 worst foods. So today we are doing a video on the top 10 worst drinks. So I want you to pause the video real quick and leave a comment, just to see if you are right and make a few guesses. Think out of the box a little bit and put down what you think and then after the video you can see if you are right.
So we are going to start at the least worst and then go up to the worst of the worst beverages. Now a lot of people may not like this video because we are going to talk about some things that people probably drink on a daily basis. But we are going to forge ahead, so here are the top 10 worst beverages.
Number 10; now this may surprise you, non-organic milk. I know you are thinking to yourself, I've heard it for years that it's so good for me in the all the calcium and vitamin D. Well, that's true but I need to point out some things about non-organic milk. Number 1, the cows are fed genetically modified food, diary cows that are non-organic. So there is not a whole lot of studies that are showing the long-term side effects from genetically modified, you just need to aware of that.
Number 2, dairy cows are really pumped full of antibiotics. When they have antibiotics, it's transferred to the milk, which can raise your risk for antibiotic resistance, which is going to have a significant impact on you if you have to take antibiotics for infection that can lead to a serious problem. Number 3, dairy cows are also treated with hormones. Those hormones can do the same thing as the antibiotics. They are transferred to the milk, which is then transferred to you when you drink it. So that's going to have impacts on your metabolism and just your metabolic processes in general.
Now organic milk is different. It's higher in omega-3 fatty acids and actually 68% higher. Omega-3 fatty acids are so good for reducing your risk for heart diseases and especially inflammation. And then organic milk is also higher in vitamin E, vitamin A and antioxidants. Then in general, cow's milk can actually be an allergen and it can promote digestive discomfort and symptoms. The alternative is goat dairy, and that's really the best choice or you can choose soy milk or rice milk or something like that but definitely try goat's milk first.
Number 9, fruit juices from concentrate. So this is going to be what you typically see in a grocery store, apple juice, your orange juice, grape juice, so those juices. A lot of kids drink these because parents think that they are healthy options for their kids but the problem is they are loaded with added sugar. So they have refined sugar, they have high fructose corn syrup, which we talked about in previous videos. So you are really getting minimal vitamins and a ton of sugar, and not only that, there is no fiber in the juice. So although it may taste great and it may provide you minimal vitamins, a little bit of vitamins, it's not providing you any feeling of fullness, so you are going to still tend to eat more and get more calories throughout the day.
Number 8; coffee. Now a lot of you aren't going to like this because most people drink coffee. But I wanted to focus on specialty coffee drinks that are loaded with sugar, caffeine and calories. So these are going to be your drinks like your frappachinos and your flavored coffees and things like that.
So number 1, they are high in calories. So really when people drink these throughout the day, they are becoming your meals worth of calories so you are drinking something that you may not even factor in which is going to promote your weight gain.
Number 2, there are loaded with sugars. They are going to give you a high energy combined with the caffeine but then you are going to dip down a few hours and need something else to give you more energy. Caffeine is a -- obviously a stimulant but it's also a substance that promotes dehydration. So it's giving your energy short-term but it's not really real energy and then it's dehydrating you on the other side of it. So those combinations are going to be what is working against you.
Number 7 are sports drinks. Now there are seven and half teaspoons of sugar in 16 ounces of a sports drink. So these are going to be your Powerades, your Gatorades, your All Sports. Now these don't have the benefit that the fruit flavored drinks have. They don't typically have the synthetic vitamins and they don't have any benefit of the fruit and the fruit flavored drink, so they are going to marginally better than that. The problem with these sports drinks is that typically they are used for rehydration, for people who have been sweating, exercising and playing any sports. And yes, they provide you electrolytes, but they are so high in sugar that they actually - they replenishing the electrolytes, it's contradicted because the sugar is actually promoting dehydration.
So you are using a sports drink to rehydrate you and to replenish your electrolytes, but you are actually doing your body a disservice because your body really needs water to replenish it. If you are working out less than an hour or you are sweating less than an hour, unless you are sweating profusely, you actually don't really need to replenish your electrolytes immediately, you can get your electrolytes in foods that you are eating, which is going to provide more benefit anyway.
So those are going to be like your - bananas are going to provide good electrolytes, cherry tomatoes, melons, so those are some good foods, even after a sporting event or during when you are exercising, if you just need a little bit of electrolyte replacement or a little bit of sugar, natural simple sugar that will provide you quick energy, those are good choices.
So a lot of people will reach for the sports drink, thinking that they need to replenish their electrolytes. And why they are choosing that, because it has sugar and it's giving them energy, so choose a fruit instead.
Fruit flavored drinks, these are going to be your Fruitopias and your Snapples etcetera. An eleven and a half ounce container has ten teaspoons of sugar. It's not going to be just regular sugar, it's going to be refined, processed, and then a lot of times, they have a high fructose corn syrup in them. Not only that, studies have actually have proved that kids who drink fruit flavored drinks are twice as likely to gain weight as kids who don't drink these types of drinks. These drinks are really marginally better than soda because they have minimal vitamins, minimal minerals, minimal antioxidants, all those nutrients are so low and it's typically only about 10% juice.
Number 5, hard liquor. Now this is kind of a no brainer. Your vodka, Everclear, whiskey, these types of things obviously have high alcohol content. They promote dehydration and they also deplete your B vitamins. So if someone is drinking these types of drink, especially if they are drinking them excessively, they are basically sucking all the water out of their cells, they are getting dehydrated, and then they are depleting their B vitamins, so they are having low energy. The problem with drinking excessively is that, you have such a low B vitamin storage in your body that your body has a hard time producing energy after you drink alcohol. Just because I didn't mention beer, that doesn't let you off the hook because beer does the same thing, but not as intense as hard liquors. So if you are drinking alcohol, just in general if you are drinking any alcohol excessively, that's not a good thing.
So what could be worse than hard liquor? Well, number 4 is your Margaritas, your Long Island Iced Teas and your Peanut Coladas, so these are your high calorie, high sugar alcoholic drinks. One Margarita can have up to 740 calories and 14 teaspoons of sugar in one drink. Not only that, you know, obviously they are alcoholic beverages, they are going to promote dehydration, and the depletion of B vitamins, which we just talked about. The problem with consuming these drinks is, you know, okay, may be you're not doing it on every occasion that every once in a while, that's okay, but if you're don't counting into your calories for the day, it's going to promote weight gain because a lot of people don't factor in the alcoholic drink they are drinking, it's 500, 600, 700 calories. That's a whole meals worth of calories.
So you really got to realize that even though these drinks may taste great and it's fun to get them when you are out socializing with friends, you have to pay attention because these can definitely contribute to weight gain.
Number 3 is diet drinks. Now I know what you're thinking, it says do you have issues in fat label but these are full of artificial sweeteners. A lot of these sweeteners don't have long-term studies to determine the effects but we do know for sure that artificial sweeteners promote your body's craving for real sugar. So you actually will be tempted to go seek out sugary foods. Then also diet drinks have been proven in a study called a Framingham Heart Study that people who drink at least one diet drink a day have a 44% higher chance of having metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is classified as increased waist circumference, you are gaining weight in your middle section, high blood pressure, high tri-glycerides, high fasting blood glucose and low HDL. So if any of those symptoms match up to what you are experiencing right now, you can simply be stopping drinking your diet drinks, and that could treat it right then.
Number 2, energy drinks. This is a $1 billion industry. There is over a 1000 different energy drink brands, I mean they are really everywhere. Teens are drinking them, kids are drinking them, adults are drinking them, everyone is drinking them for energy. The problem with these energy drinks is they are loaded with caffeine. One energy drink has twice as much caffeine as a coke has, so that's telling you something right there. They are loaded with sugar as well. A lot of times they do have a high fructose corn syrup. They also promote dehydration because they are so loaded with caffeine. Energy drinks also are used for rehydrating, you know, people if they are thirsty, a lot of times they will stop and get an energy drink.
So they are giving an energy drink to rehydrate themselves and that's promoting dehydration. So it's working against you. There is actually warnings in other countries on the energy drink cans because there is been dust related to be for drinking energy drinks, especially before exercise and children that have been drinking energy drink. So you need to know that if you are thirsty, do not reach for an energy drink, this is not going to help you, it's going to hurt you. Especially if you are exercising, don't use energy drinks to replenish your liquids either because that is going to hurt you as well.
Number 1, you've probably guess it, soft drinks. So soft drinks have high fructose corn syrup in them, have a ton of sugar. 12 ounces can of soda nine and a half teaspoons of sugar. It doesn't provide you the same fullness if you got those calories from food, so you tend to eat more. As well as the high fructose corn syrup turns off your feeling of fullness or delays it. So you do tend to eat more as well. The average person drinks two times more soda than milk. Now in the 1950s, we were drinking two times more milk than soda.
So just think about that for a second. Then also of course soft drinks promote dehydration because they are loaded with sugar, they are loaded with sodium, so our body has to pull water form ourselves in order to flesh all that out. This is the crazy thing about soft drinks is that, this is the only food that has been directly linked to causing obesity. So 25% of the calories that we consumer and beverages are from soft drinks. So if you want an easy tip to loose weight, just stop drinking soft drinks, they you will start loosing, I promise.
Now I've got to say something about moderation because a lot of these beverages can be consumed in moderation and without causing problems, without having a significant impact in your health, so every once in a while, okay, fine. If you drinking these types of things everyday, you really need to take into consideration changing your beverage consumption because that will have a significant impact on your health. Now if you are thirsty and you are reaching for some of these drinks, you are actually telling your body, you know what's better for it than it does.
So your body needs water when you are thirsty, it doesn't sugar or it doesn't need caffeine, it doesn't calories, it just wants water, the easiest thing do drink, it's doesn't cost too many, and it's going to be the best choice for you. So not you are getting extra calories and all the others with a lot of these drinks, you are not giving your body what it needs.
So hopefully this video has inspired you to change your beverage conception because it will have an impact on your health. Take care yourself.
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