The theme for Nutrition Week 2017 is # Rethinkyourdrink – choose water! Sounds so simple, so easy. It is. Water is a crucial part of overall health and most people don’t get in enough on a daily basis. Instead, everyone is opting for ice teas, carbonated drinks, alcohol or warm delights like tea and coffee.
The concept for this years theme is to make you more aware of what you are actually drinking. So not to scare you off, but I have listed a couple of facts that might make you #Rethinkyourdrink now!
The number of teaspoons of sugar in 500ml of:
- Carbonated drinks – 15 teaspoons (58.8g)
- Energy drinks – 14 teaspoons (56g)
- Fruit juice – 13 teaspoons (53.8g)
- Sweetened flavoured milk drinks – 10 teaspoons (41.8g)
- Sweetened ice tea – 9 teaspoons (37.8g)
- Sports drinks – 7 teaspoons (27.1g)
- Flavoured water – 6 teaspoons (24g)
The high sugar content is something to fear. Studies have shown that adults who drink two or more sugary drinks a day increased the risk of developing diabetes by at least 24%.
5 Tips to increase water intake:
- Always keep a water bottle with you
- Drink a glass of water before you brush your teeth in the morning and evening
- Create habits, for example, drink a glass of water with every meal
- Flavour your water with mint, lemon, rosemary, strawberries or cucumber
- Set reminders on your phone to drink water every 2 hours throughout the day
Equip yourself with knowledge. Read food labels to identify the amount of sugar in your drinks. Look for various forms of added sugars like brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar and sucrose.
A good goal heading into the Summer months: #Rethinkyourdrink and remember that water is a scarce resource, be careful not to waste.