Are we drinking ourselves fat?

People focus on food when trying to lose weight but what about what you are drinking?

You really do need to be careful that you aren’t sucking loads of calories through a straw.

Some drinks actually dehydrate our body, so what are the best drinks to keep us hydrated?

1) Coffee and tea are diuretics due to the caffeine so these are not hydrating drinks. Don’t count them in your 8 glasses of water each day and remember if you are adding sugar to your coffee this can add huge amounts of calories as well.

2) Herbal teas are a good way to increase your fluid intake and detox your body.

3) Fruit Juice has a high sugar and low fibre intake. I also think that juice should be drunk in moderation and not instead of water. It is better to eat your fruit than juice it.

4) Vegetable juice is a good way to increase hydration and is low in calories. Just be careful as over consuming carrot juice can make your skin go a little orange due to the carotene.

5) Water is the optimum drink. If you have 8 glasses a day your body will thank you for this. If you aren’t a big fan then put a purifier on your tap to make the water taste better.

6) Alcohol does not hydrate your body at all. Just like caffeine drinks, alcoholic drinks dehydrate the body and add huge amounts of calories to your diet. Moderation is important for good health.

7) Soft drinks are full of sugar and gas. Avoid cola’s as they have caffeine. Diet soft drinks use artificial sweeteners. Don’t overdo them as they are so sweet they can keep your sweet tooth alive.

8) Milk is an important part of people’s diet. It is a good source of energy and protein and contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals. It is important to remember it is a food not a drink, so don’t count this in your 8 glasses of water each day.

9) Cordial is high in sugar. Diet cordials use artificial sweeteners so use in moderation. If it isn’t in the cupboard the kids can’t have it so it is better to not bring high sugar drinks home.

10) My last tip is to remember habits are formed early in life so if you teach children water is the best drink and the one they should have when thirsty, then it will not only help keep their teeth healthier but will decrease the amount of calories consumed.

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32 Comments

- - priyachirag said
  - 31 Jan 2015
    11:06 pm
Fruit juice, soda and alcohol definitely pile on the calories. Thanks for the tips.

- - fizgig said
  - 27 Jan 2015
    11:04 pm
I think I need to swap herbal tea with some of my coffees!

- - pakeko said
  - 23 Jan 2015
    7:51 pm
Was never a fan of herbal tea but after going to t2 I’m sold. You have some great tips

- - matildaspice said
  - 10 Jan 2015
    8:06 pm
Great information, little changes make a big difference.

- - mom57758 said
  - 31 Oct 2014
    8:11 pm
Great read in the winter i tend to drink so much juice may have to cut back a little

- - mom73211 said
  - 29 Sep 2014
    3:30 pm
I usually find myself drinking more and more water as the weather warms up, although I do splurge during the cooler months and enjoy a cuppa every day. Wine is an occasional accompaniment with a roast dinner, but generally definitely drinking more healthier.

- - mom56842 said
  - 24 Sep 2014
    10:42 pm
Yuck to water and milk, rarely drink alcohol or soft drink, love tea and coffee, no sugar and low fat milk, don’t mind the occasional Green Tea.

- - Mrsjharding said
  - 23 Sep 2014
    8:35 am
Interesting read ! Esp the Milk tip
I’ll be cutting back on juice from now on haha

- - Bec said
  - 16 Sep 2014
    1:28 pm
I think that the wine is the hardest thing to give up on a diet, it’s how I relax when I get home!

- - shortaez said
  - 01 Sep 2014
    9:08 pm
Good tips thank you for the info definitely trying

- - Kate Sander said
  - 01 Sep 2014
    10:29 am
I try to limit juice and i know it should only be in moderation and is not a replacement for water. The rest I knew already too but a great reminder for me reading it.

- - Happy_Dayz said
  - 31 Aug 2014
    11:47 pm
My daughter only has water and milk

- - BellaB said
  - 31 Aug 2014
    8:11 pm
This is such a tricky area to get the balance right, because it’s not good to just drink water either.

- - kazh said
  - 24 Aug 2014
    7:40 pm
Completely agree with everything you’ve said. Liquid is particularly dangerous because the body doesn’t recognise it the same way it does food and you tend not to get full despite the number of calories you’re taking in.

- - june11 said
  - 11 Aug 2014
    10:15 pm
Diet Cola is one of the worst diet drinks as it can cause serious illness including cancer on your kidneys, fortunately usually only one. Unfortunatley I personally know of one such instance of this, and a fired of hers suffered the same fate. Their surgeon calls it black death. The main culprit is the aspartane in it (artiflcial sweetener). There are other Diet Drinks that contain it but they contain a lot less. Soft drink is not good for reflux either. It has made me vomit a couple of times when I had no symptoms of reflux. One one occasion I had to go to hospital to get re-hydrated and have other medication as just drinking water didn’t help.

- - mouse said
  - 08 Aug 2014
    6:41 pm
thankfully I am only eating myself fat

- - crystalangela said
  - 06 Aug 2014
    11:33 am
I agree about the habits being formed young.
We always have water with every meal and it is what my kids got in their drink bottles every day.
They are both teens now and still drink mostly water. They hardly ever drink soft drinks or cordial and the eldest doesn’t drink much alcohol either even though she is now allowed to.

- - ginoula5 said
  - 06 Aug 2014
    8:12 am
great article. so many hidden calories in drinks you wouldn’t think about normally. I’m not really a sweet drinker, and generally stick to 6-8 glasses of water a day.

- - rachkap said
  - 06 Aug 2014
    3:01 am
I’ve started drinking more water lately.

- - no1ladydj said
  - 05 Aug 2014
    10:06 pm
I know that I feel much better in nearly every way if I drink more water and herbal teas. The occasional coffee, tea, soft drink or juice is o.k., and as I rarely ever drink alcohol, I guess I’m not doing too badly. Sometimes I treat myself to a glass of diet tonic water with fresh orange juice, and I enjoy that a lot more than wine or spirits.