I recently spoke to a client, who is looking to lose over 50 pounds, about changes she could make in her diet to cut down on excessive calorie consumption. I asked her to tell me what she'd eaten and had to drink so far that day. She told me she was drinking juice at every meal, and my eyes bulged. "But isn't juice better than soda?" she said. It depends.
If you want to increase your Vitamin C intake, then yes, juice is better than soda. However, if you are someone with weight loss goals, juice is not any better than soda because, serving for serving, they contain nearly the same number of calories. In many cases, juice has more calories.
Below you'll find the calorie content of popular sodas and juices. Keep in mind that these values are for an 8 ounce serving, less than half of what most bottles contain. (Think 20 oz. sodas or juices that you grab at a gas station.)
Coca-Cola........................................97
Pepsi...............................................100
Sprite...............................................96
Ocean Spray Cranberry...............130
Tropicana Orange Juice...............110
Welch's Grape Juice.....................170
Nantucket Nectars Pomegranate
Cherry Juice..........................120
My advice is to stay away from all of these products, whether or not you are trying to lose weight, whether or not they are 100% juice. They are basically liquid sugar, dessert in disguise. Drink water. And if you are looking to increase your vitamin intake, I suggest eating fruit instead of drinking juice (or soda). An orange supplies the same nutrients as orange juice, but contains half the calories. Plus, the fiber in an orange will help to keep you feeling full longer.
2 comments:
Sometimes I find it so hard to know what to eat anymore - sugar in so much, HFCS is everywhere - and losing weight and/or maintaining current weight is just difficult. I was glad to read this post because it at least told me to keep sticking to water which is so important to me!!
Do you think most people have a hard time keeping track of foods and 'eating well?'
I think I eat well most of the time. I say that because I've tried to educate myself and avoid the things that are bad like fried foods and salty snacks. But I do have a sweet tooth. I try to control that by letting myself have some treats but being really vigilant and reading labels (when there are labels) looking for sugar content. I also look at fiber and protein which I think are really important.
As for the orange juice, it's an eye-opener what we sometimes consider nutritious. Take yogurt for example. For years I thought I was righteous for eating yogurt. At the same time I was consuming 20+ grams of sugar for every 6-oz container. But then I stumbled on Greek yogurt at Trader Joe's (or maybe it was a Lindsey tip) and now I can eat yogurt again and it's good even without the sugar. I am trying to make little tweaks like that to balance out the bad habits. I don't believe anyone can be 100% good. And live a happy life.
I sometimes wonder if our cravings are hardwired or a product of our environment in the formative years when our Moms were feeding us. There was so much junk in the house I grew up in. Balanced meals were a canned vegetable, meat, white potatoes, white bread. And processed foods like TV dinners and things in a box. Maybe the baby boomers who grew up in such households are responsible for the obesity epidemic today?
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