Healthy Eating Tips

8 Pet Peeves of Top Dietitians

These nutrition gurus dole out advice left and right, and they have some serious beefs when it comes to the current concepts of food
By Carrie Stevens fitbie
 

Dietitian Pet Peeve #2: Thinking Vitamin Drinks and Sports Drinks Are Healthy

Soda takes a lot of heat from nutritionists as a major culprit in weight gain—one 12-ounce can of regular pop contains 8 teaspoons of sugar and 130 calories—but there’s also a war against other liquid calorie culprits. Gatorade and Vitamin Water might sound healthy, but a 20-ounce bottle of either thirst quencher still exceeds your daily sugar allowance.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends women shouldn’t consume more than 6.5 teaspoons of added sugar daily; men should consume a maximum of 9 teaspoons. Sports beverages like Vitamin Water pack 13 g of sugar per 8-ounce serving, or 33 g and 125 calories in a 20-ounce bottle. (One teaspoon equals 4 g, which means 33 g is 8.25 teaspoons of sugar.) Even worse, marketing campaigns convince consumers these sugar-laden beverages are healthy drinks.

Various studies suggest ingesting the extra sugar from sweetened beverages increases your risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. “You probably unsuspectingly consume 22 to 30 teaspoons of sugar daily, which adds up to 350 to 475 empty calories every day,” says Greaves.

Right the wrong

You don’t have to avoid sports drinks entirely—just look for the sugar-free and reduced-sugar versions, such as Gatorade’s G2 and Vitamin Water’s zero-sugar lines. At home, make your own flavored water, adding in sliced cucumber, orange, berries, lemon, or lime. (Search: How to make water taste better) Greaves says you should choose unsweetened beverages, like iced tea. Gatorade and Vitamin Water might appear to be healthy options, but these make-‘em-yourself versions eliminate excess sugar.

Looking for more liquid substitutes? Check out: Drink This, Not That!

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