2000-calorie milkshake named the worst drink in America - Equivalent of eating 68 strips of bacon
Just one drink equals the daily total calorie intake for women and falls only just short of the 2,500 daily allowance for men. The Cold Stone PB&C is made with chocolate ice cream, milk and peanut butter. It contains 2,010 calories: 131 grams of fat - 68 grams of which is saturated - and 153 grams of sugar. It leads the Men's Health 20 Worst Drinks in America 2010 list, beating a McDonald's Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake to the number one spot. In terms of saturated fat, drinking this Cold Stone catastrophe is equal to consuming 68 strips of bacon. (telegraph.co.uk)
2-9 liters of cola per day leads to muscle weakness
The results of a study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice add another health risk from cola beverages to an ever growing list: hypokalemia. It's a condition resulting from dropping potassium levels. It produces a negative reaction in the muscles: symptoms range from mild muscle weakness to paralysis. The link between the condition and cola intake is so direct that just dropping the cola beverages and giving the patient either oral or IV potassium leads to full recovery. Dr. Moses Elisaf's team reviewed cases of muscle weakness that were directly related to drinking of 2-9 liters of cola per day. (foodconsumer.org)
Survey reveals: Many not aware of alcohol calories
40% did not know a glass of wine has the same calories (120) as a slice of cake. The survey of 2,000 persons in UK was carried out as part of the government's drive to control people's drinking habits. The campaign also stresses that a heavy drinking session is usually followed by an unhealthy breakfast. A regular beer drinker, who drinks 5 pints a week or 250 over the course of a year, packs away the same number of calories as someone eating 221 doughnuts. While the average wine drinker consumed 2,000 calories each month - Over the course of a year, that is the equivalent of eating 38 roast beef dinners. (bbc.co.uk)
Just 3 cups of brewed coffee a day triples risk of hallucinations
Drinking just 3 cups of brewed coffee a day can triple the chances of suffering from hallucinations, researchers have discovered. "High caffeine users", those who drink more than the equivalent of 7 cups of instant coffee a day, are at the increased risk. Even moderate amounts of the stimulant can lead people to hear voices and see things that are not there. Previous studies have indicated that too much caffeine can lead to heart palpitations, insomnia and even affect a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. The researchers think that caffeine could enhance the effect that stress has on the body, triggering the hallucinations. (telegraph.co.uk)
Coffee and its hidden calories - Up to 500 calories drinks
Coffee used to be so simple - made with a little sugar. Not any more. All summer I've see people drink those delicious frozen coffee drinks that look like desserts. And tasty they are, with all sorts of choices: Café latte with Soy Milk 170 calories -- Café Mocha with Soy Milk 320 calories -- White chocolate mocha with whole 420 calories -- Café Vanilla Blended coffee with whip 470 calories -- Coffee frappuccino, Mocha w. Whip, venti (24oz.) 525 calories. The best coffee drink, from the caloric point of view, is Cappuccino with skim - even at the grand level it's just 80 calories. (healthnewsdigest.com)
Skinny Water criticised for claiming it can help consumers lose weight
Marketing for Skinny Water, a flavoured mineral water, claims that it is a scientifically-proven "slimming aid". The drink contains L-Carnitine and Chromium, which its label says cut down sugar cravings and helps the body to burn fat. Skinny Water "has been enhanced with a unique combination of ingredients to help you lose weight... suppress appetite, block carbohydrates from converting into fat and increase fat burning," it says. However, after criticism the drink's producer Bio Synergy has admitted that these claims are not backed up by clinical studies, and that "skinny" just brands a healthier alternative. (telegraph.co.uk)
9 Great Reasons to Drink Water - and How to Form the Water Habit
We all know that water is good for us: (1) Weight loss. Water is one of the best tools for weight loss, first of all because it often replaces high-calorie drinks. It's also an appetite suppressant, and often when we think we're hungry, we're just thirsty. (5) Healthy skin. Drinking water can clear up skin. Just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good effects on your skin. (7) Cleansing: Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products. So, water is healthier, but you'd like to know more about how to make drinking water a daily habit... (dumblittleman)
Drinking fluids helps weight loss - overweight mistook thirst for hunger
People who want to lose weight should drink at least 2 litres of fluids a day. Many overweight people drank too little and often mistook thirst for hunger. Fluids spur metabolism and also improve skin tone. The body has to "learn" thirst. People not used to drinking a lot of fluids have less of an urge to drink. For people who find water boring, alternatives are herbal and fruit teas or mixtures of sparkling water and fruit juice. Consumption of coffee and black tea should be kept at moderate levels. Beer lovers need not fully strike the beverage from their evening diet, but beer is a poor thirst quencher and contains a lot of calories. (earthtimes)
Sugary soda drinkers consume more calories
People who drink sugary soft drinks do not appear to compensate by reducing calories somewhere else in their diets, so they tend to pack on extra pounds, researchers report. Their work is based on a meta-analysis of 88 soda studies. The bottom line: People who drink sugary sodas consume more calories than those who don't. A separate review of 30 studies also found that soft drinks and other sugary beverages contribute to weight gain. Some nutrition researchers say soft drinks add weight because they are high in calories and don't make people feel full and satisfied. (usatoday)
Liquid calories can sneak up on you
New findings are adding to the research suggesting that what and how much we drink may increase calorie intake and weight without noticing. The problem of increasing obesity in the US has escalated in the last 30 years. During this time, calorie consumption increased an average of 150 to 300 calories per day, with about half that increase coming from beverages. Average soft drink portion size increased more than 50% from about 13 ounces to almost 20 ounces. When people consume more calories from beverages, they don¡¯t compensate by eating or drinking less. (msnbc)
Water Diet: Drink one glass of water before, during and after a meal
Imagine losing 70 pounds in 7 months by drinking water before, after and during every meal. Those are the claims Blake Sylvia is making. His "Before, After and During" program has been featured on newscasts in 20 cities. Water can fill you up, but can drinking more of it help you lose weight without dieting? Sylvia came up with the "Before, During and After" mealtime strategy - drink one glass of water before, during and after a meal. Sylvia said drinking all that water made him feel full and eat less. "I could eat what I wanted, and I just would eat smaller amounts because the water would fill me up." (10news)
Diet dossier to sip it right -- Drinking right: both how and what
You are super-cautious about calories and think thrice before biting into a slice of pizza. But what about the pints of beer or the pegs of whisky that you can`t stop yourself from downing? The result of all those liquid calories might not be as obvious and immediate as food fat, but they can play havoc with your weight-loss plans. Drinking right is the secret. Here go some tips: Know your drink - The key to calorie check while drinking is educating oneself about the drink. Add a dash of lemon to your beer - It not only tones down the calories, but also slows down your drinking speed. (telegraphindia)
Can Diet Soda Make You Gain Weight
For many people there's only one reason to drink diet soda. "Because it's got no calories and, yeah, you try to watch your weight," says Raymond Tomczak. But, some experts are saying diet soda may be doing the opposite: making them gain weight. Sharon Fowler presented research data on soda consumption. "What we saw was that the more diet sodas a person drinks, the more weight they were likely to gain." But why would diet soda make some people gain weight? There are only theories at this point but it may be as simple as people eating more because they think they can. (cbsnews)
New Soft Drink Enviga Promises To Burn Calories
With the holidays upon us and diets going out the window, how about this? A soft drink that promises to burn calories. Just drink it, the manufacturer says, and your metabolism revs up. It's called "Enviga," the calorie burner; it says so right on the can. Made by Coca Cola and Nestle, it's a sparkling green tea drink. "There's a negative calorie effect," says Dr. Rhona Applebaum. An independent study found that drinking 3 cans a day can burn 60-100 calories. That's because each can contains green tea extract and caffeine. "Those ingredients together have been demonstrated to boost our metabolism." (cbs13.com)
Drink up your greens - Juicing fruit and vegetables
Juicing fruit and veg is all the rage for detox, weight loss and disease prevention. But how much good does it really do? According to Jason Vale, however, to get maximum nutrients, "Juice must be unpasteurised, made only with fresh and raw ingredients, no concentrates or added sweeteners." The only nutritional difference between eating a carrot, and drinking the juice of one, however, is the fibre content. This is why "Juice, fruit or vegetable, only counts as one portion a day [of the five recommended], regardless of how much is drunk. Juice has little fibre." (guardian)
Don't forget calorie content of cocktails
After a night of drinking cocktails, most people will not only wake up the next morning with a hangover, they'll wake up fatter too. That's because the average serving of one ounce of 80-proof alcohol contains 90 calories. And that's before mixers are added. While many people who spend hours on treadmills may avoid dessert from their diets, often they will happily consume a cocktail, or three, without giving it a second thought. For example a Pina Colada has more calories than a Big Mac. (msnbc)
Pouring Caution On Energy Drinks - filled with calories
Caffeine-charged energy drinks go down real easy, but they pack a wallop that may not be healthy, especially for young people, and especially when the drinks are mixed with alcohol. Nutritionist Samantha Heller said the word "energy" in the description of many of these drinks is a euphemism for "calories." Heller pointed out that eight ounces of a popular energy drink Red Bull contain about 80 grams of caffeine - about the same as a cup of coffee. (cbsnews)
Red Wine May Offset Effects of High Calorie Diet
Red wine and red grapes contain a chemical called resveratrol, that can offset some of the effects of gluttony, say researchers. Resveratrol does not seem to be able to get rid of the obesity, but it can lower glucose levels, help your liver and improve your heart. Studies had indicated that resveratrol slows down the aging process in some non-mammalian animals. (medicalnewstoday.com)
Drink more water, lose more weight - study
Dieters who replace sugary drinks with water lose an extra 5 pounds a year. And by drinking a couple of more cups of water a day increase weight loss by 2 pounds a year, a study suggests. Most popular diet programs advise drinking plenty of water to aid digestion and to help reduce intake of high-calorie drinks, but there haven't been many studies to back up the advice. When you are trying to lose weight, it's easy to change the beverages you drink, says nutrition professor Barry Popkin. "It doesn't matter if you drink bottled water or tap water: Just drink more water. It's a powerful way to cut weight." (usatoday)
Low-Cal Drinks Help Teens Trim Down - Lose a pound a month
It sounds too simple to be an effective weight-loss strategy. But it just may be. Let your teens who are battling their weight choose their favorite low-cal beverages, stock the refrigerator with those drinks, and watch the pounds slip away. That's the suggestion from a researchers who studied the strategy, found that it worked, and published their conclusions. "Simply decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption seems to be a promising strategy for preventing and treating obesity," said Cara Ebbeling. (healthscout)
Diet while you drink: Coke to launch calorie-burning tea
Coca-Cola has developed a green-tea drink that it claims will help to burn calories - rather than pile them on. Enviga launches in the US next month. The manufacturers claim that drinking three 12-ounce cans helps burn 60-100 calories. The drink contains caffeine, calcium and a green tea extract known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which speeds up metabolism and increases energy use, when combined with caffeine. "Enviga increases calorie burning. It represents the perfect combination of science and nature," said chief scientist Rhona Applebaum. (dailymail.co.uk)
Fish oil helps weight loss: study
Fatty acids found in fish, known to slow the impact of ageing, can also help in weight loss when consumed along with moderate exercise, a study has found. The study found that daily doses of fish oil containing Omega-3 fatty acids helped obese people burn off excess weight. "The Omega-3 found in fish oil increases fat-burning ability by improving the flow of blood to muscles during exercise." Those who took the fish oil doses and exercised lost an average of 2 kg over the three months. The groups which took sunflower oil, which does not contain Omega-3, and exercised, did not lose any weight. (theage)