Unhealthy Drinks: 7 Sugary Drinks to Avoid That Are Bad for Your Health

Drinking unhealthy drinks, and sugar-filled, high-calorie drinks are bad for your health.

Diet soda won’t help you lose weight, drinking alcohol can hurt your liver, and sports drink has many unnecessary sugars that will make you more thirsty–that’s the last thing you want!

“Drinking just one sugary drink a day increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25%.”

– Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Mixed drinks and soft drinks are too much sugar; the juice is just as bad as soda, and hot chocolate has tons of fat. Save money on these beverages and invest in something healthy like water or green tea.

I can’t tell you what to do, but just know that you’re better off sticking to water and maybe some protein-based drinks with your meal (like a glass of almond milk being guzzled after lunch or before dinner). If you like something sweet to drink, then have a bit, but if it’s not helping with that extra spoon of sugar coming from the dessert, skip it.

In this article, we’ll be discussing drinks that are bad for your health and why you should be concerned about having a sugary beverage.

Health Risks of Unhealthy Drinks

Given the ubiquity of unhealthy drinks in contemporary diets, comprehending the implications of their consumption is paramount. The following subtopics delve into the risks and offer guidelines to cultivate mindful consumption habits, emphasizing the necessity of prioritizing health in our beverage choices.

Analyzing Nutritional Shortcomings in Unhealthy Drinks

Unhealthy drinks pose as deceptive nutrition voids, offering essentially flavored sugar water that lacks fiber and vital nutrients found in real fruits. Recognizing this nutritional dilemma in unhealthy drinks is crucial, as their health concerns substantially overshadow any perceived benefits, prompting the need for the incorporation of genuinely healthy drinks and a comprehensive understanding of what we consume.

Fructose: The Hidden Culprit

Fructose, prevalent in unhealthy drinks, is a potent calorie source. When found in juices, it’s usually stripped of essential nutrients and fibers, stressing the importance of being conscious of the types of sugars and their quantities in our beverages. This awareness is crucial in making informed and healthful dietary choices due to the unique way the body metabolizes fructose, processing it through the liver.

The Stealthy Menace: High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup is omnipresent in unhealthy drinks, contributing to numerous health issues when consumed excessively. Awareness and avoidance of this sweetener, along with other added sugars, are crucial steps towards maintaining a balanced diet and mitigating the risks associated with unhealthy drinks.

The Excessive Sugars: Measuring in Teaspoons

Sodas, a category of unhealthy drinks, are teeming with sugar—a single 16-ounce can hold approximately 13 teaspoons of sugar, exceeding the advised daily intake. Opting for unsweetened alternatives and manually moderating sugar levels can lead to healthier consumption patterns, emphasizing control and moderation in beverage choices.

Encouraging Healthy Beverage Alternatives

Creating accessibility and promoting healthy beverage alternatives are paramount. Healthy options like salted fresh lime water are refreshing and nutritious, representing safe and balanced choices in a market dominated by unhealthy drinks, laden with sugars and additives.

Evaluating Health Risks: Type 2 Diabetes Connection

The regular consumption of unhealthy drinks is correlated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. Understanding and acknowledging these risks are fundamental in maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet, facilitating lifestyle choices that are beneficial to long-term health.

Sparkling Water: A Healthier Compromise

Choosing flavored sparkling water can be a more healthful alternative, combining taste and nutritional value effectively and reducing the reliance on unhealthy drinks filled with artificial sweeteners and high fructose contents.

Assessing the Real Health Benefits

Even beverages marketed as healthy can contain alarming levels of sugar, negating their purported health benefits. Scrutinizing product labels and opting for low-sugar and high-nutritional value options is essential to avoid the pitfalls of unhealthy drinks falsely marketed as beneficial.

Metabolic Syndrome and Unhealthy Drinks

The consumption of sucrose devoid of natural fiber, commonly found in fruit juices, is linked to metabolic syndrome, liver injury, and obesity. The conscious selection of beverages rich in natural fibers can mitigate these risks, emphasizing the importance of nutritional balance in beverage choices.

Addressing Sweet Beverage Preferences

A multi-tiered approach is needed to curb the preference for sweet beverages, necessitating concerted efforts from various stakeholders, including consumers, the beverage industry, schools, and government entities. The collective responsibility to foster healthier beverage options and environments where nutritious choices are prioritized is crucial in shifting societal norms away from unhealthy drinks.

Gout Risks and Unhealthy Beverages

Chronic consumption of unhealthy drinks, specifically sugary sodas, has been connected to a substantial increase in the risk of gout, emphasizing the need for education and awareness to reshape beverage consumption patterns and preferences.

The widespread consumption of unhealthy drinks, overflowing with sugars and devoid of essential nutrients, underscores the urgency to make informed and healthier beverage choices. By increasing awareness about nutritional deficits, understanding the repercussions of sugars like fructose and high fructose corn syrup, and promoting healthier alternatives, a path to a healthier and more balanced lifestyle can be paved. This awareness and mindfulness about beverage choices are vital steps in our journey toward optimal health and well-being.

Alcohol: A Caloric Conundrum

Alcoholic selections such as beer and wine are notorious for their high-calorie content, with just a small glass harboring between 140–200 calories. However, spirits like bourbon, scotch, and vodka are lower in calories compared to other alcoholic beverages when consumed moderately and without sugary mixers. Understanding the caloric values of alcoholic beverages aids in making responsible and healthier choices, and reducing the intake of unhealthy drinks.

Why Sugar Is a Cause of Concern

If you’re here, then there’s a chance that you’re looking to lose weight or get into shape and may have heard that sugary drinks have a lot of adverse effects on your body. It’s true, not only do they contain a large number of calories that most people can’t even burn in a day (because they are non-nutritive calories), but they also contribute to health issues.

People who drink sugar-sweetened beverages routinely are more prone to experience health problems such as weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, renal disorders, high blood sugar levels, non-alcoholic liver disease, cavities, and gout, among other things.

7 Unhealthy Drinks That Are Bad For Your Health

1. Soda

It should come as no surprise that soda, whether regular or diet, is one of the worst drinks you can consume for your health. Both have been connected to weight gain and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

“Soda is liquid Satan.”

– Mark Hyman, MD

Diet soda contains additives like artificial sweeteners. Yes, it has fewer calories than ordinary Coke, but recent research has connected artificial sweetener intake to health risks like stroke and dementia.

Regular soda contains a high calorie, sugar, and corn syrup content. Additionally, soda has a long history of being linked to diabetes, heart disease, brittle bones, obesity, kidney problems, and other weight-related problems.

If you cannot completely give up your soda habit, make every effort to reduce your intake, seek out healthier alternatives, like natural fruit juice, and finally eliminate soda from your diet.

2. Packed Fruit Juice

Everyone naturally assumes that a fruit beverage must be a healthy beverage since it contains fruit. After all, fruit is beneficial to one’s health!

In most cases, however, fruit juice contains significant levels of sugar and corn syrup, transforming something derived from a very healthful source into one of the most unhealthy beverages you can ingest.

“Sugary drinks are linked to obesity, heart disease, and other chronic health problems.”

– American Heart Association

Apple juice is especially a cause for concern. It could have something called patulin in it if it’s made from bad or rotten fruit. Patulin is a mycotoxin that comes from molds. Exposure to it can cause problems with your brain, stomach, and immune system, among other things. The FDA recommends reducing patulin exposure in infants 1-2 years old, and pregnant women should also avoid it.

3. Powdered Fruit Drink Mixes

Sugar substitutes like acesulfame and sucralose are commonly found in powdered drink mixes. Acesulfame is linked to cancer. According to new research published, sucralose may lower beneficial gut flora, limit medicine absorption, produce potentially hazardous substances in the body, affect your body’s sensitivity to insulin, and even modify your genes.

Drink mixtures also frequently contain carcinogens such as yellow 6 and red 40, commonly found in food dyes.

4. Flavored Nutritional Water

Many of these so-called “water” products are sweetened beverages and take no nutritional value whatsoever. They contain artificial sweeteners, carcinogenic dyes, and preservatives such as benzoic acid. These are not even in a form that your body can metabolize.

These beverages will even make you more thirsty for sugary drinks. If you know what’s best for your health, ditch the sugar-filled drink from your diet altogether and choose natural water instead.

5. Rice Milk

Cow’s milk frequently has a poor rap, whether it’s because of its high saturated fat level, the hormones excessively provided to milking cows, or the conditions in which those cows make their milk. And while these are all legitimate concerns, many milk substitutes have their own drawbacks.

Rice milk, in particular, is just starchy water. If unfortified, it contains almost little to no protein or micronutrients. Just like soda, rice milk only provides empty calories.

6. Energy Drink

While they often have a low-calorie count, each 8-ounce serving contains more than 25 grams of sugar—and no, they are not healthy or good for you just because they are fortified with B vitamins.

According to research by the journal JAMA, consuming just one Rockstar energy drink increased blood pressure and norepinephrine (a stress hormone) levels in healthy adults. That may be detrimental to your heart. If you need a caffeine boost, is better to opt for a cup of coffee instead.

7. Tonic Water

While tonic water may sound innocent, it is like any carbonated beverage, soft drink, and mixer. It can be heavy in sugar unless you opt for “slimline” or “diet” varieties. A regular serving of tonic water is frequently smaller, which means you’ll consume less sugar per part, but for the same size, it’s equivalent to other beverages packed with sugar (7.4g sugar per 150ml can).

Tonic water is bitter because of the presence of quinine. This substance is present in several drugs, including digoxin and warfarin, which are all associated with abnormal heart rhythms when administered.

Author’s Note

Consuming large amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, juice, energy drinks or sports drinks can negatively affect your health.

From greater possibilities of dental decay to a higher risk of heart disease and metabolic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, there are numerous consequences of too much sugar intake.

High sugary drink consumption appears to be a constant risk factor for weight gain and obesity.

The bottom line is that limiting your intake of sugar content and drinking more water can help you lose weight while preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes. This means you get to live longer and healthier. If you enjoy hot drinks, try these healthy beverages that are good for your health. Additionally, check out these everyday habits to live a more sustainable lifestyle.