Drinking Habits that are making you Gain Weight
By Alana Compton
Food gets the majority of the focus when it comes to weight loss. And rightly so. Whilst solids are obviously a major source of calories and fat, the liquids you take in can also affect the scale in a big way. Liquid calories are deceiving and sneaky because people don’t evaluate what they drink in the same way they do with food.
Everywhere you turn the focus is on weight loss and exercise, and with this comes the extreme detoxes and liquid diets too! So I’ve decided to shed some light on the drinks that may have been deceiving you and contributing to those extra calories.
Green Juices: Grabbing a green juice on the go is a quick way to feel like you’re doing your body good, but it can have hidden downsides. Many of the green juices out there are really fruit juice spiked with something like spirulina to make it look healthy. This turns them into incredibly dense sugar bombs that pack hundreds of calories in a single serving. There is no doubt that fruit is full of nutrients, but juicing it extracts a lot of its benefits.
Not drinking enough: Lots of people don’t realise that water is an antioxidant! Specifically, hydrogen in the water helps to protect the body from free radicals. The problem is most people don’t get enough of it. As a rough guide you should be aiming for at least 1500ml a day. So many people confuse thirst signals with hunger, and the worst part is that your body can become accustomed to dehydration, so it tries to run on less than it needs. You’ll feel fine, but even two percent dehydration is shown to impair performance.
Drinking diet pop: Make no mistake although they have the word diet in their name, diet pop are just as bad for you as the regular stuff. Diet pop actually changes how your body responds to sugar. Fake sweeteners are 300-600 times stronger than sugar so they dull your taste buds and stimulate insulin which is a fat storage hormone. In time you’re likely to consume more just to feel the same satisfaction.
Overdoing the coffee: A strong cup of coffee can actually be a great way to boost your performance in the gym and at the office as long as you’re not going overboard. Coffee produces adrenalin, which gives you mental sharpness and helps you train better. But if you’re drinking more than 3 coffee’s a day, you’re taxing your adrenal glands. You’ll get fatigued and not be able to get that adrenaline rush when you really need it. While plain coffee won’t make you gain weight, all those add on’s might. Between sugar, milk or flavoured syrups your cup of coffee can soon be packed with extra calories that can lead to weight gain. If you take on just an extra 120 calories a day on top of what your body needs, you can gain up to 13lb a year!
Alana is a registered nutritionist with the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT), an accredited therapist with The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) and a master Certified Weight Loss Coach.
Contact her at www.nutrition4you.org.uk or email: alanacompton@nutrition4you.org.uk