Health Tips

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I will choose a no calorie beverage option, such as diet soda or tea

Sugared beverages can add unwanted calories to your daily diet — and those calories don’t contain any essential nutrients! Some calories in drinks are also “hidden”, such as coffee drinks and juices. Following is an example of how to save calories (in this case 650 calories!) just by replacing caloric beverages with non-caloric ones:

Occasion Instead of… Calories Try… Calories
Morning coffee shop run Medium café latte (16 ounces) made with whole milk 265 Small café latte (12 ounces) made with fat-free milk 125
Lunchtime combo meal 20-oz. bottle of nondiet cola with your lunch 227 Bottle of water or diet soda 0
Afternoon break Sweetened lemon iced tea from the vending machine (16 ounces) 180 Sparkling water with natural lemon flavor (not sweetened) 0
Dinnertime A glass of nondiet ginger ale with your meal (12 ounces) 124 Water with a slice of lemon or lime, or seltzer water with a splash of 100% fruit juice 0 calories for the water with fruit slice, or about 30 calories for seltzer water with 2 ounces of 100% orange juice.
Total beverage calories:   796   125-155
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference

Non-Caloric Beverage Choices Include:

The following table shows the average calories in 12 ounce and 20 ounce servings for typical beverages:

Type of Beverage Calories in 12 ounces Calories in 20 ounces
Fruit punch 192 320
100% orange juice 168 280
Lemonade 168 280
Regular cola 136 227
Sweetened lemon iced tea (bottled, not homemade) 135 225
Sports drink 99 165
Fitness water 18 36
Unsweetened iced tea 2 3
Diet soda (with aspartame) 0* 0*
Carbonated water (unsweetened) 0 0
Water 0 0
*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. (USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)

Adapted from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/drinks.html