Tracy Norris
Sweetened drinks – whether with sugar or sweeteners – cause a lot of confusion in the organism. They damage the heart, reduce performance in sports and ultimately damage your health. Studies show how the thirst quenchers weaken bodily functions and which measured values they change.
Whether sugar or sweetener: sweetened drinks are harmful
Sweetened drinks fill meter-long shelves in supermarkets. These include lemonades, cola drinks, spritzers, ice teas, and energy drinks. Many people still believe that if something were harmful, it would be banned and certainly not available for purchase in the supermarket. What a mistake!
Sweetened beverages in particular – whether sweetened with sugar or sweeteners – are harmful to health in a number of ways. A particular problem is that, apart from water, flavorings, and sugar or sweetener, they contain nothing else, i.e. almost no nutrients and vital substances, which is why drinks sweetened with sugar are also referred to as “empty calories”. These contribute to obesity and thus indirectly lead to the well-known consequences of obesity, namely cardiovascular problems, dyslipidemia, diabetes, cancer, and many more.
A sweetened drink as high in calories as a cheeseburger
Bitter Lemon, for example, provides 260 kcal per 500 ml and thus as much as a cheeseburger. With Red Bull, it is 225 kcal, with Fanta and Sprite 200 kcal, and the energy drink Monster Energy Assault provides 350 kcal per can (500 ml), which already corresponds to 15 percent of the daily energy requirement, but one can of Monster Energy certainly does not give you 15 percent less eats. Because the drinks don’t fill you up at all.
Sweetened beverages increase mortality risk
In April 2021, a meta-analysis was published in the Journal of Public Health evaluating 15 cohort studies with a total of over one million participants. Consuming sugar-sweetened beverages resulted in a 12 percent higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 20 percent higher risk of premature cardiovascular death.
Interestingly, the results for beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners were very similar, increasing the risk of premature cardiovascular death by as much as 23 percent. The risks mentioned increased linearly, which means that the more of the drinks mentioned were consumed, the higher the mortality risk. So anyone who thinks sugar-free drinks are a good alternative is wrong. Because even the variants sweetened with sweeteners harbor significant risks. We explain here why sugar-free drinks even damage your teeth.
Weight gain after 2 weeks
Another study, which was published in March 2021, involved 17 volunteers, young men who were physically active. Half drank a no-carb/sugar-free drink for 15 days, and half drank the same drink with 300g of sugar per day. Then there was a 7-day break before swapping groups. Those men who previously drank sugar-free now drank the sweetened drink and vice versa.
Admittedly, 300g of sugar per day sounds extreme and corresponds to about 3 liters per day of cola or any other soda drink that contains an average of 100g of sugar per liter. However, if you are used to soft drinks (because these drinks almost lead to a kind of addiction) and do not drink anything else, you will quickly reach 2 liters and then eat sweets or foods sweetened with sugar (ketchup, jam, etc.). In this respect, 300 g of sugar is not impossible.
After just 15 days of drinking the high-sugar drink, the men had gained an average of 1.3 kg in weight, their BMI increased by 0.5, their waist circumference increased by 1.5 cm, their cholesterol (the VLDL value) increased by 19 .54 to 25.52 mg/dl (values up to 30 are still considered ok), her triglycerides rose from almost 79 to 115 mg/dl and her blood pressure also rose.
Physical fitness is declining
At the same time, their athletic performance dropped: The VO₂max, the maximum oxygen uptake or cardiorespiratory fitness, fell from around 48 to 41. This value describes a person’s condition, i.e. the ability to transport oxygen from the air to the muscles. The higher the value, the more powerful the person. Maximum heart rate also dropped, from 186 to 179. Exercise time also decreased, while exercise fatigue increased.
It is remarkable that these measurable reactions already occurred after 15 days with sugared drinks. What happens when someone consumes such beverages over a period of years can be vividly imagined from the above data. Switch to healthy drinks in good time! These not only help you to lose weight and improve your condition but also have a very beneficial effect on all parameters of your health. You can find recommended drink recipes under the link above, e.g. B. the fiery, refreshing ginger shot or the sports regeneration drink, but also ice teas, smoothies, protein shakes, spiced teas, and much more.
