There are many choices for beverages such as soda, tea, juice, milk, coffee, sports drinks, and water. These beverages are in everyone’s lives. It not only gives hydration to your body but also pleasure and health benefits. From a simple glass of water to a tea that has health-boosting herbs, the variety that beverages give is insane. In this article, I will go into the different types of beverages, if they have too much sugar, their health benefits, and how they are not good for you.
The first drink I am going to be talking about is water. Water is the most basic beverage out there. It is essential for survival because the human body is around 60%-70% water. Drinking a lot of water is needed to maintain bodily functions, regulate body temperature, and remove waste from the body. Usually, not drinking enough water can cause headaches, fatigue, dry mouth and lips, dark-colored urine, sunken eyes and cheeks, and joint pain (the water acts as a slippery liquid to your joints making them so they can move more freely), muscle cramps, mood swings, confusion, and slow reaction time. So it is very important to drink enough water every day. It is suggested that you always carry a water bottle in your bag so you can be constantly drinking water. Harvard Health says that men should drink around 15.5 cups and women drink around 11.5 cups of water per day.
Now sodas, also known as soft drinks, are carbonated drinks that usually contain a lot of sugar and are flavored in different ways. These drinks are popular everywhere, you can go to any store or restaurant and they will have these sodas. These types of drinks are very unhealthy for you and drinking even 1 can of soda can almost reach your daily recommended amount of sugar. So it would be wise to avoid these types of drinks, one every once in a while should be fine, unless you are on a no-sugar diet, then which you should stay away from sodas. Sodas can lead to weight gain, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, decreased bone density, and can just increase your chances for other types of health problems
Fruit and vegetable juices are pretty popular for their taste and nutritional benefits. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. However, it is important to consider that they too have a pretty high sugar content in them making them a bit unhealthy. For example, take hi-c orange (my favorite drink), it has juices from orange and pear juices, but there are multiple sweeteners added to this drink, making the drink have 26 grams of sugar per cup. Men should take no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day or 36 grams of sugar and women should take no more than 6 teaspoons per day or 25 grams of sugar. A McDonald’s cup is about 3 cups making the total sugar intake 78 grams of sugar which is way over the recommended daily amount.
Next is coffee and tea, which are two of the most consumed beverages. Coffee and some teas contain caffeine, which most adults and some young people like to drink to feel more energy and to get through the day making them feel more alert. Coffee is a roasted coffee bean drink, while tea is brewed through the different types of leaves in a little bag. They both have a variety of flavors, and they offer some health benefits, including reduced risk of certain diseases.
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