Drinking Fat Is Gross

Over that last couple of weeks I have been trying my best to drink a ton of water--at least half my body weight in ounces if not more. As I've been working to stay hydrated I have found myself becoming more aware of what people are drinking and I am somewhat astonished. I knew that the average American was typically dehydrated and drank 21% of their calories; however, I was shocked by the amount of sugar and sweeteners I saw people drinking. (Ref 1)

Have you ever looked at the ingredients in the beverages you are drinking? I would strongly suggest that you not only start reading the labels, but also educating yourself on what at the different/weird sounding names mean. My natural reaction is that if I can't pronounce it and have never heard of it... I probably shouldn't be putting it in my body. Remember, just because the label is saying it's "healthy" does not make it true. Let's take a look at Vitamin Water for instance.

I apologize that you cannot read the picture of the label. If you want to see a larger version, Google, "vitamin water label" and it will be one of the first ones that come up under images. 

First, I would like to point out that Vitamin Water is owned by Coco-Cola. Let's take a look at the ingredients in Vitamin Water--ingredients are listed in order of quantity, so with Vitamin Water we know that "water" is the first ingredient. The second ingredient is crystalline fructose. Many people might look at this ingredient and not have a second thought but when I see the word "fructose" I automatically think SUGAR. Also, fructose is the #1 source of calories consumed in the U.S.

Let's have a quick educational lesson on crystalline fructose. Fructose is a sweetener derived from corn. Another, more commonly known form is high fructose corn syrup. Consumption of fructose has been linked to increase risk of heart disease and diabetes. You might be thinking, "Why is fructose bad? Isn't it in fruit?" The answer is yes, natural fructose originates from fruits and vegetables; however, if you were consuming fruits and vegetables you would be getting about 15 grams per day, versus 73 grams per day which is the average amount an adolescent get's from sweetened drinks. (Ref 2) Also, the fructose found in fruits and vegetables is natural in comparison to the genetically modified fructose found in processed foods.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. Crystalline fructose contains 99% fructose, making it a more damaging sweetener than HFCS. 100% of fructose is metabolized (digested) by your liver, whereas only 20% of glucose (another form of sugar) is metabolized by your liver. When you consume fructose, the energy produced by it is not used up by the cells in your body as is glucose. Rather, it is converted into Free Fatty Acids, VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides which get stored as fat.  These fatty acids that are produced and stored in your liver and muscles. This is a huge cause of insulin resistance (see my post on this), fatty liver disease and type II diabetes. One last note on fructose. When your body metabolized 120 calories of glucose your body only stores 1 calorie as fat where the same amount of calories in the form of fructose stores 40 calories as fat. With that being said--drinking fructose is like drinking fat--gross! (Ref 2)

So back to "Vitamin Water." I have to give it to Coco-Cola, it was an excellent marketing scheme. However, I think that after what we just learned, we can all conclude that Vitamin Water is doing more harm than good for your health. Like I said in my post on vitamins, if sugar is one of the first ingredients it shouldn't be considered a "vitamin." I also wanted to note that one bottle of Vitamin Water has 2.5 servings in it. This means I am getting 2.5 times all the ingredients on the label--tricky! 

This is just one of many different drinks that might seem like a good way to hydrate but is actually making you fat. I personally have concluded that nothing beats water when it comes to hydrating. I am hoping to do a post on sugar and how to identify it on food labels soon. So stay tuned!

FACTS:

• The average American consumes an average of 60 pounds of high fructose corn syrup a year. (Ref 4)
• A survey by the National Health and Nutrition Examination found, more than 2/3's reported drinking enough soda and/or sweet drinks to provide them with a greater proportion of daily calories than any other food. (Ref 3)

References:
(1) http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/beverage/beverage_home.html
(2) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/02/HighFructose-Corn-Syrup-Alters-Human-Metabolism.aspx
(3) http://nutrition.tufts.edu/news/notes/2005-05.html

(4)http://www.solarnavigator.net/solar_cola/cola_images/sweetener_use_per_capita_food_consumption_USDA.jpg