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 General
Kilojoule bomb in your beverages

There are four-and-a-half slices of bread in your glass of wine and three-and-a-half slices of bread in your Grapetiser - in terms of kilojoules, that is. Shocked? Read on.


The day when the addition of sugar to water was conceived was arguably the moment in time when all of western civilisation was doomed to rounder tummies, thighs and hips – as well as an escalating obesity epidemic.

Just think about it for a moment: isn't it better just to stick to plain, unsweetened water and other low-kilojoule drinks and have the odd piece of chocolate cake, instead of piling on the kilos with sugar-laden beverages?

Beverages were never meant to be kilojoule bombs – except, perhaps, for bone-boosting milk, sports drinks and special formulations for the clinically malnourished. Beverages were meant to be, well, beverages. Their sole purpose: to quench thirst.

Right now, however, we're at a point where one of the most popular drinks on the planet – a 340ml can of Coke – fetches a whopping 585 on the kilojoule scale. And don't be fooled by the healthy image of fruit juices. While these may be more "natural", a drink such Grapetiser ranks even higher on the scale: 762kJ for a 340ml can.

Maybe it's time to take a good look at the drinks in your life. Consider the following table:

Volume (ml) Beverage Energy value (kJ)
340 Castle Milk Stout 758
340 Castle Lager 570
250 Dry white or red wine 700 - 1000
250 Coffee with 2 tsp of sugar and low-fat milk 174
340 Redds Cider 843
340 Coke 585
340 Grapetiser 762
340 Fanta Orange 714
250 Apple juice 478

Now, bear in mind that a single slice of Blue Ribbon white bread (without any toppings) has a kilojoule count of 221.

Effectively, this means that a 250ml glass of dry white wine has as many kilojoules as four-and-a-half slices of bread. A can of cider or milk stout isn't far behind, and neither are Coke, Fanta and Grapetiser. Even a small glass of apple juice has more kilojoules than two slices of bread.

Think of what you had to drink during the whole of yesterday: orange juice for breakfast, two cups of coffee and a latt้ at the office, a can of Coke on your way home, a glass of wine with dinner, and a glass of water before bed. A rough estimation of your kilojoule intake: 3400kJ (equivalent to 15 slices of bread!).

What to drink
The number of kilojoules you can save if you cut sugar from your beverages is immense. So, what should you be drinking?

A US Beverage Guidance Panel recently rated a range of beverages in terms of their potential health benefits or possible risks, according to a fact sheet released by the Nutrition Information Centre of the University of Stellenbosch (NICUS).

The panel rated drinking water as the preferred drink to fulfil daily fluid needs, followed by tea, coffee, low-fat and fat-free milk and drinking yoghurts, diet- or artificially sweetened cool drinks, cool drinks or drinks with some nutritional benefits (fruit or vegetable juices, full-cream milk, alcoholic beverages and sports drinks) and, lastly, sweetened drinks or nutrient-poor drinks.

In other words, the panel came to the surprising conclusion that it's better to drink a cup of coffee (without the sugar and cream, of course) than it is to drink a glass of orange juice. On its own, coffee has no kilojoules and it's packed with antioxidants. But unfortunately not all of us can tolerate caffeine equally well.

In the same way, most of the drinks listed above have pros and cons.

With water, however, one can never go wrong, except, perhaps, if you're in an area where the water isn't safe to drink. But then you can opt for bottled water. Just make sure that you choose still or sparkling water without the added sugar and flavourants.

"Water is highly recommended for daily fluid intake. It provides no additional energy, which makes it very ideal for any overweight or inactive adult. It also provides variable amounts of minerals such as calcium, magnesium and fluoride, depending on its source," NICUS says.

The bottom line? Go for drinks that contain more water and less sugar and think twice about what you choose when buying a beverage. When you then choose to eat the odd sweet treat, you can relax in the thought that your overall daily sugar intake is within healthy limits. – (Carine van Rooyen, Health24)

Reference:
The New Complete Kilojoule, Carbohydrate & Fat Counter: South African Edition. Published by STRUIK (2006).

Read more:
How much should we drink?
Factors that influence water needs
 
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How much should we drink?
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Recommendations for South Africans
Kilojoule bomb in your beverages
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