Eating too much sugar is a major contributor to overweight and obesity. Sugar-loaded drinks, such as sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, and even sweetened teas and fruit juices, are a large part of the problem.

Did you know?

• A 20-ounce soda can contain 65 grams of sugar? That’s approximately 22 packets of sugar in just one bottle. All that added sugar can have serious health consequences. The extra calories in sugar-loaded drinks can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
• A typical adult has to walk briskly for 46 minutes to burn the calories in a 20-ounce soda.
• A typical 10-year-old has to bike vigorously for 30 minutes to burn the calories in a 12-ounce soda.

It’s recommended to limit or eliminate sweetened beverages from your diet, replacing sugar-loaded drinks with water, unsweetened beverages and low-fat or non-fat milk.

Is sugar hiding in your drink?

Sweeteners that add calories to a beverage go by many different names and are not always obvious to anyone looking at the ingredients list. Some common caloric sweeteners are listed below. If these appear in the ingredients list of your favorite beverage, you are drinking a sugar-loaded drink.

• High-fructose corn syrup
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Honey
• Sugar
• Syrup
• Corn syrup
• Sucrose
• Dextrose

Tips for Healthy Drink Choices:

• Choose water or low-calorie drinks instead of sugar-loaded drinks.
• Keep water stocked in your refrigerator and readily available for when you’re thirsty. Carry a bottle with you and refill it throughout the day.
• Make water more exciting by adding slices of lemon, lime, cucumber, or watermelon, or drink sparkling water.
• Add a splash of 100% juice to plain sparkling water for a refreshing, low-calorie drink.
• When you do opt for a sugar-loaded drink, choose a smaller beverage size. An 8-oz. soda contains about 100 calories.

Sugar-Loaded Drinks by the Numbers:

• 46 percent – Percentage of added sugar in our diets that comes from soda, energy drinks, sports drinks and sugar-sweetened fruit drinks.
• 22 packs – Approximate amount of sugar in the average 20 oz. bottle of soda, which also contains 240 calories.
• 27 percent – Increase in likelihood of overweight or obesity for adults who drink one or more sodas or other sugar-loaded drinks each day.
• 45 gallons – Amount of soda the average American drinks annually — that’s 35 pounds of sugar.
• 60 percent – Increase in a child’s risk for obesity with every additional daily serving of soda.

Choose Health LA is made possible by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the Los Angeles County Department of Public.