What is Lurking in Your Sweet Drinks?
My husband came home last night from work with these in hand. Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea and Yellow Gatorade. I asked, so what’s this? He should know better. Leftovers from a lunch at work. I snapped photos then dumped the contents.
Here’s why…
Let’s start with the Arizona sweet tea. A huge can of 3 servings each with 23 grams of sugar per serving. One can has a total of 69 grams of sugar which equates to 17.25 teaspoons of sugar! Can you imagine what that does to your body? When we ingest too much sugar our pancreas has to produce enough insulin to absorb and process the sugar. This taxes our liver, gall bladder, and kidneys – the filters in or body. Yikes!
In the case of high fructose corn syrup, it goes straight to your liver and triggers a metabolic response called lipogenesis, causing your body to produce more cholesterol and triglycerides – ultimately resulting in fatty liver. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a highly processed and toxic form of sugar.
For more information read Dr. Mark Hyman’s Article on “5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You”. He is one of the teachers at my school Integrative Nutrition, he is always researching and sharing ways to help us improve our health.
“HFCS is that they are a marker for poor-quality, nutritionally-depleted, processed industrial food full of empty calories and artificial ingredients. If you find “high fructose corn syrup” on the label you can be sure it is not a whole, real, fresh food full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. Stay away if you want to stay healthy.”
~ Dr. Mark Hyman
On to the Gatorade, with 34 grams of sugar in 1 bottle, that equates to 8.5 teaspoons of sugar. This is more added sugar than you want for the entire day. My other concern with Gatorade is the food dye Yellow 5, this is linked to cancer, plus hyperactivity and hypersensitivity in children, making them more allergic and also behavioral changes. So why would you want to ingest this stuff?
Dr. Mercola breaks it down with his article on toxic effects of food dyes. I would avoid food dyes 100%.
So if you are thirsty and want something sweet, brew up some organic green (or your favorite) tea, add a little raw honey and a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon or doTERRA lemon essential oil, which comes from Italian cold-pressed lemon rinds. Lemon essential oils are used for improving digestion, boosting immune system and respiratory system. I’ve made tea with doTERRA lemon for my husband a few times when he felt run down and on the edge of getting sick. This elixir helped him feel better the next morning.
Wishing you and your family the best health.
XO, Pam
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, RD, or nutritionist. These statements have not been approved or evaluated by the FDA. Please seek medical care from your doctor.
