With many beverage manufacturers wanting to cater
to consumer desire for health-promoting drinks, some use the label in
"creative" ways to promote their product, making their beverage seem
healthier than it may be. A good first step to get past a potentially
misleading label is to look at the ingredients list on the back or side of the
beverages you drink.
For example, tonic water often--but not
always--contains high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as its sweetener. This is an
ingredient I consider worth avoiding from a nutritional standpoint as well as
from the standpoint of environmental sustainability. However, if a person decided
to incorporate tonic water into his or her Healthiest Way of Eating despite its HFCS
content, how would I decide if the amount of HFCS was too much? As a very
general rule, I believe that most people could incorporate a beverage
containing 10 grams of sugar or less each day without significant risk. Would a
12-ounce bottle of tonic water pass this test? No, it wouldn't even come close.
There are over 30 grams of total sugar (whether they come from HFCS or another
source) in most 12-ounce bottles of tonic water.
In order to find out about this information
regarding sugar content in your bottled beverage, you need to look at the
Nutrition Facts Panel rather than the ingredient list. When you're checking for
sugar content, be sure to look at the serving size. Although you would think
that one bottle of tonic water would count as one serving, the manufacturer
gets to choose what counts as one serving, and you'll find that many beverages
contain two, three, or sometimes even more servings per container. The total
sugar listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel is always the amount found in one
serving, and "one serving" may be very different than "one
container's worth."
Bottled green tea products may either be straight
tea with some natural sweetener or may contain a refined source of sugar and
artificial flavors/colors (obviously the former would be better than the
latter, but even if naturally sweetened, this product could still contain a
large amount of sugar). You lose control over the nutritionally sensitive tea
steeping process when you purchase a bottled tea (versus steeping your own tea
at home). You also lose control over other added ingredients. I've seen
honey-sweetened green teas that contain over 30 grams of total sugar per 12
ounces--an amount of total sugar very similar to a 12-ounce, sugar-sweetened
soft drink.
Is the fruit juice you mentioned 100% pure
unsweetened fruit juice, or is it made from a small percentage of juice mixed
with water and added sugar? Unsweetened juice still has about 20 grams of sugar
(mostly in the form of fructose) per cup, but that's still less than the 28 or
more grams found in many sweetened juices. Only if the front of the bottle or
can says "100% pure juice" can you be sure that fruit juice is all
you are getting.
While I am on the subject of bottled beverages
and sugar content, I would like to say more about fruit juices in general. Even
if you have a fruit juice that is pure juice, the sugar content may or may not
be an issue depending upon your dietary needs/restrictions. As I mentioned
earlier, most individuals could incorporate a beverage with 10 grams of sugar
or less into their day's diet, but in this case, this amount would require you
to limit your unsweetened juice to about six ounces at a time. From my perspective,
fruit juices, in general, are overrated as fantastic additions to a Healthiest
Way of Eating because of their relatively concentrated amounts of sugar and
because they are not whole foods containing all of the pulp, skin, and fiber
that would be consumed when enjoying whole fruit. People who have trouble
regulating their blood sugar, including individuals diagnosed with diabetes,
often have special restrictions placed on fruit juice (as well as dried fruit).
But even for individuals with no history of blood sugar problems, fruit juice
is still less healthy than whole fruit, even though it might sometimes be more
convenient.
Sugar and artificial sweeteners like HFCS are not
the only potential pitfalls involved with consumption of bottled beverages.
Other considerations here are artificial additives including artificial
colorings, flavorings, and synthetic preservatives. There are some great
bottled beverage products out there in the marketplace, but there are far more
compromised products that will take you too far away from whole, natural foods.
While I believe that high-quality bottled beverages can play a role in the
Healthiest Way of Eating, I do not believe that they can be relied on in the
same way that home steeped teas, or home squeezed fresh juices, or filtered
waters can be counted on to provide you with the highest quality nourishment.
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Copyright © 2012 The George Mateljan
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George Mateljan Foundation, PO Box 25801, Seattle,
Washington 98165
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