The other night I was in Penn Station on my way home from dinner in the city. I was thirsty so I stopped at one of the vendors to look for a drink. I don’t drink soda, but I do drink a lot of iced tea. I checked the labels of 5 different iced teas and realized that every single one contained added sugar. I could not find a single drink in a whole wall of items that did not have sugar or some kind of sugar substitute added.
Sugar has infiltrated much of the processed food in America, but the place where many people don’t realize they are ingesting sugar is in their drinks. Everytime I get my iced green tea at Starbucks, the barista asks if I want it sweetened. Sugar in our drinks seem to be a default, and I often need to ask for mine unsweetened. When I order my unsweetened iced tea in a restaurant, the waitress always brings over sugar and equal for me to add to the drink. Even companies that advertise more “natural” drinks, like “Honest Tea”, add sugar to their drinks. The label lists it as “organic cane sugar”, but it is still added sugar. And of course, there is soda, which is full of sugar. One 20 oz. soda contains 16-18 teaspoons of sugar.
Sugar today is a huge problem in America. Many experts agree that sugar is to blame for the obesity epidemic, as well as a number of associated diseases like diabetes. Other than the sweet taste of sugar, there are absolutely no health benefits to ingesting it.
The problem with sugar in beverages is that many people don’t realize how much sugar is in what they drink. If a person eats a candy bar, of course he or she is aware that it contains sugar. But there is much less awareness of sugar in drinks.
I have a lot of thoughts about the sugar problem in America, so this post is intended to be just Part 1 on an ongoing series. My suggestion from a health standpoint is to simply be aware of what you are drinking. Look at the labels for everything: iced tea, juice, sports drinks – sugar is added to many different kinds of beverages. Pay attention. Ask the Starbucks barista what is being used to sweeten the iced tea. Experts recommend strictly limiting the amount of sugary beverages consumed. Prior to restricting such beverages, it is necessary to know what you are drinking. When in doubt, you can always opt for water.
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