The Trap of Iced Drinks
The weather is getting more sultry and stifling. To cool off, people may get iced drinks from shops. Apart from pre-packaged drinks in cans or cartons, other favourite summer drinks include freshly squeezed juices, sport drink, iced “bubble” (tapioca balls) milk tea and iced mocha. But do you know how much energy and sugar can be found in one such drink?
| Common iced drinks | Energy (kcal) | Sugar (g) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh juice (300ml) |  | 135 | 23 |
| Sport drink (500ml) |  | 130 | 34 |
| Iced “bubble” tea (500ml) |  | 325 | 29 |
| Iced mocha (300ml) |  | 177 | 21 |
| Carbonated canned drink (500ml) |  | 205 | 53 |
| Lemon tea in Tetra Pak (250ml) |  | 138 | 34 |
| Source: Centre for Food Safety | |||
An iced drink has as much energy as 0.5-1.5 bowl of white rice (with one bowl approx. equal to 250-300 ml). If you take an iced drink every day, you will experience an additional energy intake of 135 to 325 kcal per day, which is equivalent to 4,050-9,750 kcal, or gains approx. 1-3 lbs of fat per month.
Take this the example of a medium-build adult: if he/she wants to counter this additional energy gain at 4,050-9,750 kcal, he/she will have to run around a sport field 162-390 times!
So, if you don’t want a pot belly to hang around you after the summer, please be more careful when choosing your drinks. Water, totally void of energy and sugar, is always the best summer drink. Other fair choices include iced tea with no added sugar, low-fat milk and low-sugar soya milk.
To know more about …
- healthy eating, please visit ‘Health Zone’ website at http://www.cheu.gov.hk
- ‘Health@work.hk Project’, please visit http://www.healthatwork.gov.hk
Top
