Rethink Your Drink

What you drink is as important as what you eat

Sugary drinks (soda, energy drinks, coffee drinks, and sports drinks) add more sugar to our diet than any other food or beverage source. The added sugar in these drinks provide extra calories without extra nutrition. The added sugar from these drinks may contribute to tooth decay, increase the risk of obesity, and increase the risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Sugar has many names

Sugar can come in many different forms. If you know what to look for, you can limit the amount of sugar in your diet. Here are some other names for sugar you might see on a food label:

Barley malt
Maple syrup
High-fructose corn syrup
Raw sugar
Brown sugar
Glucose
Honey
Powdered sugar
Cane juice
Fructose
Maltodextrin
Molasses
Corn syrup
Dextrose
Sucrose

Spot the sugar

Do you know how much sugar is in the drinks you have every day? Finding out is easy! Just check the Nutrition Facts label and look for the amount of sugar in one serving.

How do you calculate sugar?

Grams of Sugar ÷ 4 = Teaspoons of Sugar

68 Grams of Sugar ÷ 4 = 17 Teaspoons of Sugar

(Note: If the container has more than one serving, multiply the number of teaspoons by the number of servings to get the total teaspoons of sugar in the container. For example, 10 teaspoons x 2 servings = 20 total teaspoons.)

Sugar may surprise you

How much sugar is hiding in your favorite drink? This handy chart shows just how sweet those sugary drinks are, and how much activity it takes to burn off the extra calories.