Blog Entries, Fundamentals of Wellness, Weight Loss, Wellness

10 Days, 10 Ways to Lower Carbs, Day 4

This one is simple once you see it in facts.  Stop drinking ALL juice.  Here’s why:

day4Let’s take something you’d never eat on a diet.  How about a “fun size” snickers bar?  That’s clearly in the “no-no” zone, right?  Well, what if I told you that when it comes to blood sugar, insulin, and weight gain, orange juice is worse?  Would you be incredulous?  Here are the facts, based on TWO tiny snickers vs. 1 cup of OJ:

snickers.oj

From caloriecount.com

So, the calories are a bit higher in the snickers bars.  But, although nutrient devoid (and that’s another post), they have less sugars than the OJ!  Now, this does not mean I want you to go out and eat snickers, but it does mean your use of juice should be negligible to NONE.  These calories go straight into your bloodstream, as there is no fiber in the juice to slow digestion.  Juice is not an item you want in your food plan at all.  In case you’d like more information, all the juices are listed here I also think, if you’re a parent of young kids, you need to GREATLY RESTRICT their juice intake.  It is just triggering all the things carbs trigger (see Day 3 post)

I’m placing some below, but the link above has more.  You’d think cranberry juice would be lower, right?  NOPE, 34 carbs!  And do I even need to say don’t drink soda?  DON’T DRINK SODA!  (read why here, and it’s not just the carbs, unless you like dentures….)

juice

 

Alternatives to juice and soda:  sparkling unsweetened water (like LaCroix), iced herbal tea, iced tea (no sugar!), iced tea with lemon, water with cucumber slices, water with a few strawberries for flavor, coffee (no sugar), and of course, plain old water!