Dietitian Says Diluting Sugary Drinks Doesn’t Lessen Calories

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Most people are fond of adding water to their sugary drinks with the hope that after it is diluted, the calorie content will be reduced. A dietitian, Miss Oluwakemi Olanrewaju has said diluting soft drinks with water or any sort of liquid has nothing to do with the drink. In fact, it is still the same content of calorie.

According to medicalnewstoday, calories refer to the energy people get from the food and drink they consume, and the energy they use in physical activity.

Olanrewaju, in an interview, said diluting sugary drinks with water only increases the quantity of the drink.

Explaining how it works, Miss Olanrewaju said if you have a bottle of soft drink and you are adding water to dilute, it with the hope of reducing your calories-intake, you end up finishing the bottle of drink and your calories-intake is still the same.

She further said when you add water to your soft drinks, the only thing you are reducing is the taste; it won’t be as sugary as it should be but in the real sense, the calorie of the drink is still the same.

She added that a good place to start is to replace one cup of a sugary drink with half cup of the sugary drink plus half cup of water, which will cut the calorie content of your sugary beverage in half.

The website listed factors such as age, weight, height, activity level and metabolic health as a determinant for the calories-intake of an individual.

Also, studies have shown that sugary drinks are strongly linked to an increased risk of obesity.

The American Heart Association suggests that women should limit added sugars to 100 calories, or 25 grams daily while men should not consume more than 150 calories, or 38 grams, of added sugar per day.

According to the website, water is often a better choice than diluted sugary drinks, especially when you're trying to maintain a healthy body weight. While diluting sugary drinks with water does not reduce the calorie content in each portion, choosing water instead means you're consuming no calories.

Adding that not everybody needs the same number of calories each day. People have different metabolisms that burn energy at different rates, and some people have more active lifestyles than others.