How much sugar does my soft drink have?

soft-drink

We all know that soft drinks are not the most recommended option for maintaining a healthy diet. It is not that they are bad; they simply carry what is called “empty calories,” which do not contribute anything other than carbohydrates in the form of sugars. However, exactly how much sugar leads my soda?

Surely, you all glanced at the can while you enjoyed these sugary drinks some summer day. It comes detailing nutritional information, usually per 100ml of product, but often also by the amount of container or per serving.

What happens is that some measures that we offer are difficult to quantify, because most do not know what 30 or 40 grams of sugar, and I do not tell you about fats or proteins. The percentage on the recommended daily allowance (CDR) helps to give us an idea, but there is nothing like seeing it for our own eyes.

soft-drink
Image Source: Google Image

The sugar that soft drinks carry

So I went out shopping and I brought home a little of everything I found me in the beverage section : nectar pineapple, an isotonic drink, a cola, a lemon, also a chocolate milkshake and A pineapple juice I even brought tonic, tea soda, orange drink without bubbles and some that other filthy, but then I considered that the above mentioned offer a good representation.

It should be noted that not all drinks chosen for the test are soft drinks, such as chocolate shakes, nectar and pineapple juice, in which some of the sugars are naturally present in milk and fruit, nothing that See with added sugars. However, to give us a comparative idea I thought it would be good to include them.

The ranking of sugar in 330ml of product (a can) is as follows …

  • Pineapple Nectar: 17g of sugar
  • Isotonic drink: 26g of sugar
  • Refreshment of cola: 35g of sugar
  • Chocolate shake: 40g of sugar
  • Lemon refreshment: 42g of sugar
  • Pineapple juice: 42g of sugar

From these values, and the visual image of the amount of sugar in each drink, should clarify some things and draw a few conclusions.

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First, pineapple nectar has so little sugar because it only carries 50% juice; the rest is water, sweeteners and additives. At the other end is the normal pineapple juice, whose sugar comes from the fructose of the fruit, and is not comparable with the same amount of sugar that, for example, lemon soda. In the same way, not all sugars from chocolate shake are added; many are naturally present in milk.

I will also remember that the amount of sugar that is shown in the picture is 330ml product, not per package. The juices and the smoothie come in containers of 200ml, reason why a container will have less sugar than the one shown.

In any case, keep in mind that 42g sugar account for almost 50% of the recommended daily amount, and in turn represent almost 15% of the total amount of product, as we can see in this image.

Do the test at home. Take the cooking weight and pour in a sugar glass until the weight indicated on the package. Then think whether you would let your son pour such a quantity of sugar into his glass of milk – it is several tablespoons – or if you would throw it at tea or coffee. It seems difficult to even dilute it.

Not intending to reinvent the wheel, nor will I be the first to warn of the problem of sugar in soft drinks –the alternative sweetener enthusiasm– not me but sometimes a change of perspective and a visual example can help understand better how soft drinks have sugar.