Have you ever thought about how many calories you drink in a day? Hidden calories, that are of no nutritional value, can add up quickly. Your body stores these extra calories as fat. We are essentially the only animal (with a few exceptions) that continues to consume liquid calories after weaned from our mothers. Particularly, drinking these calories for pure pleasure, not nutrition. Think about it: what does an adult zebra, gorilla, bear, deer, elk, raccoon, cow, sheep, or a chicken drink? That's right: WATER. Do you ever see a zebra drinking a sugary soda? Or how about a gorilla with an energy drink? Or what about a bear drinking a beer or a glass of wine? Nope, they all drink water only. So think about all the calories we drink in this country: sodas with 140 calories per can; or what about the calories in a 44oz super-sized soda with 513 calories; the specialty coffees that can range from 190 to 470 calories; a glass of orange juice (a regular household glass holds 8oz ounces) can easily be 100 calories; and don't forget the cow milk that we drink at over 148 calories per glass. What about a beer that can be 80 to 250 calories per bottle or a glass of wine at 160 calories?! Don't forget the daiquiris and margaritas that can be over 400 calories! When I review with my new patients about their liquid calories, many do not realize how many calories they are drinking. Now I'm a realist, I'm not going to tell someone to stop all of their liquid calories at once unless they want to. And I'm not going to tell them to give up all their liquid pleasures forever. What I tell them is this, "It's not about giving anything up, it's about how much and how often" How many liquid calories do you drink?
