Dear Reader,
If you drink flavored water as a substitute for plain water, beware.
Flavored water can increase the size of your waistline, and threaten your health.
The problem with drinking flavored water to stay hydrated is that it contains about as much sugar as one can of soda. Drinking just one bottle can significantly spike your insulin levels, promoting insulin resistance and increased fat storage.
Many manufacturers flavor their water with fructose or (even worse) High Fructose Corn Syrup–both culprits behind leptin and insulin resistance.
One study found that fructose affects the hormones involved in appetite regulation. A drink high in fructose caused low levels of the hormone leptin. Leptin lets you know that you have eaten enough. Low leptin causes high levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates eating. The end result is that your hormones tell you to keep eating.1
Other studies support this.
Researchers at Purdue University studied the effects of liquid versus solid calories. Two groups of people were fed the same amount of calories over a period of 4 weeks. One group was given jelly beans (solid) and the other was given soda (liquid). The group eating the jelly beans maintained their weight. Those in the soda group gained weight, primarily because they ate far more afterwards than the jelly bean group.2
And if you go with a no-calorie option, the threat to your health can be worse.
Many flavored waters contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose…both of which are toxic. I’ve written about the dangers of these two chemicals at length in previous Doctor’s Calls.
The best way to stay hydrated is to drink plain, purified water. But if you need a little flavor now and then, here are a few alternatives:
• Freeze ice cubes with 100%, all-natural fruit juice and bits of real fruit and add to your water for a little flavor.
• Squeeze lemon, or grapefruit into your water for zest.
• Drink tea sweetened with stevia (an all-natural, no calorie sweetener) and a dash of lemon.
• Drink green tea.
• Try water with a splash of 100% cranberry juice for a little sweetness.
• Mix lemon-flavored stevia into your water
• Add some crushed mint, lime and stevia, for a non-alcoholic water “Mojito”
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, M.D.
1. Teff KL, Elliott SS, Tschop M, Kieffer TJ, Rader D, Heiman M, Townsend RR, Keim NL, D’Alessio D, Havel PJ., Dietary fructose reduces circulating insulin and leptin, attenuates postprandial suppression of ghrelin, and increases triglycerides in women. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. June 2004, 2963-72.
2. DiMeglio, R D Mattes, “Liquid versus solid carbohydrate: effects on food intake and body weight”, International Journal of Obesity, June 2000, Volume 24, Number 6, Pages 794-800