Water, please

Let’s say we’re all dining together at a restaurant or a friend’s house. What is your usual response to the waiter/waitress’s question: “What would you like to drink?“?

If you said WATER, DIET SODA, OR UNSWEETENED ICED TEA (or any non-caloric beverage), you’re off to a great start!

Why, you ask?

Well, recent studies (cited in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2006) show that even if we drink caloric beverages (like soda) with our meal, we DON’T eat less.

So, let’s say I eat my meal and drink water. Tomorrow, I go back to the same restaurant and order the soda with the same meal. Chances are (and research backs this up), I’m going to eat the same portion of my food (and therefore the same amount of calories) but I’ll consume more calories when I have the regular soda versus the water.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE:

Order a non-calorie beverage (diet soda, water, unsweetened iced tea, coffee, “Crystal Light“, or “Minute Maid Light“) with your meal. Not only will you save calories, but depending on the choice of beverages, you may save some money too!

_{Photo courtesy of [x-eyedblonde]}

No related posts