What about Soft Drinks and Juices?

            I classify dessert to mean any food or beverage in which the largest percentage of calories come from some form of sugar---natural or added. Based on my definition, soft drinks and fruit juices fall into the realm of desserts. If you considered soda and juice to be desserts, would you let your children drink them all day?

            It’s not “bad or wrong” to drink soft drinks and juices; the problem arises when you reach for them out of habit. You forget they have enough sugar to be considered a dessert yet very little fiber to digest or fill your stomach. Consequently, you still feel hungry after drinking them even though you have consumed many calories. If you want something with that many sweet calories and not a lot of nutrition, at least eat something with substance and chew it slowly and deliberately for the full taste, pleasure and satisfaction.

            For example, when you drink orange juice, some of the nutrition has been processed out and it has lost almost all of its fiber.  Because your body has nothing to digest, the calories are absorbed quickly but your stomach doesn’t feel full. When you eat an orange, on the other hand, you ingest all of its vitamins and minerals. Because you have to chew an orange, you’re also eating fiber; the fiber requires your digestive system to digest the fruit, and the digestive process makes you feel fuller longer

            In addition, soft drinks and fruit juice don’t give your body the water it needs. When you’re thirsty, your body is asking for the water it needs to assist with its chemical processes. Reach for water first, and serve water, not soft drinks, with your meals. Drink soda and fruit juice in extreme moderation because they add calories and a lot of sugar without any fiber.

Cooking is easier than you think and you and your family are worth the time and effort it takes. 

Simple cooking idea: When you have leftover chicken broth, label it, write down the amount, and put it in the freezer.  Thaw in the microwave when you need it.

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