WellPower: Trendy Drinks – Health or Hype?

The Clinical Nutrition Team at Saint Agnes Hospital

These days at the grocery store, you are surrounded by a surplus of different types of beverages with strange ingredients, such as kombucha, promising perks like increased immunity and energy. Do these drinks live up to their claims and are they even safe? Check out these four drink trends that have been decoded so you can start sipping smarter.

1. Enhanced waters: New waters on the market are enhanced with vitamins and minerals as well as different blends like coconut and alkaline waters. Beware of any waters that claim to boost your immunity or energy levels. Antioxidants, vitamins and amino acids are best absorbed through whole foods, not fortified drinks. Coconut water has been praised as the best new sports drink, but be careful. While it is full of potassium, it does not contain enough sodium to replace losses from sweat. New alkaline water claims to balance your body’s pH, but there is no benefit to this; our bodies balance pH naturally. Also, be careful of vitamin waters; they are not always calorie free. Many have as much added sugar as a candy bar.

2. Juices: Sales of bottled fruit and vegetable drinks have gone up by almost 64 percent since 2004. Many health conscious people guzzle juices containing kale, spinach, and other veggies. While this can make it easier to reach your recommended five to nine servings of vegetables each day, juicing takes away the fiber-containing pulp which leads us to miss out on great nutritional benefits. Juices aren’t always light on calories, either. An 8 ounce serving can have as much as 200 calories. Check ingredients lists for juice concentrate, nectar, fructose, cane extract, sucrose, agave, and honey—these are all other names for added sugar.

3. Super teas: So many teas are available that claim to rev up your metabolism, aid digestion, and help with weight loss. Kombucha, made from fermented black tea, provides a serving of probiotics that can help with digestion and immunity. This can be a good nondairy alternative for people, however it does have a vinegary taste. Also, store bought versions may contain trace amounts of alcohol due to the fermentation process. Matcha, a green-tea powder that is sold as a supplement, is packed with antioxidants claiming to boost metabolism. The effects of this are minimal and not enough to see weight loss results. A 15 minute walk after dinner would burn more calories.

4. Energy drinks: According to the Beverage Industry of 2012, energy drinks outsold bottled water sales last year. All natural energy drinks are fueled by caffeine often sourced from green tea. Some of these natural energy drinks contain little sugar and fewer calories than regular juice, soda, or sports drinks. Be careful with energy drinks labeled as dietary supplements – They are not monitored for safety by the FDA. In 2011, more than 20,000 ER visits were linked to energy drink consumption. Limit all caffeinated beverage consumption to less than 500 mg per day (8 ounces of brewed coffee has 85 mg while 12 ounces of soda contains 36 mg). If your energy is low, try drinking water. Dehydration often worsens fatigue.

Here’s to sipping smarter,

The Maryland Metabolic Institute at Saint Agnes Hospital

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At Saint Agnes Hospital, we believe that the care we provide our patients is second to none. We offer a full range of health care services and are proud that the doctors, nurses and health care professionals on our staff are the best in the industry. We believe it is our privilege to serve the people of the Baltimore/Washington area and to care for all patients who enter our doors. For more information, visit www.stagnes.org.