1. Fruit juice

It's a trap! Fruit juice may count as one of your five-a-day, but it's not as good as it seems.

"While fruit juices may seem healthy, they're usually loaded with sugar and have little to no fibre compared to whole fruits," says Annie Davies, Clinical Nutritionist at Body Fabulous Health Clinic. All that fructose will spike your blood sugar, and could lead to a crash in energy or cravings for other foods.

Davies recommends that we stick to fresh, unsweetened juice in moderation or choose water-rich fruits like watermelon for hydration instead.

You might also be tempted to swap your regular juice for a green alternative, but many of these are actually just fruit juice in disguise, containing only a small amount of the headline green veg. Always check the label before you buy.

Skip: Juice drinks with added sugar

Swap: Fresh unsweetened fruit juice, vegetable juice

3. Fizzy drinks

We all know soda can be full of sugar, but how does your favourite compare? The Sheffield’s Sweet Enough campaign group compiled data on 10 fizzy drinks with the highest amount of sugar per 500ml. Here's their list:

Mountain Dew 66g (16.5 tsps)
Cherry Coke 56g (14 tsps)
Pepsi 56g (14 tsps)
Red Bull 55g (13.5 tsps)
Monster Energy 55g (13.5 tsps)
Coca Cola 54g (13.5 tsps)
Fentimans Cherry Coke 39g (9.5 tsps)
7up 35g (8.5 tsps)
San Pellegrino 24.5g (6 tsps)
Irn Bru, Dr Pepper, Fanta, Lilt 24g (6 tsps)

To put this in context, the 66g of sugar in a bottle of Mountain Dew is as much as you'd find in four jam doughnuts. That's an awful lot of hidden calories!

"Fizzy drinks and sugary beverages are among the worst offenders for weight gain," explains Davies. "They’re high in calories and offer little to no nutritional value. These drinks spike your blood sugar and can lead to weight gain over time."

Swapping to low-calorie alternatives is one easy way to avoid all that extra sugar, but there's a catch. Some scientists believe that artificial sweeteners can play a role in weight gain, too. It's thought that the mismatch between the sweetness you taste and the number of calories in the drink leads you to crave – and eat – other carb-heavy foods.

So your best option may be to avoid the fizz altogether, or try making your own healthier version using sparkling water with fresh fruit slices and a dash of cordial.

Skip: Sugary fizzy drinks such as colas and lemonades

Swap: Sparkling water with fresh fruit slices

5. Sports drinks

Davies recommends another option: "Coconut water is a natural, low-calorie drink that’s rich in electrolytes," she says. "It's a great alternative to sugary sports drinks and can help with hydration."

Skip: High sugar sports drinks

Swap: Coconut water, or water with a squeeze of fruit

Read the full article HERE