Do Sugary Drinks Really Make You Fat? 3 Healthier Drinks

We've been told for years that sugary soft drinks have played a significant role in the increasingly problematic obesity epidemic. Schools have even gone so far as to remove sugary drinks from their premises, and some nutrition experts suggest that simply cutting out soda pop will help you shed pounds. But according to a recent study at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, as reported by Reuters, the link between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain might not be as clear as previously thought.

Here are some of the study's key findings.

* The connection between sugary beverages and obesity risk is unclear, particularly in youth. Researchers studied over 2,000 ethnically diverse, male and female teens, and found no link between between weight gain over five years and drinking sugary beverages.



* When the teens were 15, more than half reported drinking soft drinks, sugar-sweetened punch and apple or orange juice each up to six times a week. A little under half reported that they consumed seven or more servings of white milk weekly.

* The researchers found no overall link between consumption of sweetened beverages and teens' weight gain over five years, but they did find that drinking little or no white milk was tied to greater gains in body mass index (BMI) -- and that the opposite was true for teens who drank white milk nearly every day.

* Interestingly, the study did find a correlation between drinking diet soda and gaining weight -- something researchers attributed more to overall diet practices than the value (or lack thereof) of diet soda. In other words, if you're drinking a lot of diet soda -- which is full of synthetic ingredients -- you're probably not being particularly conscientious with the rest of your diet.

So what to make of all of this? Sugar beverages might not encourage weight gain, but they do fill you up without providing your body with any vital nutrients. Here are three alternatives to both quench your thirst and give your body what it needs:

1. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, try drinking a cup of warm water with lemon -- it will help flush out your system and get things moving in the morning.

2. Smoothies have been billed as the answer to all of your nutritional needs over the past few years, but they really are a great way to get your daily fruits and vegetables in one delicious mix. And if you have trouble getting your daily count of leafy greens (like I sometimes do), sneak a half cup of spinach, kale or parsley into your fruit-filled smoothie. The fruits (especially raspberries and blueberries) will help mask the taste. Here's a Breakfast Smoothie recipe from That's Fit's Doug DiPasquale -- but remember, you can throw whatever you like into your own recipe.

3. Instead of drinking plain water, rotate teas on a daily basis. Red, green, black and white teas -- along with many herbal teas -- are extremely good for you and are full of antioxidants and other immune-boosting properties. If you can, instead of sticking to the typical supermarket boxes of dried, uninspiring tea, consider investing in a proper tea pot and visiting a tea shop -- you'll be amazed at the varieties and tastes available. I recently picked up a rooibos (red tea) with whole black currants, lavender and rose petals, and a black tea with whole pistachios and chunks of papaya. If you prefer cold beverages, make a batch or two and then pour it into a pitcher you can keep on the counter or in the fridge -- many teas taste great chilled!