Men’s Health Roasts 20 Worst Drinks in America
Men’s Health has released a run-down of the 20 unhealthiest drinks currently available in America in their popular Eat This Not That section.
The feature compares drinks across a variety of categories – including functional drinks, smart water, energy drinks, coffee, smoothies and shakes – to snackfoods with equivalent calories.
Topping the list at number 1 is the Coldstone PB&C 24fl oz (just over 700ml) thickshake, which weighs in at 2010 calories – the entire recommended intake for one day – and includes 131g fat. 68g of that fat is saturated – over three times the RDI. The magazine compares one of these beverages to 30 chocolate chip cookies or 68 strips of bacon.
Other offenders include the McDonald’s Triple Thick Chocolate Shake (at 1160 calories), the Krispy Kreme Lemon Sherbert Chiller (at 980 calories), the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Soda (960 cal) and three Starbucks products, the bottled Starbucks Vanilla Frappucino (290 cal), White Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (520 cal) and the Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream (660 cal). Rockstar took out the Worst Energy Drink title, and fruit ‘juice’ drinks – with a low juice percentage and high sugar and flavour – came in for a whipping, as did bottled tea and functional drinks with high caloric content.
In place of these beverages, Men’s Health recommended alternatives, including Starbucks’ sugar-free syrup options, McDonald’s Hot Fudge Sundae (330 cal), Monster Lo-Carb Energy Drink (20 cal) and Vitamin Water Green Tea.
Drinks in the US have come under fire recently for a variety of reasons, including gigantic serving sizes – one named offender was a 1.2 litre smoothie – and for their success in almost completely replacing water in the American diet.
For the full list, visit the Eat This Not That feature.
