No to Sugary Drinks on the HCG Diet

Sugary drinks refer to any beverages with added sugar or other forms of sweeteners including sucrose, corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, and more. Sugary drinks include diet soda, cola, lemonades, fruit punch, sports and energy drinks as well as sweetened powdered drinks. These beverages are the single largest source of calories and added sugars and they are absolutely not allowed on the HCG Diet.

Sugary drinks and weight gain

Sugary drinks are worse than you might think. A 12-ounce of soda has 150 calories and 40 to 50 grams of sugars, that’s equal to 10 teaspoons of sugar, and that quite a lot! A 20 ounce of sugary drinks has around 16 teaspoons of sugar. This exceeds the recommended maximum daily intake of sugar which is no more than 4.5 teaspoons per day for ages 12- 19 and about 6 teaspoons for adults.

Sugary drinks can make you gain weight. Those who drink at least one sugary drink per day are four times more likely to become obese than those who drank less than one sugary drink a month. Here’s how sugary drink makes you gain weight:

• The sugar on the drink stimulates appetite. When sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream there will be a rapid change of blood sugar. The rapid rising and falling of blood sugar are appetite stimulants. Furthermore, more sugar can significantly increase the hunger promoting hormones ghrelin while decreasing the appetite-suppressing hormone peptide.
• They hinder the hormones that regulate appetite and quell the hunger.
• Sweetened beverages do not cause the same satiety as solid foods.
• Daily consumption of sugary drinks can lead to elevated blood sugar levels. Prolonged elevated blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) can cause serious harm to your body including weight gain. Your body becomes insulin resistant. This impairs normal cell function and promotes inflammation.

Why sugary beverages are harmful to your body?

When it comes to ranking beverages that are most beneficial to our health, the worst is the sugary drinks. They contain so many calories and no nutrients whatsoever. If you were to drink just one sugary drink per day and not cut back on calories elsewhere, you’ll end up gaining 5 pounds a year. Aside from weight gain, consuming too much sugar in your diet can lead to weight gain and may contribute noticeably to conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases.

Tips on how to avoid sugar on the HCG diet

Avoiding all forms of sugar on the HG diet can help protect your health as well as delivers the maximum amount of weight loss in just a short amount of time. Here’s how you can avoid them during the diet:

1. Switch to all-natural sweeteners like Stevia. Stevia is the only sweetener allowed on the HCG diet. It doesn’t cause cravings nor does it spike blood sugar level.
2. Read the labels and avoid all forms of sugar such as corn syrup, sucrose, lactose, or fructose.
3. Avoid sodas including diet soda as they contain artificial sweetener aspartame.
4. Juice vegetables like tomato, celery, and carrots. Vegetable juices can help decrease your cravings and gives you a power punch of nutrition.