A can of soda or a bottle of tea can be refreshing on a hot summer day, but many of these are packed with more sugar than handfuls of pastries and cookies, which can lead to serious health problems.
Soft drinks have been under scrutiny as many contain the artificial sweetener aspartame, which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a ‘possible carcinogen’ in a bombshell report.
However, DailyMail.com found 25 sodas, teas, and energy drinks that contain the highest amounts of the sweet stuff, which, despite being natural, has still been linked to issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
And many of these drinks have significantly more sugar than the American Heart Association’s daily recommended limit: 24 grams for women and 36 grams for men. Taking into account sugar from other foods you eat throughout the day, this puts soda lovers well over safe limits.
The worst offender is a classic: Mountain Dew. With 65 grams of sugar in a 16.9-ounce bottle, the brightly colored drink has more sugar than six donuts from Krispy Kreme or 18 Chips Ahoy! cookies. Classic Krispy Kreme glazed donuts have 10 grams of sugar each, while each Chips Ahoy! cookie has about 3.5 grams.
The brand’s Baja Blast flavor, a fan favorite that’s gained widespread popularity after being sold at Taco Bell, has 59 grams in a 16-ounce serving.
That’s as much as the iconic Oreo McFlurry from McDonald’s, which has 60 grams.
Mountain Dew had the most sugar of all drinks on the list, while Brisk Lemon Tea had the least. All of the beverages, however, were either well over or close to the daily recommended limit of sugar set by the American Heart Association
If you order a large Baja Blast at the popular fast food chain, that 30-ounce serving will net you 111 grams, almost as much as a large Dairy Queen Blizzard, which can run up to 120 grams.
Too much sugar has consistently been linked to detrimental health problems. In fact, a review published in the journal BMJ in April linked high consumption of added sugars, the type of sugar in all of these drinks, to 45 negative health outcomes.
These include diabetes, gout, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, cancer, asthma, tooth decay, depression, and early death.
Sodas aren’t the only culprits. Energy drinks, in addition to containing more caffeine than a cup of coffee, also consistently had at least 50 grams of sugar. This combination of caffeine and sugar adds to the growing concerns of these drinks causing adverse health effects in kids, including cardiac arrests.
Rockstar Energy’s original flavor had the most sugar of all other energy drinks, with 63 grams.
Tea, despite often being touted as a healthier alternative to soda, can still be packed with sugar. A 16-ounce bottle of Snapple’s peach flavor, for example, has 40 grams of sugar, more than the daily limit for both men and women.
Even at the bottom of the list, a can of Brisk Lemon Tea clocked in at 24 grams, almost as much an entire 1.75-ounce pack of M&M’s.
Read more for a selection of the most sugary sodas, teas, and energy drinks:
Worst soda: Mountain Dew, 16.9 ounces
Sugar: 65 grams
Calories: 240
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 85 mg
Carbohydrates: 65 grams
Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, concentrated orange juice, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), caffeine, sodium citrate, gum arabic, erythorbic acid (preserves freshness), calcium disodium edta (to protect flavor) and yellow 5
Worst energy drink: Rockstar, 16 ounces
Sugar: 63 grams
Calories: 260
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 85 mg
Carbohydrates: 64 grams
Ingredients: Carbonated water, sugar, glucose syrup, citric acid, taurine, natural and artificial flavor, sodium citrate, caffeine, caramel color, glucuronolactone, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), potassium sorbate (preserves freshness), inositol, l-carnitine, guarana seed extract, niacinamide (vitamin b3), calcium pantothenate (vitamin b5), milk thistle extract, panax ginseng root extract, yellow 5, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin (vitamin b2) and cyanocobalamin (vitamin b12)
Worst tea: Snapple Peach Tea, 16 ounces
Sugar: 40 grams
Calories: 160
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 10 mg
Carbohydrates: 40 grams
Ingredients: Filtered water, sugar, citric acid, tea, and natural flavors
Worst wild card: Calypso Coral Blast Lemonade, 16 ounces
Sugar: 51 grams
Calories: 220
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 0 mg
Carbohydrates: 54 grams
Ingredients: Filtered water, sugar, lemon juice from concentrate, citric acid, lemon fruit pulp, natural and artificial flavors, modified food starch, fd&c red 40, and edta to protect color
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
