Water is the main component of the body and its percentage changes throughout life. At birth, the body is composed of seventy-five to eighty-five percent water. As we grow, this percentage decreases. In adulthood, water represents approximately sixty to seventy percent of our body, although this percentage can vary depending on each person’s characteristics.
Dietary water intake comes from twenty to thirty percent of the food we eat throughout the day and seventy to eighty percent of the drinks we consume. It is important to select the drinks we consume daily appropriately since they can have different compositions, and not all are healthy or beneficial. On the contrary, some could cause alterations in health.
High consumption of sugary drinks can have negative repercussions, as it is related to the development of overweight, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, hypertriglyceridemia, and dyslipidemia, among other chronic non-communicable diseases. Sugary drinks or drinks with added sugar may contain sugars like sucrose, maltose, high fructose syrup, cane sugar syrup, dextrose, and inverted sugar.
But how do you choose which drinks to consume?
To drink, you need to select the beverages. Beverages are classified into six levels according to the recommended quantities, throughout the day. Level one includes natural drinking water, with a recommended amount of six to eight glasses per day, being the most recommended drink. The last two levels of five and six are fruit juices, sports drinks, soft drinks, and flavored waters, with a recommendation of half-a-glass, being the least recommended drink for consumption.
Although plain water is the most recommended drink to meet water needs and allow the body to perform its functions, it is necessary to drink other types of drinks. However, it is essential to know their nutritional composition, since most of the drinks available in the market contain high levels of sugars such as sucrose, maltose, high fructose syrup, cane sugar syrup, dextrose, and inverted sugar.
To identify the ingredients and the amount of sugar, present in a drink, it is essential to read the labels of each product. It is important to identify the types of sugars they contain and the total amount of sugar to avoid those with a higher content. Certain drinks can be found on the market with the amount of sugar consumed when drinking them.
Although plain water is the most recommended for covering your water requirements, you can consume other types of drinks, but, you must not lose sight of the importance of reading the labels of the products you consume to know the total sugar content, or you can opt for drinks that do not contain an excess of sugar.
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