Flavoured Water has as much Sugar as 3 Doughnuts!!

An interesting article in the Daily Mail this week revealed that some bottles of flavoured water have as much as 3 times the amount of sugar that can be found in a krispy kreme donut.  This is quite shocking when you consider the fact that phrases such as “healthy hydration” are used to advertise these drinks. 

We are often told that we should drink between 6-8 glasses of water per day.  This seems far too much for some people as they do not enjoy drinking plain water, which is why they opt for the flavoured varitey. 

I used to regularly purchase Volvic’s Touch of Fruit when it was first released thinking that it was a healthier option in comparison to Ribena and other diluted drinks.  However, when I checked the calorie content and it had nearly 100 calories I knew that it must be filled with sugar. 

Touch of Fruit in lemon and lime flavour has 27.5g of sugar in the popular 500ml bottle which is the equivalent to nearly seven teaspoons.  This is also the equivalent of eating 3 powdered blueberry filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts which have only 9g of sugar each.

Campaigners have encouraged flavoured water brands to mention the high sugar levels contained in their drinks rather than focusing solely on the fruit content.  When customers hear of a high fruit content in a product they are more inclined to believe that they are consuming something healthy.  The advertisers know that this is not the case .

Drench flavoured water has the highest sugar content, it contains a whopping 40.48g of sugar per 440ml bottle.  Drench was launched by Britvic last year and invites customers to “improve their alertness”.  Sugar can help you to feel more alert as it provides your body with energy that can be used quickly but the effect soon fades away and you want more sugary food.

Adults are recommended to eat no more than approximately 40g of sugar per day, so always pay attention to the label of the drinks that you buy and then try to make the best choice.