The 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America

By: Matt Goulding

• 20. Worst Light Beer
• 19. Worst "Healthy" Drink
• 18. Worst Soda
• 17. Worst Beer
• 16. Worst Lemonade
• 15. Worst Tea-Like Substance
• 14. Worst Energy Drink
• 13. Worst Iced Tea
• 12. Worst Juice Imposter
• 11. Worst Chocolate Milk
• 10. Worst Chai Tea Drink
• 9. Worst Kid's Hot Beverage
• 8. Worst Summer Cocktail
• 7. Worst Coffee Alternative
• 6. Worst Hot Coffee
• 5. Worst Blended Fruit Drink
• 4. Worst Frozen Coffee Drink
• 3. Worst Smoothie
• 2. Worst Milkshake
• 1. The Worst Drink in America

Americans have a drinking problem, and not the type you might think. As the authors of the best-selling book Eat This, Not That!, David Zinczenko and co-author Matt Goulding get e-mails all the time from readers who claim they eat carefully, they work out consistently, but they still can't get the needle on the scale to budge. "What gives?" goes the collective, exasperated refrain from the stagnant dieter.

What most people don't know is that the biggest roadblock between you and the body you want isn't found at the end of a fork, but at the bottom of a glass. As a country we take in 21 percent of our daily calories from beverages and, according to the FDA, the average American takes in 82 grams of added sugars every day. That's 20 teaspoons, which contribute an empty 317 calories to our already calorie-saturated diets.

Sure, some of that comes from soda, but even if you've traded regular Coke for diet, whole milk coffee drinks for low-fat lattes, and you barely touch the booze, you could still be taking in 20 percent or more of your calories from beverages. Add in a few of those other indulgences-or consume one of the liquid disasters listed here—and you can suddenly be sucking in a few days' worth of calories through a straw! (You read that last sentence right.)

To give you a better idea of the drinks most responsible for sabotaging your health, fitness, and weight-loss goals, we created a list of America's Unhealthiest Drinks. Read up on them using the index at left, then sip responsibly.

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