50 Unhealthiest Drinks on the Planet (Slideshow)

Many of us grew up in homes where soda was the go-to beverage of choice for family dinners and school celebrations. Nowadays, parents across the nation are shamed if they’re seen sipping the stuff—or worse—serving it to their little ones.

And it’s not your imagination. Sugary and diet drinks have indeed become taboo, which has resulted in fewer people drinking soda. Sales of carbonated soft drinks in America have dropped for 11 consecutive years, with consumption of the bubbly stuff hitting a 30-year low earlier this year, according to a 2017 report from Beverage Digest as reported by Forbes.

So why aren’t we all losing weight and shedding belly fat? Soda has been named public enemy number one, so it’s only logical to assume if we all stay away from Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Dr. Pepper, the pounds will melt away—and in theory, that’s 100 percent true. However, there’s one big problem: Very few of us are swapping soda for plain ol’ H2O. Instead, we’re looking to other beverages like juices and flavored waters to fill the void. While many of these soda alternatives market themselves as the “healthier choice,” that’s not always the case.

That’s why the Eat This, Not That! team ventured to beverage aisles, restaurants, and coffee shops near and far, with the goal of uncovering the unhealthiest drinks on the planet. Some obvious things like orange soda made the list, but we’d bet there are a number of other sips you’ve never been suspicious of that are filled with sludge you’d never knowingly want inside your body. Read on to get in the know, and then toss out any junky drinks that are lingering in your kitchen. And while you’re at it, you may as well get rid of these unhealthiest foods on the planet, too!

10. Diet Soda

What do cancer-causing artificial colors, flame retardants, and fat-causing fake sugars all have in common? They’re all in your favorite diet fizzy drinks. Shove all that into a bottle laced with BPA, a chemical that’s been linked to obesity, and you’ve pretty much got one of the worst drinks ever. Nearly all popular diet sodas contain aspartame, an artificial sweetener that was initially developed to aid weight loss, but that has recently been found to have the opposite effect.

”Sugar substitutes like aspartame are designed to promote weight loss and decrease the incidence of metabolic syndrome, but a number of clinical and epidemiologic studies have suggested that these products don’t work very well and may actually make things worse,” says Richard Hodin, MD, lead author of a recent study on the matter. So what should you be sipping instead?

Drink This! Instead: Water is always a safe choice, as are these healthy soda alternatives.

11. Ginger Beer

Sorry, Dark ‘n Stormy fans, but ginger beer isn’t good news for your waistline. In fact, it’s one of the most calorie-dense carbonated drinks on the market. An average 7-ounce serving has 171 calories, which brakes down to about 24 calories per ounce. For comparison, a typical vending machine soda has 14 calories per ounce. To learn more about how all your favorite colas stack up, don’t miss our report, most popular sodas ranked.

Drink This! Instead: Looking for ginger? Try ginger tea! Boil a cup of water with an inch of sliced ginger. You’ll reap the digestion-boosting benefits of ginger without the sugar.

31. Orange Juice

Sure, it’s natural and overflowing with vitamin C, but it’s loaded with sugar—and totally void of any nutrients like fiber or protein to help slow the sugar spike. An average glass packs 36 grams of sugar —or about what you’d get from popping 4 Krispy Kreme glazed donuts into a blender and hitting frappe. What’s more, most of the sweetness in orange juice comes from fructose, a type of sugar associated with the development of belly fat.

Drink This! Instead: A better drink for citrus lovers? Water flavored with fresh slices of oranges, lemon, and grapefruit. For added benefits, keep the peels on. Citrus peels contain the antioxidant d-limonene, a powerful compound that helps flush out stored visceral fat.

32. Conventional Skim Milk

While skim milk may be lowest in calories, many of its vitamins are fat-soluble, which means you won’t get all the benefits of the alphabetical nutrients listed on your cereal box unless you opt for at least 1%. Why’s it important to opt for grass-fed, organic cartons over the conventional stuff? Not only does it taste better and stay fresh longer, when the herds graze on grass instead of feed, but their milk also has higher levels of omega-3s and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), a nutrient that boosts immunity, improves bone mass, and even reduce body fat—gotta love that!

Drink This! Instead: To learn more about the best cereal and coffee additions for your health, don’t miss our report, best and worst milk and milk alternatives.

34. Energy Shots

The majority of these little shooters are made up of chemicals, one of which is sodium benzoate. In one study of the effects of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells, researchers found benzoate to be damaging to mitochondria, an important area of DNA. Eek! What’s more, these bad boys rely on waist-widening artificial sweeteners to achieve their sweet flavor.

Drink This! Instead: To amp up your energy the healthy way, stock your kitchen with these healthy energy drinks.

40. Bottled Water

The water isn’t the problem here; it’s the BPA in the bottle. BPA is a hormone-mimicking chemical found in nearly all food packaging plastics, and it’s potentially bad news. According to some pools of research, the chemical may promote cancer and render people infertile. To stay hydrated on the go, buy a BPA-free refillable bottle.

Drink This! Instead: We’re big fans of S’well bottles, which come in a wide array of fashionable patterns and colors.

41. Cola

Eat This, Not That! has been after Coca-Cola’s chemical- and sugar-filled colas since our inception. Not only do they contribute to weight gain and obesity-related diseases like diabetes, but their acidity is also bad news for your digestive system and tooth enamel. The bad news keeps on coming: The caramel color in soda contains an artificially-created phosphorus that can be bad for long-term bone health, cautions Isabel Smith, MS, RD, CDN, of Isabel Smith Nutrition. Plus, caramel color has been found to contain carcinogens, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.

43. Sweetened Milk Alternatives

Sweetened milk alternatives aren’t just spiked with additives like stomach-irritating carrageenan, they’re typically low in protein and a concentrated source of sugar. (A combination that will leave your stomach rumbling!) An 8-ounce serving can easily carry as much of the sweet stuff as a half a can of soda, none of which is naturally occurring. Cow’s milk, on the other hand, gets all of its sweetness from naturally occurring lactose, a sugar present in milk.

48. Lemonade

For many of us, lemonade evokes memories of cute kids sitting at a stand the end of their driveway. And while the littles pushing the drink may be innocent enough, the beverage itself is not. Teaming with 120 calories and nearly 30 grams of sugar per cup, the only thing we like about this drink is it’s fairly harmless list of ingredients. While water, sugar, and lemon juice won’t make you sick, drinking it in excess could bring on a metabolic condition that will.

Drink This! Instead: Throw a couple of lemon slides in some water for a refreshing sip.

50 Unhealthiest Drinks on the Planet