Unhealthiest Drinks in America

SoBe Zen Tea (20 oz bottle)

• 275 calories
• 70 g sugar

Though the name might scream “healthy” to the unsuspecting drinker, there is little to celebrate about this beverage. SoBe can cram their drinks full of healthy-sounding extracts and vitamin supplements, but they can’t escape the fact that high-fructose corn syrup outranks tea on the ingredients list.

Rockstar Original (16 oz can)

• 280 calories
• 62 g sugar

Energy drink makers might feign a level of health by fortifying their products with a cocktail of vitamins and minerals, but don’t be fooled: Any minimal benefit they might provide is snuffed out by the blanket of sugar and calories each can contains. Want energy? Try a cup of homebrewed black tea. It nearly zero calories and contains a deluge of disease-fighting antioxidants.

Lipton Iced Brisk Lemon Iced Tea (20 oz bottle)

• 325 calories
• 81 g sugar

Iced tea is loaded with metabolism-boosting, cancer-fighting compounds called polyphenols, but Lipton does its best to undo any potential healthy benefit you might derive from the tea’s antioxidants by drowning them in 20 teaspoons of sugar. Your tea of choice should carry no more than 15 grams of sugar per 20-oz serving.

Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5 oz can)

• 360 calories
• 84 grams of sugar

These hulking calorie cannons (5 percent juice, 95 percent sugar water) are sold at gas stations and convenience stores across America for the low, low price of 99 cents, making this quite possibly the cheapest source of empty calories in the country.

Worst Chocolate Milk

Nesquik (16 oz bottle)

• 400 calories
• 10 g fat (6 g saturated)
• 60 g sugar

Quik and other chocolate milk manufacturers try to sell parents on the bone-building calcium found in their product, but what they don’t talk about is the fact that a single bottle of this stuff contains as much sugar as three Haagen Dazs Vanilla and Almond ice cream bars. Yikes. Make a healthier version yourself at home with 2 percent milk and a scoop of real powdered cocoa—you’ll save about 150 calories, plus get the antioxidant benefits of cacao without the high-fructose corn syrup.

Caribou Coffee Large Chai Tea Latte

• 420 calories
• 47 g sugar

This is exactly the kind of drink that health-conscious consumers knock down each morning while thinking they’re doing themselves a favor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Flavored lattes—even ones flavored with seemingly healthy stuff like chai—are bad news. Stick to skinny lattes or unsweetened chai.

Worst Kid’s Hot Beverage

Cosi Kid’s Hot Chocolate (12 oz)

• 436 calories
• 60 g sugar

While most parents sip their lattes and cappuccinos, most kids sip on hot chocolate. Problem is, few things could be worse for a growing body. There are more calories in this small drink than in Cosi’s Gooey Grilled Cheese sandwich, plus enough sugar to send your kids bouncing off the walls.

Starbucks Venti White Hot Chocolate

• 640 calories
• 23 g fat (15 g saturated)
• 76 g sugar

Caffeine abstainers will find little nutritional refuge in Starbucks’ hot chocolate concoctions. This one packs an entire day’s worth of saturated fat, with more than enough sugar to set you up for a dramatic mid-afternoon energy crash. Stick with the Steamed Apple Juice instead.

Starbucks Venti 2% Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha

• 660 calories
• 22 g fat (14 g saturated)
• 95 g sugar

Important rule of thumb: Avoid holiday-themed items from coffee shops at all costs. From peppermint to egg nog to pumpkin, these are often the most sugar- and fat-packed drinks you’ll find at places like Starbucks. Make your own flavored drinks instead, using skim milk, sugar-free syrups, and, of course, skipping the whip.

Baskin-Robbins Pomegranate Banana Fruit Blast Smoothie (32 oz)

• 1,020 calories
• 232 g sugar

With three of the five worst drinks in America, you have to wonder if Baskin-Robbins is in bed with the sugar cane industry. One thing is for sure: People ordering this “smoothie” expecting a healthy afternoon snack have something else coming to them. The second ingredient, after water, is sugar. If you must sip on something at Baskin-Robbins, make it a small low-fat Cappuccino Blast, which has just 220 calories and one-fifth of the sugar of this Fruit Blast.

Cosi Gigante Double OH! Arctic (24 oz)

• 1,033 calories
• 35 g fat
• 177 g carbohydrates

Frozen coffee amalgamations pollute the antioxidant powers of a simple cup of joe with a huge hit of whole milk, sugary syrups, and whipped cream. What you end up with, in worst-case scenarios like this, is half a day’s worth of calories, ready to be sipped down in a matter of minutes. Want a cold caffeine kick? Try iced coffee.

Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 oz)

• 1,170 calories
• 169 g sugars

Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie; we call it a milkshake, with more sugar than an entire bag of chocolate chips. (Note: We’re pretty sure this is the drink Hollywood actors rely on when looking to put on 20 pounds for the role as a heavy!)

Baskin-Robbins Large York Peppermint Pattie Shake (32 oz)

• 2,210 calories
• 103 g fat (57 g saturated)
• 281 g sugar

The freakish brother of the Heath monster, the York shake earns its title as the most sugar-saturated product in America. To put it in perspective, you’d have to down 15 Twinkies to match the sugar content in this Baskin-Robbins blunder. Source MSN