What exactly is a lifestyle drink?

The "lifestyle drink" section in one of the major supermarket chains has always bothered me. It makes me laugh every time I walk past it. Who came up with this? What does a sugary drink have to do with lifestyle? It's mostly iced teas and sports drinks with a few alcohol free wines and beers.

 

 

Speaking of sugary drinks, a couple of days ago, the Australia Governments National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released their revised dietary guidelines (which happens every 10 years) and for the first time they recommended people "limit added sugar", especially in drinks. Placing it in the same category as added salt and alcohol. I thought it already was.

 

Their strongest evidence-based argument is that; when people indulge in a sugary drink they don't consider these calories as significant and are not likely to cut back on other foods. 

 

Like Oprah says, "don't drink your calories!"

 

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) oppose this new recommendation on the premise that there isn't enough scientific evidence to support it. Dr Geoffrey Robinson, Deputy CEO of the AFGC states that "the jury should still be sitting on the fence on that one". He goes on to say that "there's been evidence even in the last couple of months indicating that sugar is no more than a carbohydrate" Seriously? How does this guy sleep at night? It's like the climate change argument. How much scientific evidence do you need? What about common sense?

 

Why don't we all just survive on processed cheese, white bread, sports drinks, fruit roll-ups and multi-vitamins? Sounds to me like good old Geoffery would approve.

 

These guidelines are based on thousands of peer reviewed papers. I'm so proud of the NHMRC for standing their ground on this one. I'm sure we don't appreciate how much pressure they would have been under going against the AFGC's own recommendations.

 

Which brings me back to the "lifestyle drinks" section in the supermarket. I fundamentally object to the categorisation of a sugary drink being related to lifestyle. It gives it a positive connotation e.g. if you drink Gatorade/Powerade, therefore you must be a hardcore sportsman; or drinking iced tea is good for you because it contains antioxidants.

For the record, I think sports drinks are a gimmick and the majority of people who drink them, don't need to. And the antioxidant properties of your iced tea are more than likely counterbalanced by the added sugar and artificial flavours it contains. If you want antioxidants, why don't you just have a cup of tea?

I admit I drink the occasional soft drink or iced tea. I'm not saying we should cut them out completely. What I am saying is that I don't understand how the average person thinks its okay to drink these things on a daily basis.

One third of men and just over half the women in Australia are over weight or obese. How did we get so lost? How sad that it's our governments responsibility to give us healthy eating guidelines in the first place? The rich knowledge of generations past has been lost and now we don't seem to know how to eat.

If only the NHMRC guidelines could be "eat food, not too much, mostly plants" - (Michael Pollan, In defense of Food). But people seem to have forgotten, what is "food". It certainly doesn't include "lifestyle drinks".

 

Sorry for my blog hiatus, I've moved interstate and well, life gets complicated sometimes. I have lots of food posts coming though, so please keep reading!