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Flavored Water: What’s In Your Beverage?

Do you find the taste of water to be bland and gross? Are you guilty of using flavored water enhancers in order to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day? If you are you’ll want to keep reading to see what you’ve been really putting in your body.

Now for those who are unfamiliar with water enhancers, they are usually found as liquids or powders that can be added to water, most commonly water bottles, to change the flavor. Common ingredients in this product are sugar, various flavorings and even artificial flavors. Even though these are approved by the FDA does that consider them as safe? While a lot of those ingredients seem common in most foods you eat there are still other ingredients involved in this process that are most certainly NOT common.

A couple of things that can be found in water enhancers are Propylene glycol, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, and artificial colors. Propylene glycol serves as a solvent in items with added colors and flavors. It’s also used in some paints and plastics, which raises some eyebrows about its safety. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener 600 times sweeter than table sugar. Some watchdog groups say “not so fast!” because of reports of negative effects in rodents (leukemia and effects on the thymus gland). Although lots of evidence says sucralose is safe for humans, these animal studies may lead some to prefer to shy away from it. Acesulfame potassium (a.k.a., “Ace-K”), an artificial sweetener that’s 200 times sweeter than sugar, was also approved as safe by the FDA after a review of nearly 100 studies. But, some food safety advocates have pointed out that a lot of those studies were done back in the ‘70s and had some serious design flaws. Artificial colors are used in a huge variety of foods and beverages, and each one ranks differently in terms of safety. A few key points: Blue-1 and Yellow-5 can cause allergic reactions in some people and it’s suspected that some dyes may cause hyperactivity in some children; more research on the safety of the dyes is needed, as they are so commonly used.

A few drops of water enhancer is UNLIKELY to expose you to enough of these harmful ingredients listed above, however why take the chance when there are safer alternatives out there that don’t run this risk! Making a decision about a water enhancer may come down to weighing the pros and cons of what matters most to you. Our health matters greatly to us and that is why we use Sustain® from Melaleuca to make our water taste delicious! What Makes It Different? Sustain® Sport is the only performance drink with four electrolytes and just 10 calories per serving to help you rehydrate, rebound, and recover. Why Is That Important? Electrolytes are crucial minerals that are lost when you sweat, and water alone can’t put them back. Electrolytes perform three key functions: help maintain proper muscle function, help ensure proper communication between the muscles and brain, and also supports energy and water absorption into the body.

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The Real Consequences of Sugar

Did you know you have about 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar in your 6 quarts of blood? If you drink a sweetened soda or juice with about 8 teaspoons of sugar and all that sugar went into your bloodstream, you could go into shock, a coma, and possibly die.

Fortunately, your body has protection devices. Your pancreas injects insulin into your blood to counteract the sugar. If it only happened occasionally it would be no big deal. However, with the diets that most of us now consume, our insulin levels are generally elevated.

Today’s diet is overloaded in both salt and sugar. We are addicted to sugar. In fact, the gut develops microbes that crave sugar and makes the urges to consume it even greater.

Insulin lets cells take in the sugar, but with too much sugar the excess gets converted to fat. The increased insulin levels also lead to higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure and a thickening of your arteries. This is what is called “fat-storage mode.” As blood sugar rises, the insulin tells your body to store fat, instead of using it. Hence, losing weight is even more difficult.

Also, your pancreas was not meant to produce this constant high level of insulin. It can wear out with heavy use and cannot make insulin fast enough to handle all the sugar. And when the sugar stays in the blood for too long it can bind with cell proteins and damage them.

In the final analysis, sugar increases insulin production which contributes to both obesity and diabetes.

Of course, the goal is to remain in “fat-reduction mode.” By keeping your blood sugar levels balanced, you promote a healthy insulin response. As a result, your body uses up fat rather than storing it. Any efforts to lose weight are optimized and easier to achieve.

Great. Now, how do you do it?

The answers are simple, but not necessarily easy, since sugar is an addiction. Besides the obvious reduction of sugar intake, there is a remarkable product that helps to regulate blood sugar. That product, made by an American green manufacturing company, is called GC Control. The “GC” is short for glucose. This outstanding formulation provides natural blood sugar support, by helping your body remain in an optimal calorie-burning range by controlling carb and sugar cravings.