MANILA, Philippines—Water is still the best drink for dieters. However, not all can embrace a soda-free lifestyle.

Dieters look for low-calorie alternatives that still satisfy their taste buds. In the end, they realize they are gaining instead of losing weight, given the following beliefs on drinks.

Save calories from diet sodas

If you choose diet sodas as alternative to regular sodas, do not expect instant weight loss. A study of the University of Texas Health Science Center shows that dieters who believe they are saving more calories by switching to diet sodas actually consume more calories.

The best thing to do is choose water over colored and flavored drinks. You can still have soda once in a while, but it is better if you break the habit of ordering a drink with your regular meals.

Increase daily intake of fruit juices

We need fruits for vitamins, minerals and fiber that we cannot get from other food groups. But don’t forget fruits also have calories from carbohydrates. If you exceed the amount of calories needed for the day to lose weight because of extra calories from fruit juices, you still gain weight.

If you’ve had enough fruits for the day, like five servings of assorted fruits with a total of 200-300 calories, you don’t need extra servings of fruit juice which is usually equivalent to 100-150 calories per serving. However, you can still have a glass or two of fruit juices if you haven’t had any fruit for the day. Usually, a serving of fruit is equivalent to half a glass of fruit juice.

Drink more sports drinks

Most exercisers trying to lose weight tend to consume more sports drinks than what they need since they believe doing so helps improve performance without causing weight gain.

Sports drinks should be consumed only after 60-90 minutes of continuous activities like running or basketball to replenish the electrolytes and carbohydrates needed to sustain performance. For activities less than 60 minutes, water is still the best choice.

Choose light beer

Alcohol drinkers conscious about their weight would choose light beer over the regular ones to save calories. This eating behavior still causes unintentional weight gain.

Based on recent studies, a person who consumes “light” or “low-calorie” food alternatives such as light drinks has a greater tendency to increase his consumption of snacks like nuts, chips and fried finger foods.

You might have saved 50 calories per bottle of light beer (1 regular beer = 150 calories), but if you finish five bottles during the drinking session, that’s 500 calories. If you do this once a month without workout and food modification, expect a 1.7-pound weight gain in one year. What more if you drink more than five bottles a week?

It really doesn’t make a big difference if you choose light over regular alcohol drinks. To avoid weight gain, decrease the frequency of your drinking events.

E-mail the author at mitchfelipe@gmail.com