Against a backdrop of heightened concerns over our intake of sugar as a nation, it seems Londoners are taking heed of health advice to hydrate with water, which has no calories or sugar.
For the third year running, the volume of bottled water purchased in the capital has outstripped all other individual cold beverage categories and has seen continued growth. Londoners consumed 9% more bottled water in 2013 than in 2012.
However, despite this shift towards the healthier water option, in 2013 Londoners still purchased and consumed nearly twice as much sugar-sweetened beverages (including cola, flavoured carbonated drinks and fruit juice) than bottled water. For the average Londoner, this means that for every one litre of bottled water consumed, two litres of sugar-sweetened beverages were drunk.
According to the Healthy Hydration Glass developed by the Natural Hydration Council in association with the British Nutritional Foundation, water is the only drink adults should drink ‘plenty’ of.
Health advice suggests people should consume, via food and drink, between 2.5 litres of fluid for men and 2 litres of fluid for women per day. The Department of Health’s Change for Life campaign advises people to swap soft drinks containing sugar for sugar-free drinks, recommending water as one of the healthiest options.
Kinvara Carey from the Natural Hydration Council said: “It is hugely encouraging to see people choosing to drink water when they are out and faced with so much choice on the supermarket shelf. As we know, natural mineral and spring waters have zero calories and sugar and are one of the healthiest ways to hydrate.
“Bottled water has one of the smallest environmental impacts of any drink on the shelf, whether judged by its carbon footprint or its water footprint.”
According to NHC, Sugar sweetened beverages on average have a 2-3 times greater carbon footprint than naturally sourced bottled water, whilst fruit juices or smoothies impact the environment 7-8 times more.
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