If you have diabetes, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is about more than looking for carbohydrate-controlled snacks. Beverage choices can also have a significant impact on blood sugar management. Sugar is a carbohydrate, and carbohydrates have a bigger impact on blood sugar levels than other nutrients do. Sugary beverages also add empty calories to the diet. Adding to those health concerns, research has found that sugary drinks are linked to an increased risk of heart disease in people with Type 2 diabetes.
One way you can help your body stay healthy and, more importantly, keep your blood sugar level healthy, is by staying aware of what you’re reaching for when you’re thirsty.
3 Healthy, Low-Sugar Drink Choices
If you’re wondering what sugar-free and low-sugar drinks can help with your blood sugar levels, a few good options include:
- Coffee. On top of tasting great, caffeinated coffee helps you focus and stay alert. Coffee also offers other health perks, including heart health benefits. However, leave the added sugar and sugar substitutes out.
- Tea. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, potential benefits of drinking tea include reducing your risk for heart disease and cancer and aiding in weight loss. Research is ongoing to prove these benefits of tea, but one meta-analysis found that green tea may reduce fasting blood glucose levels, compared with caffeinated/decaffeinated coffee or black tea and water in people over 55 years of age. As with coffee, sweetening your tea with sugar takes away from its health benefits, so stick with plain tea or add a little unsweetened milk.
- Water. As the ultimate calorie-free drink, water is naturally sugar-free. It helps you stay hydrated when you have diabetes and keeps your blood sugar in check. Just be sure to drink it regularly. Not drinking enough can hinder your body’s ability to manage blood sugar levels. If you want to jazz it up, add some fresh fruit, cucumbers, mint or other herbs, or try sugar-free sparkling water.
For your friends and family without diabetes, encourage them to have what you’re having. The American Diabetes Association found that swapping one sugary or artificially sweetened drink per day with water, coffee or tea reduces your risk for diabetes by as much as 10 percent.
Drinks That Can Spike Your Blood Sugar Levels
There’s a good chance that if you’re not carefully monitoring what you drink, you’re consuming plenty of sugar in those beverages. Drinks with the most sugar include:
- Energy drinks. Along with a jolt of energy, energy drinks may give you as much sugar as a typical soda.
- Fruit punch. Don’t let the pictures of fruit on the labels fool you. Fruit punch and fruit juice blends often contain a lot of sugar and flavorings and often very little actual fruit.
- Soda. A single 12-ounce can of soda can contain up to 10 teaspoons, or 420 grams, of sugar—more sugar than adults should consume in one day. Many diet sodas use artificial sweeteners, which don’t seem to affect blood sugar levels but also don’t offer any health benefits, as the healthy options above do.
Drinks With “Hidden” Sugar
Sometimes, what you think is a low-sugar drink isn’t. Consuming drinks with “hidden” sugar can have immediate effects on your glucose levels.
A few drinks that may have a lot of sugar that you may not realize include:
- Coffee beverages. As mentioned above, black coffee or coffee with a little milk can be a healthy drink. However, canned coffees, flavored coffees and lattes, and coffee-based shakes can be loaded with sugar. Read labels carefully or make your own versions at home, where you can better control the sugar content.
- Fruit juice. Fresh fruit contains vitamins, minerals and fiber. It also has a lot of natural sugar. When you eat fruit, fiber keeps the sugar from hitting your bloodstream too quickly. However, a lot of the fiber gets removed when whole fruits are turned into juice. That’s why drinking fruit juice can cause a spike in glucose. Some fruit juices also have added sugar, so check the labels carefully.
- Sports drinks. Sports drinks were created for athletes who are working hard and sweating a lot. The purpose is to replenish vitamins and minerals lost during exercise. However, a single bottle contains over two dozen grams of added sugars. Stick with water when you’re exercising or working outside on a hot day.
Sugar by Its Many, Many Names Is Still Sugar
Sugar comes in many forms. Learning its various names can help you from unknowingly consuming more sugar than you realize. In ingredients lists, added sugar may show up as:
- Cane juice
- Corn syrup
- Dextrose
- Fructose
- Fruit juice concentrates
- Glucose
- High fructose corn syrup
- Malt or maple syrup
- Sucrose
- Sugar cane
Making healthy choices pays off, but staying vigilant can be hard. When you’re looking for low-sugar drinks, keep it simple: Water is the best option, and it flows freely right out of your tap.
More to Read
- Is Caffeine Bad for Your Heart? It Depends.
- How Eating Added Sugar Puts You at Higher Risk for Health Issues
- A Guide to Better Understanding Food Labels
- Staying Hydrated When You Have Diabetes
Medically reviewed by Catherine Vroome, MS, RD, LDN, CDCES, Diabetes and Nutrition Educator at The University of Maryland Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology at Upper Chesapeake Health
