If I Were the Food Police, I'd Ban Sweet Tea from the Daily Diet

However, I'm NOT the food police, and you will never see me collaring people in public about their eating habits and choices.

Not my style.

However, it's sometimes tempting...

Instead, I'll offer my unsolicited advice here.

Today, at a restaurant, I overhead two somewhat rotund ladies order sweet tea. Well, they weren't terribly overweight, but enough that I wanted to shout, "No, no, no!!! Please order the unsweetened tea and use artificial sweetner or drink it plain."

Here's why:

A 21-ounce serving of McDonalds' sweet tea has 180 calories!

Okay, that might not sound like a lot, but if you add it into your daily diet, over the course of a year, that translates into 67,700 empty calories, and a potential weight gain of 18.77 pounds!

Also, consumers often go for refills, yet another 180 calories (135,400 per year, 38.7 yearly weight gain!).

Of course, if that's a normal part of your 1,500-1,800 per day allotment, then this might not apply to you from a weight perspective.

But if you're looking at the health aspect, ingesting so much sugar cannot be good for you, even if you're maintaining a normal weight, for you will likely end up being deprived nutritionally in some other areas.

Also, if you're eating at a restaurant, it is likely that you will be eating over your optimal calorie allotment for one meal, which is okay for an occasional treat.

But why add 180-360 empty calories to the meal?

I'm not saying that you should never enjoy full-calorie sweet tea and sodas. Occasionally, I'll drink a small "real" Coke, IF it's made with cane sugar (Yes, there is a taste different, no matter what the corn syrup industry tries to tell you), but in my everyday life, I drink diet soda or even just plain water.

Just be aware that your daily choices should be smart ones, that is, if you want to maintain optimal health and weight.

Look. I'm far from perfect and have been known to make some unwise choices based on "wants," and I occasionally go on food benders of sorts. I'm a total food addict.

But over the past year, my overall lifestyle has changed dramatically, my daily choices much better.

Besides, D-I-E-T (in the sense of deprivation) is a dirty four-letter word.

So enjoy your occasional treats, even sweet tea, which the two ladies may have been doing.

And your only food police should be YOU, not any random strangers!