You would never eat it, why drink it?

On May 24, a new study published in the journal 
Circulation found a link between avoiding sugary drinks and lowering blood pressure. If you knew the dietary equivalent of your favorite drinks - including waters, teas, smoothies - you may rethink every sip.

 

Since the April 12 launch of Kentucky Fried Chicken's (KFC) Double Down Sandwich (described as a "one-of-a-kind sandwich with two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets, two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce"), comparison charts have popped up all over the web in search of the ‘unhealthiest sandwich ever' and efforts to increase its unhealthiness inspired by the book This Is Why You Are Fat ($9.99/€8.06). 

With an intense eye on the global effort to fight obesity, calorie, fat, sugar and sodium charts are popping up everywhere. The Double Down has the following unhealthy scorecard: 540 calories, 145 mg cholesterol, 1,380 mg sodium and 32 g fat. 

Keep those numbers in mind, because on May 7 , Leenks, a blog self-defined as "random bullshit and notifications of new stuff," posted a ranking of 20 "Harmful Drinks in America" taken from the newly published book Drink This, Not That! ($19.95/€16.10) including their sugary snack equivalent and a better option.

Here are some of the highlights adapted from Leenks:

#20 Worst water: Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water (1 bottle, 20 fl oz/0.59L)
150 calories, 0 g fat, 33 g sugars
Sugar equivalent: 2 Good Humor Chocolate Éclair Bars
Alternative: water

#18 Worst energy drink: Rockstar Energy Drink (1 can, 16 fl oz/0.47L)
280 calories, 0 g fat, 62 g sugars
Sugar equivalent: 6 Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnuts
Alternative: Monster Lo-Carb (1 can, 16 fl oz/0.47L) ?20 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g sugars

#9 Worst hot chocolate?: Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz/ 0.59L)
520 calories, 16 g fat (11g saturated), 75 g sugars?
Sugar equivalent: 9 Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
Alternative: Starbuck's Hot Chocolate with Nonfat Milk (grande, 16 fl oz/0.47L)?
240 calories, 2.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 40 g sugars

And, the top three are calorically equivalent to eating two, three and four Double Down - to view the complete list and see what beverages equal eating 68 pieces of bacon, 20 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and 13 McDonald's Baked Hot Apple Pies, go to: http://www.leenks.com/link274061.html
Full study, "Reducing Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Is Associated With Reduced Blood Pressure": http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.911164v1
To view the complete unhealthiest sandwich index, go to: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/04/double-down-by-numbers-unhealthiest.html