5 Drinks to Never Touch Again

Sugary drinks like milkshakes and artificial juices will spike your blood sugar levels, increase fat storage, gradually promote insulin resistance along with a slew of other not-so-fun health problems. There are several culprits, some you might not be aware of — yet. Take a look and see which drinks you need to cut from your diet immediately.

Soda: Duh. Somehow these canned con artists slip their way into your fridge, promising refreshing taste with low calories and "diet"-friendly options. Don't do it! Soda does weird things: stores fat in your liver and skeleton, increases your waistline, possibly accelerates aging (thanks to extra phosphate) and causes cavities. If it's the bubbly carbonation you crave, sparkling water can do that, too.

Sweetened iced tea: It's in the name! These drinks are artificially sweetened, not to mention all the bottled teas are formulated with bogus additives and starved of polyphenols and natural nutrients.

Sports drinks: If you're not out playing sports and running around, the extra sugar and calories in these drinks will do nothing but stick to you. Even athletes are exploring better options than Gatorade and vitamin waters now because of their high-sugar content. Try coconut water, lemon water or Runa.

Energy drinks: This includes your Monster and your Red Bull cans (go ahead and weep). If you need to down one of these every day, a possible addiction problem could be in the works. Red Bull contains 27 grams of sugar per can and most of the calories from this drink come from the sugar.

Fancy coffee drinks: Shout out to the McDonald's McCafe Mocha at 42 grams of sugar per drink, Caribou Coffee's Gingersnap Cookie Mocha at 43 grams, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf White Chocolate Latte at 41 grams, Starbucks Eggnog Latte at 38 grams and so forth. The consumer favorite, pumpkin spice, will not be mentioned here because enough damage has been done. But you get the picture! (via Health)

>> Read more: Get the Skinny on Your Favorite Coffehouse Drinks