Low Cal Virgin Pina Colada Mocktail Monday w/ Rebecca

By Jonathan Saldivar

Transcript

Hey guys, what's up? My name is Rebecca I'm here at 310 Nutrition. Today is Mocktail Monday and for today's Mocktail Monday recipe I'm gonna be showing you guys how to make a super low cal virgin pina colada using 310 lemonade as well as their MCT oil.

In addition to what I'm using in today's video, 310 offers a wide array of other products that I think you guys might be interested in. You can check them out at the bottom of this video. [For transcript readers, here is 310's Product Selection]

As a whole, 310 is committed to delivering products made with the highest quality ingredients and formulated for optimum nutrition so that you can reach your health, fitness, and weight goals. 

Why Drink Mocktails?

So, on that note, why mocktails, what is the deal with mocktails. If you're anything like me, you have been, maybe you are on a health journey and you probably, you know, taken into account what you're eating and done not quite a lot.

As we know, food is a sort of a big gateway to overall wellness and reaching your goals. But in addition to food, I think it's really important to take a look at what you're drinking because prior to getting educated on what drinks contain whether that be a soda or a Starbucks drink and iced tea, I was a total drink fiend.

I love, I still love a regular coke, a milkshake. Starbucks is my total guilty pleasure and yes I even add more sugar than I already put in there to my Starbucks drinks. But, anyways drinks a pretty seemingly benign. That you kinda just think oh, they are liquid right? Well, wrong.

Drinks no matter pretty much what the type are the culprits behind being really high calorie and really sugary. And so if you're trying to reach certain goals, what your drinking can potentially hinder you from reaching those goals. 

That being said, I think it's important to when you are considering what you're eating in a day to also take a look at what you're drinking. And just because drinks are caloric and sugary and maybe should be avoided while on your journey, that doesn't mean that you have to stop enjoying drinks and salty drinks and plain water or sparkling water.

There are so many mocktail recipes out there that you can whip up at home so you can you know still enjoy some of your favorite drinks but you can control what you put in them and therefore they will be a little bit of healthier version.

But, yeah, thanks to mocktails, drink don't suddenly have to go by the wayside. 

In line with that, I love to present some of you know research and numbers to help put some things into perspective when I'm talking about drinks and calories and sugar and why they are unhealthy and why you should be taking a look at what you're drinking.

And when I do that I like to pull out my computer because I'm not a nutritionist, I'm not a fitness expert although those are just personal passions. Therefore, when I am reading you stats or numbers I don't wanna accidentally turn facts into fiction by slipping up. 

So, I'm gonna grab my computer and we're gonna get started chatting.

Nutritional Overview and Comparisons

So, as a whole, you probably be surprised to find out how many calories your beverages of choice contain and how they add up at the end of the day.

Just so you can get a better idea of certain drinks and their calories and if you were consuming a drink with every meal along the way or each day, I'm gonna share some info with you from the CDC.

So, if you were to consume a beverage several times a day, here's what it may look like. So your morning coffee 16 ounces with whole milk, that's 260 calories. So, your lunchtime drink, let's say you have a 20-ounce bottle of soda, that's 227 calories. With your afternoon snack, let's say you have a 16 ounce can of sweetened lemonade iced tea. That's 180 calories. And let's say with dinner you have a glass of regular ginger ale in 12 ounces. That's 124 calories. 

So, if you add all that up, that's a total of 796 calories which is a lot just from drinks. Especially if you are trying to reach certain goals you definitely wanna be using all your available calories for really nutritious food to fuel your body. 

Drinks tend to be totally empty calories. So, yeah 796 is a lot, and keep in mind, I know that you're probably not consuming this exact amount or these types of drinks. But if you're not keeping track, it's just a good demonstration of how they can really add up.

So, in addition to calories like I said, drinks are often laden with sugar and their sugar content contributes to the calorie content as well as their just overall unhealthy nature.

So, just for example, since we're making virgin pina coladas today, our regular 8-ounce colada which is like tiny is about 490 calories and 60 grams of sugar. 

So, I'm gonna talk a little bit about how much sugar which we consuming per day so just keep in mind 8-ounce pina colada, 60 grams of sugar, and a whopping 490 calories.

Let me tell you, I don't want an 8-ounce pina colada. I don't know about you guys but it needs to be a lot bigger than that.

So, let me elaborate a little bit more on some research just as to why drinks might be stopping you or preventing you from progressing and reaching your goals.

So, 2015-2020 dietary guidelines for Americans recommended that added sugars make up no more than 10 percent of your daily calories. For a 2000 calorie diet, that's about 12 teaspoons of sugar per day. 

The American Heart Association actually recommends even less. For men, the maximum amount of added you should eat in a day is 150 calories, that's 9 teaspoons. And for women, it's a 100 calories and 6 teaspoons.

So, to put that into another perspective, one 12 ounce can of coke has about 10 teaspoons of sugar. So, that's it. That's about 1 can coke and you're done with the recommended amount of daily sugar that you should be having.

So, other drinks that are notoriously high in hidden sugars are iced teas, fruit juices, vitamin water, and sometimes even Kombucha.

So simply put one sugary drink a day can put you over the recommended limit. And, research also shows that frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with an increased risk of obesity and weight gain developing high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, and increase risk of certain forms of cancer.

So, to really continue to drive this point how about to more stats. So, half of the adults have at least one sugary drink each day at about 20 percent have two or more. So, you're not alone. Most of us, myself included, do this or have done this. It's okay. This is all about just a learning experience not to scare you.

But adults who drink one sugary drink or more per day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese than non-drinkers. If you replace your daily 12-ounce can of coke with water you would save 52,560 calories per year. That amounts you about 15 pounds.

A Harvard-led study in the Journal Circulation found that people who drink 2 or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day have a 31 percent higher risk of early death from cardiovascular disease. 

Each additional soda, sports drink, or sugary beverage increased the risk by 10 percent. A study published in 2015 found that swapping out just one sugary drink a day for coffee, tea or water may reduce the risk of type II diabetes by as much as 25 percent.

So, cutting down or removing sugary drinks from your diet can benefit your health big time. There's no doubt about that. 

Harvard Health Research

And, before moving on from this research, I wanted to talk a little bit about why caloric sugar-laden drinks can contribute directly to weight gain with some info from Harvard health.

So, I haven't shared this before in any of my videos but I was really excited when I came across this study because it was pretty insightful in terms of you know, why drinks specifically can contribute to weight gain.

So, here we go. It has been found that the more ounces of sugary beverages a person has each day. Calories consumed later in the day is likely to go up. On the other hand, when you eat a larger meal it's likely that you're consuming less calories at a later time, This compensatory effect doesn't seem to be present after consuming soft drinks for several possible reasons. 

Here are the reasons:

Fluids don't provide the same feeling of fullness or satisfaction as solid foods as the body doesn't likely register liquid calories as it does calories from solid food. This may prompt to person to even keep eating after intake of a high-calorie drink. So you have a high-calorie drink, you think it might fill you up, nope, you probably still gonna be hungry and you're gonna continue eating.

It's possible that sweet-tasting soft drinks regardless of whether they are sweetened with sugar or calorie free sugar substitute might stimulate the appetite for more sweets.

So, straight for another time, we've all heard about how sugar is addicting so what this can say is when you have sugar your body automatically wants more.

Even though soda may contain more sugar than a cookie because people think of soda as a drink and a cookie as a dessert, they're more likely to limit food than beverages. So this is what I was kind of talking about right at the beginning of the video like, we kind of think drinks as being whatever, super benign and that's why we just kind of consume without a lot of thought but I mean yeah.

I guess you know I wasn't alone in that thinking. And because we don't consider you know drinks heavily when we are taking a sip of them. That's why they're, they contribute to so many extra calories within our diet.

So, with all that said, changing up your beverage choices with some healthier substitutions can make a huge difference in your caloric intake and ultimately may help you reach your goals.

And as I also mentioned at the beginning of this video, thanks to mocktails, you just don't have to give up on yummy drinks. There's so many substitutes and swaps that you can you use to recreate your favorite drink with significantly less calories and sugar and unhealthy ingredients.

Ingredients Overview

So, with that said, I would like to introduce all of the ingredients for today's recipe and then I'm going to jump in and tell you guys a little about what makes 310 lemonade and their MCT oil great addition for whatever your mocktail recipe maybe.

So, I'm gonna go ahead and grab my little tray with all the ingredients for today.

Alright, awesome. So, for starters, you're gonna need 1 stick of a 310 pineapple mango flavored lemonade. You're gonna need 1 tablespoon of 310 MCT oil. Then you're gonna need about a fourth of a cup of water right here. You're gonna need a half of a cup of coconut milk. This is what's gonna give the pina colada a really creamy consistency.

If you want it you could go with coconut water, up to you, personal preference. I want like a little light coconut milk just for you know, keeping the calories down. So, okay, we went to the water, the coconut milk, then you're gonna need about three quarters or this was about a half a cup, three-quarters of a cup of ice. And then last but not the least, three-quarters of a cup to a full cup of frozen pineapple. 

If you like to use fresh, that's totally up to you. I chose frozen because I think it blends itself to the consistency of pina coladas that we all love so much.

So, with that said, now I'm going to reposition the camera and we're gonna talk a little bit about the 310 ingredients before we get into making today's mocktail.

So, hold tight.

Alright, guys. So, I wanted to first start with 310 lemonade. It's probably my favorite product of theirs to use when I'm making mocktails for a couple of reasons.

These are the highlights as to why I love this product but I'm just gonna dive in and give you some elaborations on all this right here.

So, for starters, 310 lemonade is only 10 calories. It has no artificial sweeteners or colors. And side note, if you're to take a look at the nutritional facts of the products that are in the same family as 310 lemonade. I'm not gonna name any names but you'll notice that these supposedly air quotes healthy drink alternatives actually contain artificial colors, preservatives, and sweeteners which can be damaging to your health. An example of this is aspartame and sucralose.

But anyways, back to the good stuff.

So, 310 lemonade also contains alkalizing minerals including calcium, magnesium, and potassium. 310 lemonade helps so support a balanced PH in the body. Thanks to these minerals. 

It's thought that when the body is too acidic it can actually wreak havoc on your overall health as well as your weight loss goals. So the solution focused on consuming a lot of alkaline foods and drinks that promote a more balanced PH. 

So, voila, luckily 310 lemonade was created to assist with helping you alkalize. So, another ingredient in the lemonade is green select Phytozome which is a potent green tea extract that contains a high concentration of easily absorbable powerful anti-oxidants called EGCG. 

Studies showed that EGCG may help metabolize fatty acids in the body which helps break down fat and increase the metabolism to burn more calories. And more calories burned equals more weight loss. 

In fact, this study shows that green select phytozome can potentially help you use, will help you lose 3 times more weight when combined with the reduced-calorie diet than when following a low-calorie diet alone.

The lemonade is super tasty. So tasty in fact that unless someone told you otherwise or like I just did. You have no idea that this, that their lemonade sticks don't contain any sugar. It's actually kind of a trick just how good they are. 

The lemonades come in a variety of flavors. Today we use the pineapple mango but there's also peach, there's regular lemonade and there's like a cherry lemonade as well as a couple of others.

So, in addition to making a great base for any mocktail, it's delicious on its own and you can use it to spice up plain water which can make you staying hydrated easier and of course tasty.

Alright, so moving on to the MCT oil.  Really, really like in my drawing is what I'm working on. Okay. Tadah!

Alright, let's get this a little more centered for you guys. Okay.

Alright, so. If you're familiar with the keto diet, you've probably heard MCT but if you don't if or if you haven't heard of it, for starters you don't have to be on keto to incorporate this healthy fat. MCT is actually a fat into your diet.

But, so let me give you a little background on MCT. The background is gonna be right here. 

So, MCT stands for Medium Chain Triglycerides. Without getting to science, I'll break it down really quick.

The majority of fats that we consume are LCTs or Long Chain Triglyceride. And these fats take a longer time to be broken down in the body before either being used for energy or stored for fat.

But MCTs are a particular type of fat that can actually be used pretty much instantaneously by the body for energy rather than ever being stored as fat.

So, you can also think of MCTs as a clean source of fuel for the body and brain as they help give your body the energy it needs without the stuff it doesn't like sugar processed ingredients.

Research shows that MCTs may even help regulate metabolism, energy, and mood levels plus fats are great for feeling fuller for longer periods of time. So, you'd have some MCT oils it will keep you full for a longer period of time you're not feeling like you constantly need to snack or eat more which is a nice perk, right?

Research also shows that fats can in fact cross the blood-brain barrier which makes MCT oil beneficial for supporting cognitive function as well as brain health.

How this little explanation, you're breaking is large and made up of fatty acids so you need a steady supply for your diet to feel your best. Think clearly, perform well at work, and stay sharp as well as you age. 

So what I like about 310 MCT oil in particular, here's those highlights, is that it's made using only certified USDA organic and non-GMO project verified coconuts with complete traceability throughout the process.

It's also non-GMO vegan lactose-free, gluten-free. I will not that it does contain a 130 calories per tablespoon which is the serving size. But 1 tablespoon of MCT oil will provide a series doze of energy that will help keep you satiated.

And, it takes, you know, a normal pina colada or normal virgin pina colada with empty calories and makes it into a nutritious and delicious drink. 

So, the MCT oil despite the calories is really the secret weapon into making today's mocktail a nutritious and delicious drink.

So, with that said, let's make today's virgin pina colada.

Alright guys, hope you enjoyed learning about the 310 products. Like I said now, we're gonna jump in to actually making today's mocktail. 

So, I pre-measured as you saw I wanna introduce all the ingredients everything out. So, once you have your ingredients pre set up to go, you can just pop-up in your blender and you are going to toss everything in it.

So, I'm gonna start with the water, then I'm gonna go ahead and add the 310 lemonade. Pop that in there. Next up I'm gonna do the tablespoon of MCT oil. Alright. And then, the coconut milk. I'm totally picking up a random order. There's no primary reason for this.

The ice and then the pineapple. So keep in mind you may have to add a little bit more ice or if you would like pineapple just depending on the consistency that you're looking for and how things go.

So, I'm gonna step off-screen and get this blended up and I will be right back. Bear with me guys.

Alright, now I have returned. After making these lives for a couple of weeks now, I finally have remembered to bring a napkin to the table with me because I always make a mess.

So, now that I've blended that up, I'm just gonna go ahead and pour definitely wanna have a spoon close by for a little ease of scoopage. Oh that looks just like a real pina colada if I do say so myself.

Alright. I don't spill but I drop something on this video today. So, hey, we're all human. So, anyways, cheers. Here is our virgin pina colada and take a sip.

Really good. Really, really tasty.

I probably personally done with a little more water. As I have a little bit more of a slushie texture which I totally don't mind cause it's kinda just a great dessert. 

Okay. I've really liked this one is special guys. Alright, I'll put that to the side. A little bout of brain freeze.

So, before I close out this video I wanted to share some tips and tricks for reducing your sugar consumption when it comes to drinks. And I called this like the discussion section.

And I consulted a few friends of mine actually. I, you know practiced my lives on them and they were really surprised to hear just how sugary certain drinks were. Especially when I did my Starbucks mocktails. They were like blown away by the sugar and calorie contains of most Starbucks drinks.

So, I sort of asked them as, I used them as guinea pigs and said, alright, what would you like to know about reducing your sugar consumption. Like, what kind of tips. So these are conspired by my friends. 

So, I'm gonna grab my computer again and we'll talk a little bit about what you can do to reduce your sugar consumption per drinks.

So, now that you have all that insight, I hope that you are inspired to take a second look at what you're drinking every day. I really think it will make a difference with reaching whatever your goals may be.

And, if you're not trying to achieve certain goals right now that's okay. Take a look at what you're drinking and trying to reduce sugar consumption as really beneficial for your overall health.

So, here are some actual ways that you can reduce your sugar consumption.

Going cold turkey like just saying alright, no more sugary drinks can definitely be difficult. So, I come up with some tips with my friends for cutting sugary drinks out of your diet.

So, this is more of like the, alright, we're really trying to go cold turkey but leaving a little wiggle room.

So, first, adopt the mindset that sugary drinks are an occasional drink, not a habitual refreshment. So, kind of going to that Harvard study where we've, that was saying that people don't think of a cookie as like as a dessert. And, soda as just like a drink when really soda has more sugar than a cookie.

So, think of drinks as a treat. Maybe even a dessert as opposed to it a habitual refreshment.

Keep sugary drinks out of the house. Don't even put them in your fridge. When you don't have easy access to them and there's barriers to getting them like you have to go to the stores or something, you'd be way less likely to actually follow through and go do it.

When you're craving something fizzy like a soda try drinking sparkling water. I personally love adding 310 lemonade to sparkling water. It creates a soda, a fruity soda-esque beverage without any of the downsides.

Drink more water. If water is too boring for you, spice up your water with some fruit slices. Maybe some 310 lemonade or you know, toss some fresh lemon in there. Maybe muddle up some berries.

Carry your water bottle with you at all times. So when you're thirsty, instead of you know being inclined to stop somewhere and purchase a sugary drink, you just have a superior of your have your water.

I just bought a huge hydro flask like I'm a crazy water drinker. I'm always thirsty. I probably drink like I don't, like 64 ounces of water at the least. But, this hydro flask is like my favorite thing. So, anyways, carry a water bottle with you.

Look at the type of juice that you're drinking and try to drink 100 percent fruit juice with no added sugar. You can even water down your fruit juices just a little bit to dilute it.

So, forego flavored coffee beverages and opt for black coffee instead. I know that's really hard. I can't even do that, not yet at least.

Or, if you know, if you're not quite ready then just go straight to black coffee add some almond milk and a little bit of Stevia if you don't like it plain black.

Make your beverages at home like we did today so that you can control what goes in them. And if you're not ready to eliminate sugary drinks entirely, that's totally okay. Like I said that's kind of my like, yes, going cold turkey is really hard but here's the cold turkey tips.

Here's some tips for minimizing the sugar and caloric damage of the beverages that you drink. 

So, one, start by cutting back gradually and keeping your added sugar intake to a minimum. Become a nutritional sleuth and read labels and ingredient list carefully. 

So, this should even apply to the cold turkey people unless you applied beyond drinks. Just food in general when you're trying to reach goals be a nutritional sleuth.

So, some things to look out for, sorry guys, house phone. perfect. alright.

So, become a nutritional sleuth and read ingredient list carefully. Some things to look out for are; if a product has less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving, companies are actually allowed to list it as zero on the label. So, make sure to know how many servings you're consuming.

One container may be more than one serving which can double, triple, quadruple the number of added sugars and calories that you are getting.

So, especially check this with like for example store-bought sauces. A serving might be one teaspoon when you're really using a lot, say one tablespoon when you're really using a lot more than that.

Side notes, sauces are a huge culprit of sugar surprisingly enough. Part two of becoming a nutritional sleuth is to learn the other names of added sugar. 

I know I touched on some other added sugars when I was talking about products that are similar and inferior if you may to 310 lemonade. But, yeah, learn other names of sugar. 

Added sugars have lots of aliases so keep an eye out for the common caloric sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, honey, sugar, syrup, corn syrups, sucrose, and dextrose.

When ordering a coffee beverage forego extra flavoring like syrups, Starbucks syrups, super sugary, really caloric. And just order a smaller size.

You know, skip your Vente, come down to our grande may be a tall and then one day, black coffee. You'll never know.

So, I know that I've placed a lot of emphasis on sugar in regards to beverages but I've kind of mentioned this throughout the video. Keep in mind that sugar is really everywhere. And if you're really committed to reducing your intake, take things to the next level by looking up in nutrition facts and the ingredients and absolutely everything that you're purchasing verse yeah, it's a little bit of extra added work but health would definitely benefit and hopefully your goals.

So, in closing, I hope you enjoyed today's Mocktail Monday. This drink is probably my favorite to date. This is a huge hit so stop what you're doing, get on this and you won't regret it. 

Otherwise, continue to check out 310 other products at the bottom of this video. You'd be able to get everything that you need to make this virgin pina colada right there.

And, yeah, that's all I've got for you guys today. Hope you're staying safe and well and I will see you next week for another Mocktail Monday.

Bye, guys.