Your Favorite Sips Are Hiding More Than You Think
Most people track what they eat and completely forget about what they drink. A meal gets scrutinized, portioned, and reconsidered, while a large glass of something cold gets refilled without a second thought. Many drinks that seem harmless or even healthy are quietly adding hundreds of calories to your daily intake, without your knowledge. Some of these drinks are even marketed as sports drinks, wellness beverages, or natural refreshers, which makes the calorie count feel even more unexpected when you finally look it up. Here are 20 drinks worth knowing about before you take another sip.
1. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
A grande Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks contains about 390 calories for a grande. which puts it. The combination of espresso, steamed milk, pumpkin spice sauce, and whipped cream creates a drink that's closer to dessert than a coffee break. That’s not to say you shouldn’t treat yourself a few times when it appears in the fall.
2. Gatorade
A 20-oz bottle of Gatorade carries roughly 140 calories, most of which come from added sugar. Gatorade was originally developed in 1965 for University of Florida football players doing intense outdoor training, so the sugar was necessary, but pouring it back after a light walk is a different story entirely.
3. AMP Energy Original
A 16-oz can of AMP Energy Original contains around 220 calories, largely from high fructose corn syrup and added sugars.
Energy drinks tend to get judged for their caffeine content when really, it’s the caloric load that you should be concerned about.
4. Monster Energy
Monster Energy, in a standard 16-oz can, comes in at approximately 230 calories, making it one of the heavier energy drinks on the market. As always, the sugar content is the main driver here, and the brand has faced years of scrutiny from nutritionists who point out that many consumers drink multiple times each day.
5. Coca-Cola
A 12-oz can of Coca-Cola Classic contains about 140 calories, a lot of them coming from 39 grams of sugar. Coca-Cola has been studied extensively since the early 2000s as researchers began linking regular soda consumption to weight gain and metabolic changes, particularly in people who drink it daily.
6. Orange Juice
A 12-oz glass of orange juice contains around 165 calories, which surprises people who think of it as a fruit serving rather than a sugary drink. The natural fructose in OJ is technically different from added sugar, but the body processes the calories the same way.
7. Strawberry Banana Smoothie
A 16-oz strawberry banana smoothie, even one made without added sugar or dairy, easily hits 300 calories just from the fruit alone. Bananas are calorically dense, and when you blend two or three of them with a handful of strawberries and some juice as a base, the calorie count just goes up and up.
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8. Sweet Tea
A 12-oz glass of sweet tea comes in at around 150 calories. As per usual, the sugar added during brewing is the culprit, and in the American South, where sweet tea is poured generously and refilled automatically at restaurants, those calories accumulate across a single meal.
9. Flavored Water
Fruit-infused or flavored water brands often sit around 100 calories per bottle, even though the packaging typically features words like "light," "natural," or "refreshing". Many of these products use juice concentrates as a base, which means you're essentially drinking diluted juice while paying premium prices.
10. Beer
A standard 12-oz lager runs about 150 calories, and that number climbs with craft beers, stouts, and IPAs, which can push past 200 or even 300 calories per can. Two beers at a Friday evening gathering, which feels modest by most social standards, can quietly add 300 or more calories before you've touched any food.
11. Wine
A standard 5-oz pour of wine contains around 120 calories. Red, white, and rosé wines all fall into a similar calorie range, though sweeter varieties like dessert wines or late-harvest Rieslings push noticeably higher.
12. Margarita
An 8-oz margarita can easily run around 250 calories, depending heavily on whether it's made with fresh lime juice or a pre-made sour mix loaded with corn syrup. The triple sec and tequila both contribute calories from alcohol, and many restaurant margaritas are served in glasses well over 8 oz, which means the real number is often closer to 400 or 500 per drink.
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13. 7 Up
A 12-oz can of 7 Up contains 140 calories, all of it from added sugar, despite the drink's long-standing marketing positioning around being crisp and clean. It debuted in 1929 and has been reformulated several times, but the calorie content has remained consistent across decades.
Wyeth, N. C. (Newell Convers), 1882-1945 on Wikimedia
14. Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew delivers approximately 170 calories in a 12-oz serving, making it one of the higher-calorie sodas in the mainstream market. The combination of high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, and concentrated orange juice creates a sugar profile that sits noticeably above Coca-Cola or Pepsi in both sweetness and calorie density.
15. Dr. Pepper
One of the oldest sodas in the United States, a 12-oz Dr. Pepper comes in at roughly 150 calories. The 23-flavor formula has always relied heavily on sugar as a structural component of the taste, and the calorie count reflects that.
16. Fanta Orange
Fanta Orange carries about 160 calories per 12-oz can, a slightly higher figure than many comparable sodas, driven by its notably sweet flavor profile. The brand was created in Germany in 1940 during wartime when Coca-Cola syrup was unavailable, and its heavy sweetness has been a defining characteristic ever since.
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17. Red Bull
A 16-oz Red Bull contains approximately 220 calories, most of which come from sucrose and glucose. The brand has been positioned globally as a performance and focus enhancer since the late 1980s, but the calorie load in the larger cans is something that infrequent label-readers rarely think about.
18. Full Throttle Energy
Full Throttle Energy in a 16-oz can clocks in around 230 calories, driven almost entirely by added sugar. The drink was launched by Coca-Cola in 2004 and targets the same market as Monster and Rockstar, which means big cans, bold branding, and a high calorie count.
19. Rockstar Energy
A 16-oz Rockstar Energy drink sits at 260 calories per can, one of the highest in the mainstream energy drink category. Rockstar was founded in 2001 and positioned itself as a lifestyle brand for high-energy activities, but the sugar content means each can deliver a significant calorie load regardless of how active the drinker actually is.
20. Coffee, Creamed And Sugared
A 12-oz coffee with two teaspoons of sugar and a generous splash of heavy cream can run you around 200 calories, a number that surprises people who think of coffee as essentially calorie-free. The cream is the main driver here, since heavy cream contains roughly 50 calories per tablespoon, and most people pour more than that without measuring.
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