It is often overlooked, but choosing healthier drinks is an important part of a healthy diet. Many drinks are high in sugar and calories and could impede your weight loss.  

We need to drink at least 8 cups of fluid per day. Water is the best choice. It has no calories or sugar. This should be your main drink.  

Milk can also be a good choice and you may notice it as part of your meal plan. Low-fat or semi-skimmed milk is the healthier choice for adults. 

Tea and coffee also count towards your daily fluid intake. If you add extras to your tea and coffee, you could be unknowingly adding calories.

Check out our tips for choosing healthier hot drinks: 

1. Make drinks with low-fat milk instead of full fat 
2. If you use a lot of sugar in your tea or coffee, start to use less of it. Cut down by a half-teaspoonful every fortnight, until you use no sugar at all. 
3. If ordering out order the smallest size available 
4. Skip the added extras – syrups and cream will add calories 
5. Fizzy drinks, flavoured water, energy drinks and sports drinks have a lot of added sugar and calories and very few beneficial nutrients. A good place to cut calories is to cut down on these. 
6. Alcohol has a lot of calories, so cutting back on how much alcohol you drink could help with weight loss. Keep a number of days alcohol-free each week. And when you do drink, try drinking a glass or pint of water in between alcoholic drinks to reduce your overall amount of alcohol.

 Find out more about the calories in hot drinks here.