IF YOU DO ONE THING THIS WEEK . . . Watch the sugar in drinks

HOW MUCH do you know about the drinks you consume regularly?

A study at the University of Glasgow surveyed more than 2,000 people in the UK and found that, on average, participants could be drinking 450 calories in non-alcoholic drinks daily, and that they tended to underestimate the sugar content of drinks that were perceived as healthy.

“Whilst people generally slightly overestimated the amount of sugar in carbonated drinks, they significantly underestimated the sugar levels in a milkshake, a smoothie, an energy drink and a variety of fruit juices – by nearly 18 teaspoons for one popular pomegranate juice drink,” states a release on the university website.

Researcher Prof Naveed Sattar added that taste buds can be retrained over time to enjoy far less sugar in drinks, or no sugar at all.