Did you hear about the woman in New Zealand who died from drinking too many sodas? Turns out she drank more than 2 gallons of Coca-Cola and smoked at least 30 cigarettes daily. She also ate very little food.

Any extreme habits or addictions can be dangerous, so soda only played a part in her death. However, sodas aren't completely innocent.

According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, 16 percent of our total calories come from added sugars. Of that amount, 46 percent come from sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks and sugar-sweetened juice drinks.

Many people are totally unaware of the number of calories they drink. Often people come to me for weight-loss counseling, and they drink 800 to 1,000 soda calories daily. They won't lose weight until they cut back or cut out those calories and make better food choices.

Some people switch to diet sodas, which does cut calories. However, both regular and diet sodas can contain caffeine, which is problematic for some individuals. Also the phosphorus in all sodas increases calcium loss, which raises osteoporosis risk, if consumed in large amounts.

Others add water to soda or juice to save calories. Adding water increases the volume and dilutes the beverage, but those calories don't magically disappear.

Often people trade sodas for juice. They exchange the caffeine, phosphorus and calories in soda for the vitamins, minerals and calories of juice. Twelve ounces of Fanta Orange soda has 160 calories; 12 ounces of orange juice has 165.

Gatorade and other electrolyte replacement drinks don't seem so sweet, but 12 ounces provide 75 calories. Energy drinks are higher in calories for 12 ounces: Amp, 165, and Red Bull, 160.

Milk is a good source of vitamin D, calcium and protein. To protect your bones, aim for 8 ounces, three times daily. That amount of skim milk provides 258 calories. But 16-ounce portions three times daily would double it to 516 calories. So watch portions of even healthy beverages.

The Institute of Medicine states that the average healthy adult male needs 13 cups of fluid daily, just more than 3 quarts. Women need 9 cups or about 1 quarts. While we get some fluid from our food, water is a simple and natural way to help meet that need.

The rest is here:
PRACTICAL NUTRITION: Watch your drinks, as well as your food