Hidden Sugars: How much sugar are you really consuming?
Share
Making their way into household staples – such as ketchup, supermarket sliced bread and yogurts – ultra-processed foods, even “healthy” processed options have been revealed to significantly increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. With more than half of the typical British daily diet made up of ultra-processed food, more than any other country in Europe, our consumption across the nation has reached an alarming high. As such, it may come as no surprise that in a brand new study commissioned by hydration experts, air up, 1 in 5 Brits have confessed that sugar is now their biggest vice in life.
Following this, many Brits are now turning to sugary drinks to curb their junk food cravings. In fact, 73% believe that sugary drinks hold lower concentrations of sugar than sugary foods, data by air up reveals. However, as unveiled by Toronto University and St. Michael’s Hospital, the power-charged fructose in artificially sweetened drinks similarly also has a detrimental impact on our health, increasing chances of tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, and more.
Key stats reveal:73% of Brits wrongly believe that the sugar ingested by drinks is not as bad as the sugar you eat22% of Brits say sugar is their biggest vice in life 27% of Brits say their addiction to sugary drinks has had a detrimental impact on their health (i.e. teeth decay/weight gain/dehydration)13% of Brits don’t know where or how to get their essential nutrients14% started drinking diet soft drinks to lead a healthier lifestyle but found that it has caused more problems than it solved
The UK soft drinks market is worth over £18 billion and is dominated by sugar filled fizzy drinks and “diet” versions using artificial flavours and sweeteners. Up until now, there has been no credible alternative for those looking for a more interesting way to drink water. This is what air up is aiming to change; their water bottles work through retronasal smell to give a great tasting drink without any additives or changes to your water.
So how does air up work?
air up harnesses this clever bit of science by infusing flavoured air into every sip of water from the bottle. One of 28 different flavours will be added in bubbles every time you drink and it is this that will give your 100% pure water its flavour. Each pod contains natural flavourings and scents that infuse with ambient air to be added to the pure water, these flavours range from Lime and Orange-Passionfruit to Cola and Iced Coffee with ten others in between.
Who came up with this amazing idea?
The first prototype for air up was developed by Lena Jüngst and Tim Jäger in 2016 and spent three years in development, including a Master’s thesis on aromas, to combine innovative design and the neuroscience behind the idea and turn it into a real product. Since then, air up has successfully launched in Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands, with more than one million customers already. Now Lena and the team are bringing this innovative way to drink water to the UK.
Where can I buy one?
air up’s reusable water bottles are available from their website. Including one bottle and three scent pods, is priced at £29.99 to £34.99 depending on the colour of the bottle. Each additional pack of three pods (flavouring a minimum of 15 litres of water) then costs between £5.99 to £8.99, depending on the flavour.
