We love a good cup of coffee as much as the next person to boost our mood and productivity, but depending on the type of coffee you choose you could either be nourishing your body or feeding it extra sugar, calories, and artificial flavorings. Coffee has many benefits for our body, but sadly unnecessary additives to our usual cup can erase the benefits and cause it to be harmful instead. Find out more about the benefits of coffee here.
A plain brewed cup of coffee is guilt free; it contains virtually no calories. Dressing it up with extras is what will cause calories, fat, and sugar content to add up very quickly. These calories are usually termed ‘empty calories’ because they simply fill and nourish you like a meal or snack containing the same amount of calories will. For example:
1 tablespoon whipped cream: 50 calories
2 teaspoons sugar: 32 calories
1 cup whole milk: 150 calories
This table shows a comparison of some different coffee drinks from popular cafes and coffee shops.
Drink | Calories (kcal) | Fat (g) | Sugar (g) |
Costa™ Iced Cappuccino | 150 | 4.4 | 23 |
Costa™ Mocha Latte | 347 | 14 | 38 |
Costa™ Sticky Toffee Latte | 443 | 18.7 | 59 |
Dunkin Donuts™ Caramel Latte | 350 | 9 | 54 |
Dunkin Donuts™ Hazelnut Swirl Latte | 340 | 9 | 52 |
Homemade Americano | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Starbucks™ Cappuccino | 136 | 6.8 | 9.4 |
Starbucks™ Chai Tea Latte | 255 | 7 | 41 |
Starbucks™ Espresso | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Starbucks™ Iced Caramel Macchiato | 257 | 10 | 33 |
Starbucks™ White Chocolate Mocha | 500 | 22 | 59 |
Our advice? Save store bought coffee for when you want a treat, and brew your own for your everyday pick me up!