Coffee Calories Exposed What’s in Your Morning Cup

“How many calories are in my coffee?” is one of the questions I get asked a lot as a nutritionist with more than seven years of experience helping people. Let’s read below about “Coffee Calories Exposed What’s in Your Morning Cup”.

There is a lot to this answer, even though it seems simple. There are a lot of different kinds of coffee and many different things that can be added to them. There are a lot of calories in coffee drinks. This article will list them all so you know exactly what you’re eating.

Calories in Coffee: A Look

Black coffee

First, let’s have some plain black coffee. Black coffee is coffee that doesn’t have any cream, sugar, or other added ingredients that are high in calories.

The coffee beans don’t have many calories on their own. There are only about 2 calories in an 8-ounce cup of black coffee. If you drink your coffee black, you’re not adding any sugar to it.

But keep in mind that the size of your coffee cup does matter. It will have more caffeine if the cup is bigger. An 8-ounce cup is the standard size for a cup of coffee.

If you pay more for a 16-ounce grande, you’ll get twice as much caffeine, but only a few extra calories. When it comes to calories, you can feel good about choosing any size of black coffee.

Coffee with Cream and Sugar

This is where the calories begin to add up. Adding cream, milk, or sugar to your coffee can make it a lot more caloric.

Let us look at some well-known add-ins:

• Twenty calories are in a tablespoon of half-and-half.
• There are 9 calories in 1 tablespoon of whole milk.
• There are 51 calories in 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.
• There are 25 calories in 1 tablespoon of flavored creamer.
• There are 16 calories in 1 teaspoon of white sugar.
• There are 17 calories in 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.

You can see that those little extras add up fast! There are about 56 calories in an 8-ounce cup of coffee with 2 tablespoons of half-and-half and 1 teaspoon of sugar added.

If you get a big 20-ounce cafe mocha with two tablespoons of heavy cream and two teaspoons of sugar, the coffee drink alone could give you more than 200 calories.

Sugary Coffee Drinks

It’s even worse when you add extra calories to coffee drinks like lattes, macchiatos, frozen blended coffees, and frappuccinos. Lots of syrups, sauces, whipped cream, and other sugary things that can add hundreds of calories are added to these drinks at well-known coffee shops.

Here are some well-known coffee shop drinks side by side:

• A 12 oz. small caffe latte has 110 calories.
• 150 calories for a 12 oz. small caramel macchiato.
• 160 calories for a 12 oz. small caffe mocha drink
• Each 12 oz. small white chocolate mocha has 280 calories.
• 350 calories for a 16-ounce small frozen caramel coffee drink
• Coffee with 16 ounces of Java Chip Frappuccino has 410 calories.

You can see that a small mocha or latte from the coffee shop down the street might have more than 100 calories. But one of those blended frozen coffee drinks has more than 400 calories!

To cut down on calories, if you really want these fancy coffee drinks, ask for them with skim milk, sugar-free syrup, and no whipped cream. Even better, make them yourself so you can be sure of what’s in them.

The Healthiest Ways to Drink Coffee

You now know how many calories are in different coffee drinks. What are the healthiest ways to drink your daily coffee? As a nutritionist, these are my best advice:

• You can drink it plain or with a little nut milk. This way, you can still get the health benefits of coffee without the extra sugar and calories.
• Don’t use those fancy add-ins. A lot of calories are added by specialty syrups, butters, and creams. There are no calories in adding a pinch of cinnamon or vanilla extract.
• Do it in your own kitchen. When you make your own coffee, you have full control over what goes into it. Low-fat or skim milk and natural sweeteners like stevia or monk fruit are what you need to make your own.
• Pick a size that fits well. To cut down on calories, choose the smallest size. Also, pay attention to how much caffeine it has.
• If you can, use decaf instead of coffee. If you sometimes choose decaf, you can still enjoy the taste and ritual of coffee without getting as much caffeine.

Conclusion

I don’t want to make coffee bad because I’m a nutritionist. It’s possible to drink coffee and stay healthy as long as you watch what you put in it. Coffee is a calorie-free drink, but cream, sugar, and other add-ins can make it a high-calorie treat.

Also, keep track of how much caffeine you get from coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks. It can add up quickly.

The important thing is to find a balance. Enjoy the smell, taste, and ritual of your morning coffee, but make sure you use healthier ingredients to keep it guilt- and calorie-free! You can enjoy coffee as part of a healthy breakfast and a healthy lifestyle in general if you make some smart choices.