Coffee - who doesn’t love their daily brew? It can provide a beautiful moment in many people’s morning routine and if made with cow’s or soy milk, it can also be a great source of additional protein. If you prefer milk alternatives such as almond, a scoop of tasteless collagen powder can be just as good for providing that extra protein boost. However there are some additions which are not as great for you and other considerations that need to be taken into account when it comes to overall health and wellbeing. Further explaination can be found below:
Issues with your coffee
- Adding flavoured syrups e.g. caramel, vanilla, hazelnut
- Adding chocolate powders e.g. mochaccinos
- Going for the upsize
- Having too many coffees
- Using coffee as a meal replacement
Flavoured syrups significantly increase your intake of free sugars, that is sugar without any nutritional benefit - a 20ml shot of syrup can add an additional 3-4tsp sugar! With the World Health Organisation recommending people limit their free sugar intake to <10% or ideally <5% of their total intake each day for health purposes, cutting out flavoured syrups in coffee is a great change to make (1).
As with flavoured syrups, chocolate powders also add unnecessary free sugars to your day, not to mention additional calories. Reducing free sugars has also been shown to help reduce cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels (2). Layering small dietary changes can have an outstanding influence on your health!
You may not be getting additional sugar and calories from syrups or powders, but is that upsize contriuting to excess calories? See below for the calorie content of some common coffee orders (3,4):
Short black: 4kcal Long black: 4kcal
Macchiato: 10kcal Piccolo: 45kcal
Flat white:
- Trim milk, small (190ml), 60kcal
- Trim milk, medium (275ml), 98kcal
- Full fat milk, small (190ml), 88kcal
- Full fat milk, medium (275ml), 146kcal
Latte:
- Trim milk, medium (300ml), 100kcal
- Trim milk, large (400ml), 140kcal
- Full fat milk, medium (300ml), 150kcal
- Full fat milk, large (400ml), 211kcal
Cappuccino:
- Trim milk, small (190ml), 60kcal
- Trim milk, medium (275ml), 97kcal
- Full fat milk, small (190ml), 85kcal
- Full fat milk, medium (275ml), 143kcal
Mochaccino:
- Trim milk, medium (300ml), 122kcal
- Trim milk, large (400ml), 162kcal
- Full fat milk, medium (300ml), 170kcal
- Full fat milk, large (400ml), 231kcal
Did you know 6 hours after having a cup of coffee around 1/4 of the caffeine is still in your system? This can affect sleep quality, leaving you feeling lethargic and seeking energy boosts the next day whether that is from more coffee, sweet foods or more food in general. Aim to keep caffeine to a maximum of 300-400mg per day (see examples of the caffeine content of drinks below) and switch to decaf coffee or non-caffinated drinks such as water or herbal tea thereafter.
Note: indivicual variation in coffee metabolism can occur and the above time frame is just an average.
Using your coffee as an alternative to breakfast or lunch is not the best idea. Yes it will contain nutritients and protein from the milk, however by choosing to replace food with coffee you are limiting your fibre intake, range of vitamins and minerals, and diet diverity. Given it is also a liquid, you will likely feel hungry sooner than you would if you ate a meal that required plenty of chewing! Have your coffee at least 30 minutes before or after eating and view it as a nice extra rather than food and fluid in one.
Caffiene is not synonymous with coffee!
In fact caffiene is present in a range of foods and drinks. So how does the caffeine in coffee compare? See below for details (5,6,7):
- Espresso style coffee - double shot, 120mg caffeine
- Energy drink - 1x 250ml can, 80mg caffeine
- Matcha green tea - 1x 250ml cup, 70mg caffeine
- Plunger coffee - 1x 250ml cup, 70mg caffeine
- Instant coffee - 1tsp, 60mg caffeine
- Black tea - 1x 250ml cup, 50mg caffeine
- Cola - 1x 330ml can, 35mg caffeine
- Green tea - 1x 250ml cup, 30mg caffeine
- Dark chocolate: 50g, 25mg caffeine
- Milk chocolate: 50g, 10mg caffeine
- Cocoa/Chocolate powder: 1x 250ml cup, 5mg
Note: the caffeine content of food and fluids can vary depending on origin, season, preparation etc.
To surmise, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a cup of coffee or two each day, but I encourage you to reflect on with whether your daily habit is helping or sabotaging your health and wellbeing goals.
References:
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet
- Te Morenga LA, Howatson A, Jones RM, Mann J. Dietary sugars and cardiometabolic risk: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of the effects on blood pressure and lipids. AJCN. 2014; 100(1): 65–79
- https://www.foodcomposition.co.nz/search/food
- https://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/94fbcc2ab1e24359850fa1870fc988bc.pdf
- https://www.foodstandards.govt.nz/consumer/generalissues/Pages/Caffeine.aspx
- http://www.eufic.org/en/whats-in-food/article/caffeine-infographic
- https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/c/caffeine/?tab=12422
