photo credit: Chris Makarsky   

Most people are aware that coffee itself has almost zero calories.  Add a few ice cubes to cool it off and you’re adding no calories.  A little milk to lighten it up and a few teaspoons of sugar to sweeten it, and you’re only talking about 50 calories–no big deal, right?  But do you have any idea what’s in the popular coffee drinks at the famous coffee chains, local coffee bars, or even the new fast-food coffee drink competitor?  A lot!

For example, there are over 300 calories in the fast-food version of a medium iced mocha, and almost 600 in a name-brand frappuccino!  In the hot drinks you can expect to consume about 300 calories in a latte.  Where are these calories coming from, and is there any way you can still enjoy your coffee drink without sabotaging your daily calorie balance?  Relax!  Any of these places will make your coffee drink special-to-order so you can reduce the calories by hundreds!

First, take the milk that’s used:  Whether it’s heated, foamed, or served cold, every eight ounces of whole milk contains about 9 grams of fat–close to 80 calories.  Skim milk has virtually zero fat grams so you can save these 80 calories by asking for non-fat milk.  And remember, that’s just for eight ounces–some of these drinks are using 12 ounces of milk for a larger order,  so you could be saving up to 120 calories asking for non-fat milk.

Now take a  look at the syrup that flavors your coffee–maybe hazelnut, vanilla, caramel, or chocolate.  Many coffee bars put three or four squirts of sugary syrup in.  How can you reduce the calories?  They usually offer sugar-free varieties of any flavor.  Personally I like the regular flavor, but can do without the extreme sweetness, so I’ll ask them to cut the amount of syrup in half.  Either way, you can save up to 80 calories by reducing the sugar from the added flavoring.

Finally, most coffee drinks–whether hot or cold–are topped with a rather large dollop of whipped cream.  This can be easily adding more than 50 calories, depending on how generous the barrista!  So, ask for less or do without, and save some more fat, sugar, and calories.

That’s three ways to save on calories in your coffee drink: less fat in the milk, less sugar from the syrup, and less of both by skimping on the whipped cream.  Run a few trials to see what works for you and your taste.  A coffee drink needn’t have more calories than a glass of skim milk (90 calories) with a little sweetener.  The upside is, you get all the calcium, protein, and riboflavin from a cup of real milk in your daily diet!