With the popularity of coffee beverages on the rise, you may find yourself wondering whether or not these drinks are actually good for you.
After all, a delicious, energy-boosting drink like coffee can easily seem too good to be true.
Whether you have weight loss on the brain or just don’t want to start an unhealthy habit, it’s important to know what you’re getting when you enjoy a cup of coffee.
That’s especially true if you like frequenting coffee shops and don’t normally put much thought into what might be going into that delicious drink.
Depending on the coffee you drink, where you get it and how much you have there can be a wide range in the calories that come along for the ride.
Read on to find out just how fattening coffee might be!
In short, no. Coffee is not Fattening.
To keep things simple, coffee by itself is very low in calories, sugars, carbohydrates and fat.
Typically, a 6oz cup of black coffee may have around 5 calories which is definitely not enough to make you put on the pounds!
You may even find that a small amount of coffee on a daily basis can even be beneficial to your health.
It can not only give you that energy boost that so many people crave, but also aid in your metabolism.
In this article from Healthline, you’ll be able to find a little more information on just how drinking coffee can help you with ditching excess fat.
There are some who believe drinking a quick cup of coffee before going to the gym can boost your workout as well, giving you the extra energy you need to really push yourself.
If you drink enough to get the caffeine jitters, then getting a workout is a great solution.
It is important to be careful with the amount of caffeine you consume. Even if it is black coffee, there is such a thing as too much!
There can be a few small differences on different kinds of coffee grounds and how they’re made. Some may be better for your overall health than others. For example, instant coffee may not be as great of an option as other kinds of grounds or fresh beans.
However, there are a few things to consider before you give yourself a free pass to drink as much as you want.
While coffee may not be fattening, what you put in it can be.
Very few people actually drink their coffee black. Most people will add things like milk and cream.
In some other cases, a simple coffee drink can turn into a sugar extravaganza when syrups and sprinkles and whipped cream even are added into the mixture.
Depending on how many of these things you tend to prefer, they can easily turn a healthy cup of coffee into a fattening beverage.
It’s only natural that many of us want to offset the bitter flavor that a lot of coffee has, but it’s important to be careful!
This is especially true if you’re someone who drinks multiple cups of coffee a day because it also compounds the amount of unhealthy ingredients you’re consuming.
It’s also possible to find that the caffeine offered in the coffee itself isn’t working as purely as it should due to the accumulation of other things like sugar, which can really bring you down after a while.
Overall, it is less likely that you’ll be dealing with these kinds of issues if you make your coffee at home, but the same doesn’t exactly hold true for those in the habit of buying coffee while they’re out and about.
Watch out for specialty coffees!
It’s especially wise to look out for extra calories if you like to purchase your coffee drinks from places like McDonalds or Starbucks.
While the drinks from these places fan no doubt be fancy and delicious, they are often filled with sugar and other additions that offset the benefits coffee can give you by itself.
All you really have to do is take a look at the kinds of coffee available from these places and you’ll find out that many of them come with hundreds of calories and over double the amount of sugar a human being needs on a daily basis.
In many cases, some of these drinks can come in at 400 or more calories depending on the specific drink and size. That’s a lot of calories for just one beverage, and that number only grows if you have two or three of these beverages in a day.
While there’s no denying that these drinks are delicious, they can result in jitters, weight gain and hard crashes that just aren’t great for your body. So if you aren’t looking to lose weight, it’s still important to keep in mind that the amount of sugar in them can cause a number of other problems.
Though drinking coffee is sometimes known to even be able to help with issues like type 2 diabetes, these specialty coffees can actually add to the problem.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some healthier options available that are just as delicious, and those might be worth taking a look into.
With all those extra ingredients it isn’t uncommon to find that you may start gaining weight if you’re getting these drinks frequently.
However, don’t worry! There are ways that you can still get your coffee fix without having to worry about gaining weight as well.
So how can I keep from gaining weight?
Luckily, it isn’t too difficult to bring the calories in coffee down to a manageable level.
You won’t have to force yourself to drink it black, but instead focus on taking smaller steps.
For example, making specialty coffees a less frequent experience. They can be used as an uncommon treat, but shouldn’t be a daily habit.
Instead, making coffee at home and using smaller amounts of cream and other mix-ins can make a huge difference. You may find that you naturally come to prefer less as your tastes adapt to a less sugar-filled beverage.
In some other cases, it may be possible that you don’t need any of those extras at all if you try out a high-quality coffee instead.
There are plenty of wonderfully-made coffees out there that can offer you fantastic flavor without any added calories at all.
You can also try using lighter versions of the ingredients you enjoy in your coffee. For example, going to a skim milk or putting a limit on cream and sugar.
These smaller changes might make the healthier option seem less daunting, as you won’t have to suddenly jump from a lot of sugar to none at all.
What’s most important, is that you take the steps that work for your unique situation.
Just like with most other food, it’s important to keep in mind the calories you’re taking in and whether or not they are nutritious. For example, the calories in an apple also come with a lot of nutrients that can help to keep your body functioning well while those in whipped cream or sugar-filled syrups are considered to be empty.
Empty calories are those that offer calories, but nothing of real substance backing it.
Because of that, balancing out those kinds of calories with ones that nourish your body well is the way to go.
It’s really all about making smart decisions with regard to the needs of your body, so that you can feel great every day.
