Coffee! Our morning champion and the worlds answer to getting up and at ‘em, right? One cup and you’re ready to seize the day and hit those goals. But what if your morning coffee was behind that halt in progress and getting off those last few inches on the waist?
I was thinking about this the other day when we ventured down to our local café for our morning cup of life. There was 5 of us and we all had different requests for the barista (what a headache and nightmare we must be for the poor guy), and it got me to thinking- do we actually consider what’s in our drink?
Among our order was a large skim milk latte, a small soy milk flat white, a medium mochaccino, a small almond milk latte, and a large Americano. Sure, all of these coffees were going to do the job in giving us the boost and juice to tackle our morning, but based on our individual preference of milk, they would have had different energy and nutrient values in each. To help us understand this better- let’s go through our coffees of choice.
Large Skim Milk Latte
The tried-and-true latte. A common and staple go-to for coffee lovers. For those of us trying to make more nutritious and diet-friendly choices- skim milk is generally the preference too. But even then, this coffee will add 94 calories to your day. For comparison- that’s nearly the equivalent of 1 medium banana.
Small Soy Milk Flat White
Soy milk. A great alternative for those following a plant-based or dairy-free lifestyle. It’s also sometimes perceived as the more diet-friendly option too. But did you know soy milk contains the same amount of calories as full fat cow’s milk? So, even by going for the smaller cup, this coffee will add 109 calories to your day. A smaller cup and coffee than the large skim milk latte above- but more calories? I bet you didn’t see that coming.
Medium Mochaccino
Are you one of those people who enjoys the combo of coffee and chocolate in your brew? What a win, right? But this coffee is loaded with 222 calories with most of these coming from the sugar in the chocolate powder. You could almost have 3 large skim flat whites for the same amount of calories or 1 snack in your JCN plan. Now tell me- which will make you fuller? The mocha or a well-balanced snack from your plan?
Small Almond Milk Flat White
Almond milk has seen a rise in popularity during recent years with a big shift towards plant-based and dairy-free alternatives. This one is also turning out to be a key move for those of us watching our calorie intake across the day. Although lower in protein than soy and cow’s milk, the almond milk flat white only has 60 calories per small cup. That’s the equivalent of 1 small apple.
Large Americano
Black coffee. Not everyone’s cup of tea (pun-intended). But this diet-friendly brew only has 1 calorie per cup. You wouldn’t even have to consider that as apart of your total calorie intake for the day.
So, there you have it, 5 different coffees all with the same purpose to provide us some oomph, but certainly different nutrient and energy values in each. The key here is that we be more mindful of the energy value within foods such as milks, and how we consider these as a part of the goals and lifestyle we are trying to create.