Calories In Coffee: Will This Drink Survive Your Calorie Cuts? If you are counting calories, perhaps the most depressing thing you will learn is how many calories are in the beverages you drink every day. For example, a regular 8-ounce glass of Tropicana orange juice has 110 calories. A 12-ounce can of Dr. Pepper? That will give you 150 calories. A strawberry smoothie from McDonald’s contains 210 calories. All of this might not sound like a lot, but when you are trying to lose or maintain your weight, beverages are the first place most people try to cut calories. There is one beverage that most people refuse to give up, at least not without a fight. Coffee is so much more than a beverage, after all. For some people, it’s the one thing they can count on to be there when they wake up. People count on it to keep them alert, to soothe and comfort them, and to provide warmth on a chilly day. Coffee is one of those things that will be there no matter where you go. Of course, people have favorite places to find coffee—like Starbucks, Panera Bread, Dunkin Donuts, or McDonald’s. But even if one of those places should be mysteriously out of reach, you would have a hard time finding a restaurant that doesn’t have coffee. So, does coffee need to be one of those things that you have to give up for the sake of weight loss? Calories in coffee are minimal, at first. A cup of brewed, plain black coffee contains no fat and only two calories. A cup of plain instant coffee usually contains four calories. One shot of espresso will have only one calorie. Most people don’t drink plain black coffee or plain espresso though. Depending on how you like your coffee, those calories can really add up. Although a tablespoon of skim milk only adds five calories, a tablespoon of half-and-half adds 20, a tablespoon of white sugar will add 49, and a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream adds 52 calories to a cup of coffee. In general, calories in coffee are almost nothing to worry about, but be careful when you order that specialty coffee drink. A regular sized caramel latte or caffe mocha from Panera bread is upwards of 400 calories. A flavored latte from Starbucks can range from 130-320 calories, depending on what size you get. A caramel Frappuccino with skim milk and no whipped cream gets you anywhere from 180-340 calories. If you get it with whole milk and whipped cream? You will be looking at 300-510 calories, which, depending on your age and ideal size, can be more than you should be consuming for an entire meal. Make the most of the fact that calories in coffee can be minimized. You can cut out unwanted fats and calories and still be able to count on your morning cup of coffee. If you usually pick up your coffee at a café or coffee shop, order plain coffee. Sweeten it with a sugar substitute and lighten it with a reducedor non-fat milk to help keep calories counts low. You do not necessarily have to give up flavored coffee. Usually, coffee is flavored by roasting the beans with extracts or spices. There is no significant amount of sugar residue after roasting, and you still get a deep, soothing flavor. You do need to be careful about ordering flavored coffees from a café or coffee shop, because sometimes their coffees are flavored by adding sugary syrups. The last thing you need is for calories to be sneaking into your coffee unnoticed. Your safest option is to brew your own coffee at home. You will have complete control of what kind of coffee you use, how it is prepared, and what is added to it.
If you like milk in your coffee, try skim or 1% milk instead of 2% or whole milk. You can also try unsweetened almond milk. There are only 40 calories in an entire cup of almond milk, which means that if you add two tablespoons of it to your coffee then the calories in your coffee are only being increased by 5 calories. If you prefer cream in your coffee, try to find a sugar-free or fat-free creamer, and if you drink more than one cup of coffee per day then minimize calories by not using creamer in every cup. If you like sugar in your coffee, you can find a no-calorie sugar substitute without too much effort. For a couple of natural options, try stevia or monk fruit. Calories in coffee can certainly be managed, but only if you are willing to manage two things: 1. What you put into your coffee. 2. How much coffee you drink. So if you make all of the healthy substitutes I’ve suggested for you, you can keep those calories in coffee to a minimum. Coffee with stevia and two tablespoons of fat free milk will only be about 15 calories. If you must use real cream and sugar, the calories can be closer to 130 per cup. Truthfully, 130 calories from a cup of coffee will not ruin your diet—as long as you manage how much you drink. If you must indulge with what you add to your coffee, just make sure you do not drink six cups a day. Stick to one or two cups instead. Calories in coffee are not to be feared, but simply managed responsibly.