Joanne Turner's Blog by Joanne_Turner

Coffee shops are the place to be these days. So many people are seen with takeaway coffee cups clasped in their hands. But what are you choosing? Is it providing too much sugar, fat or caffeine in one cup?

There are significant differences in both energy and fat content depending on the type, size and added extras to a coffee. A large cup of coffee has almost double the kilojoules compared to a small coffee. You also further double the kilojoules when you choose full cream milk over skim and significantly increase the fat content.

Take a look at what happens to the kilojoule and fat content when you choose a regular full cream latte compared to one made on skim.

Here we get double the kilojoules and a fat content that is nearly a quarter of the daily intake we need for an average persons diet. Choosing the skim coffee each day could see a reduction of close to 2tsp of fat out of the diet per day which could result in up to a 4kg weight reduction in a year!

How about what we add to it? We have the choice to choose a chocolatey coffee such as a mocha, or adding sugar, flavoured syrup or whipped cream, all of these choices is like adding an extra slice or two of bread to your coffee! So be careful what you say yes to when you are at the counter ordering, try and limit the sugar or choose a sweetener such as Equal, avoid the syrup and cream unless you really want to treat yourself.

The kilojoules in a coffee can be significantly above the kilojoules we should be having in a snack for most people, or be similar to a light meal as seen with the large white chocolate mocha. So don’t go ordering the cake or slice as well.

How about the caffeine content? Caffeine content was found to vary significantly from coffee shop to coffee shop independent on size of the coffee. Caffeine of more than >500mg each day is discouraged, accepted intake is about 300mg per day. High caffeine intake can increase heart rate and alertness, impair fine motor skills and disrupt good quality sleep. Caffeine also has a half life of 6-7 hours, so if you have a coffee at 3pm, you will still have half of the caffeine in your system at 10pm!

How much caffeine are you having in your day?

Source: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/caffeine/

The good about coffee is that it contains antioxidants (polyphenols) which have been shown in some studies to prevent diabetes and Parkinson disease.

Follow my mantra, ‘Three before three’, no more than three cups of coffee (or caffeinated beverages) per day before 3pm, try decaf beverages after 3pm. Enjoy a decaf coffee or a herbal tea in the evening prior to bed.