Blame Coffee for Being Overweight?
According to article on MyFoxOrlando.com, Dr. Ann de Wees Allen claims, “Coffee will make you fatter than a pig. Coffee will make you fatter than eating five hot fudge sundaes. That’s the mechanism that the human body works with.”
I spent five years in the Navy, and as numerous people could tell you, sometimes we almost lived on coffee. I could be more toned, but I sure wouldn’t consider myself fat. I haven’t read anything else outside of this article on the topic, but I find it hard to believe coffee alone will make you fat. The article quotes Alisha Kearns, owner of Seven Sisters Coffee House, as saying, “I do believe if you’re mixing coffee with milks, and half-and-halves, and creams, and you’re having one every day, I’m sure that would contribute to it.” I would be inclined to go along with her and think this “fat-ness” is coming from the stuff people are putting in their coffee. Creamer, milk, – I even know of people that add ice cream in place of creamer (I can be guilty of this at times) – and all these fancy drinks people get at coffee shops can’t be that good for you. Ever had a White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks? I’m not a big fan of their regular coffee, but that white chocolate drink is really good. Nutrition information directly from Starbucks on a small (tall in Starbucks terms) White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino, with no whipped cream; basically as healthy as this drink gets:
| Serving Size: 12 fl. oz. | |
| Amount per serving |
|
| Calories | 240 |
| Fat Calories | 35 |
| Total Fat (g) | 35 |
| Saturated Fat (g) | 3.5 |
| Trans Fat (g) | 0 |
| Cholesterol (mg) | 10 |
| Sodium (mg) | 200 |
| Total Carbohydrates (g) | 47 |
| Fiber (g) | 0 |
| Sugars (g) | 41 |
| Protein (g) | 5 |
| Vitamin A | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0% |
| Calcium | 15% |
| Iron | 0% |
| Caffeine (mg) | 85 |
Source: Starbucks flavor profiles and nutrition information.
This isn’t a shot at Starbucks, simply an illustration; many specialty coffee drinks are just as bad. While you may take pleasure in drinking coffee because of its calorie or fat content, you should probably add up all the stuff you’re putting in it before you start talking about how healthy your morning drink is. I used to work with a guy who would get two of these large-size frappuccino-type drinks from Seattle’s Best every day. He would always say, “it’s just coffee, it’s not that bad.”
