Iced Coffee Calories: You could be consuming 1000's of calories a week!

The calories in iced coffee can really add up FAST! How many iced coffee calories are in that iced mocha frappuccino (Grande sized, no less!) that you're holding right now? Quick... quick... 50 calories? 100 calories? No idea?

Before you check the bottom of the article, where the answer is... read this article to see if your first guess is anywhere near right!

Iced Coffee: The perfect low calorie drink!

Iced coffee by itself is just like regular coffee when it comes to calories—an 8 ounce cup of coffee has just two wonderful calories! One of the reasons I stick to a very simple Americano coffee, with a splash of milk, no sugar!

For all the pleasure it gives us, two calories per cup is a reasonable price to pay. Just the effort of lifting the cup will eat those calories up pretty quickly, too. So you could say that coffee and iced coffee are effectively zero calorie drinks.

...Except it's not just 2 calories

The iced coffee calories begin to add up when you start throwing more goodies into it. Some recipes call for heavy cream, which has about 9 calories per teaspoon or 103 per quarter cup. Other iced coffee drinks contain milk which has 146 calories per cup whole and 100 calories per cup if you use non-fat milk.

And I should know. Before I started drinking iced coffee, I had no idea how MUCH sugar was in each cup or can. I used to drink 2 or 3 cups a day because the summers here were so hot! Of course, with less exercise, the iced coffee calories all went straight to my WAIST line! I soon had to let out my belt a lot! I can't tell you what my belt size is now! It used to be only 34 inches!

Flavorings, Sugars, Syrups!

Nearly all iced coffee drinks you buy at a coffee shop contain flavorings. You've probably noticed the all the bottles near the espresso machine in your favorite coffee shop with the colorful labels and pumps to squirt them in the coffee. One pump of these flavorings contains 20 calories and three pumps are usually used in the average drink. This is a big boost to the total iced coffee calories you may consume in your drink.

If you're making a more exotic iced coffee drink for yourself or to entertain guests and use caramel syrup, that will add 120 calories for every two tablespoons you use! The same amount of chocolate syrup is 100 calories and the sugarless versions are about the same. Sugar, on the other hand, has only 18 calories per teaspoon, a real diet 'bargain' second only to honey for sweetening power.

Daily Splurge: Adds the Pounds

When you think about all the ingredients in your daily iced cappuccino or frappe, it's possible to be consuming 300 extra calories every day just in a cup of iced coffee. Those extra calories can pile on 21 pounds per year unless they're accompanied by a comparable amount of physical activity!

For instance, a caramel Frappucino has 280 calories but if you add whipped cream it increases to a whopping 430 calories. The tastier the drink, the more calories, right? Now, are you counting all those iced coffee calories you consumed in August? Wonder why your bikini doesn't fit...

What CAN you do?

There are a lot of small changes you can make in your favorite iced coffee drinks in order to reduce or avoid all those extra iced coffee calories. So you needn't quit your iced coffee addiction!

Sugarless Syrups

If a recipe calls for caramel syrup buy a bottle of sugarless caramel flavoring instead. There are quite a few manufacturers who have a large variety of sugarless flavorings. You can get sugarless hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate, caramel and more for just a few dollars for a large bottle.

Can the cream

If your drink just isn't right without whipped cream, buy some fat free whipped topping instead for all the taste and only 10 calories per tablespoon. It's also a good substitute for the heavy cream that some recipes call for.

Sweeteners

Using sugar substitutes will save even more calories, though some may have a slight after-taste you may not notice it in the stronger drinks: saccharin (e.g., Sweet'N Low) or aspartame (e.g., Equal, NutraSweet) or sucralose (e.g., Splenda).

Change the Beans

If you are making it by yourself, you can experiment to find bean blends that don't need (as much) sugar. Some blends are, in fact, better without any sugar, such as quality espresso beans.

Avoid Commercial Iced Coffee

If you are used to buying your iced coffee from places that use pre-made iced coffee or add lots of sugar for flavor, you may not be able to control the fat/sugar/syrup levels in the final drink. Stick to those coffee shops who make it on the spot, then you can control exactly what goes in the cup!

But iced coffee doesn't have to be fattening to be delicious. By making some small changes and creative substitutions, you can enjoy your iced coffee and still stay healthy!

Ans: Starbucks' Blended Mocha Frappucino Grande, in a standard 16-oz serving, has 278 calories with 30 calories coming from fat. (Source: Starbucks Calories - Fast Food Nutritional Facts & Menu Information). In a typical week, you could consume over nearly 2000 calories from your after lunch drink alone!

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember "Only Coffee Beans Make Great Coffee"! And enjoy that cup of coffee!

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