By Melissa Breyer for Care2.com
Oh, for the day when the worst thing you could do to your coffee was add a hundred calories in cream and sugar. These days, most of the health atrocities being committed in the name of coffee come to us courtesy of the ubiquitous coffee-house and fast food chains that are colonizing our neighborhoods from sea to sea. Why do they see the need to turn a cup of coffee into a concoction capable of ringing up four-figure calorie counts? (Aside from the fact that consumers are scarfing them up…)
A plain cup of brewed coffee has only two calories and no fat. Even adding 49 calories from a tablespoon of sugar, 20 calories from a tablespoon of half and half, or 52 calories from whipping cream–a regular coffee can’t come close to competing with the desserts-in-coffee-cups listed here.
For a little perspective, keep this in mind: the range of recommended calories is from 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men, depending on age and physical activity level.
Meanwhile, the American Heart Association has issued guidelines that say most women should consume no more then 25 grams (6 teaspoons, or about 100 calories) of added sugar daily, and most men no more than 37.5 grams (9 teaspoons, or about 150 calories).
12. Au Bon Pain: Vanilla Latte (20 ounces)
Calories: 500
Saturated Fat (g): 9
Carb (g): 81
Sugar (g): 81
11. Au Bon Pain: Caramel Macchiato (20 ounces)
Calories: 540
Saturated Fat (g): 9
Carb (g): 86
Sugar (g): 82
For the same amount of calories, you could have a cup of coffee with milk and 13 pieces of caramel candy.
10. Starbucks Tazo® Green Tea Crème Frappuccino® Blended Beverage (Venti, 24 ounces)
Calories: 550
Fat (g): 18
Carb (g): 90
No, this isn’t a coffee drink, but just in case you think you’re making the healthier choice by ordering a tea-based drink…
9. Seattle’s Best Coffee: Raspberry Mocha Kiss (24 ounces)
Calories: 660
Saturated Fat (g): 12
Carb (g): 105
Sugar (g): 96
Or, eat three Godiva Dark Chocolate with Raspberry Bars for less calories than this coffee drink…
8. McDonald’s: McCafé Caramel Frappe (22 ounces)
Calories: 680
Saturated Fat (g): 18
Carb (g): 94
Sugar (g): 88
For this calorie total, you could have had a cheeseburger, small french fries and a Fruit n’ Yogurt Parfait.
7. Seattle’s Best Coffee: Cookies and Cream Javakula (24 ounces)
Calories: 690
Saturated Fat (g): 13
Carb (g): 110
Sugar (g): 79
The caloric equivalent of thirteen Oreo cookies.
6. Starbucks Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha (Venti, 24 ounces)
Calories: 720
Fat (g): 27
Carb (g): 110
This doozy adds up to the same number of calories as twenty chocolate kisses plus twenty miniature candy canes.
5. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: Caramel Ice Blended (24 ounces)
Calories: 770
Saturated Fat (g): 13
Carb (g): 145
For the calories you might consume in one Caramel Ice Blended, you could have two large caramel apples.
4. Caribou Coffee: Turtle Mocha (20 ounces)
Calories: 800
Saturated Fat (g): 24
Carb: 94
Sugar (g): 93
Imagine the stomach ache you’d get from eating nine chocolate turtles–which have the caloric equivalent to one 20-ounce Turtle Mocha from Caribou.
3. Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee-Mocha Coolatta® (Large)
Calories: 990
Fat (g): 47
Carb (g): 141
Sugar (g): 125
One of these bad boys, or four French Crullers for the same amount of calories.
2. It’s a Grind Coffee House: Iced Blended Triple Chocolate Mocha (32 ounces)
Calories: 1190
Saturated Fat (g): 22
Carb (g): 206
Sugar (g): 188
Would you believe that this drink packs the same wallop in terms of calories as five and a half Hershey’s chocolate bars?
1. Cold Stone Creamery: Lotta Caramel Latte (Gotta Have It Size)
Calories: 1,790 calories
Fat: (g) 90
Carb: (g): 223
Sugar: (g) 175
This one drink delivers more calories than are recommended for some people for the entire day. For the same amount of calories, you could have five 5-ounce servings of Cold Stone’s chocolate ice cream.
Also Read:
Designer Coffee Brimming with Calories
But how about a SMALL McCafé Caramel Frappe?