How Fattening Is Your Daily Coffee?

Coffee is certainly one of the most popular drinks in the world, and it can be found in nearly every home and office and restaurant. Most people have at least one a day, and some people have as many as two, three, or four cups daily. Some people drink it for energy, others for stress reducing purposes, and others to give them the energy they need to get them through the day. A question many people have about coffee, however, is how fattening is it really? How many calories are contained in coffee, and will it make you fat.

In coffee itself there are very few calories. Coffee is actually a relatively healthy substance which gives your body various antioxidants and good materials. You get energy and feel happier, and all these are reasons people like it. And if you were to simply drink a cup of black coffee the calorie count would be minimal. A cup of coffee has something like 4 calories in all, nothing a regular person really needs to take into account or add up.

Coffee becomes fattening and starts putting on the calories when you add other things to it. For instance, the simple fact that you add sugar to your coffee can add a great many calories to your diet. Two sugars in a cup of coffee once a day will add on 210 calories to your diet by the end of your week, or a half hour of running. Reducing the sugar can help you get rid of some of those extra calories very easily.

The other main fattening item in your coffee is the milk. Taking cream or full milk in your coffee might mean 2 or 3 hundred extra calories to your diet. That's something no one needs, and it will add up over time and cause you to pack on the pounds. Even taking skim milk, a lighter calorie substitute for regular milk, still means you get about a hundred extra calories. Cream and milk is something that you have to seriously consider before adding to your coffee, especially if you are trying to lose weight.

If you aren't watching your weight and don't drink more than one coffee a day, then some of these things can be fine to add as long as you factor them into your daily diet. But if you take two or three cups of coffee a day then you might want to consider reducing or even cutting out one or more of these items. It's not necessary for everyone, but some people might benefit greatly from it.

You can try new option to cut some of the calories out of your diet. For instance, maybe you could get used to drinking your coffee black. If it's just too bitter for you, then try slowly weaning yourself off the sugar and milk over time. Reduce your added milk and coffee once a week or so until you have none or hardly any at all. Coffee can be a way that calories sneak up on you, so watch out.