Is there Starbucks in your city and do you go there every morning? The product list sends you into the balloon every time and you don't know how to order a low-calorie healthy drink? To find a solution, you need to learn how to identify healthy drinks, personalize coffee, interpret nutrition labels, and make good comparative choices.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Choose Healthy Drinks
Step 1. Order the classic coffee
Not only is it delicious, along with water it is one of the healthiest drinks in the world. It is virtually calorie-free, packed with antioxidants, flavonoids, and other nutrients. The problem is that many people add too many ingredients to it, turning it into a calorie bomb.
- The classic coffee has almost zero calories. For an even healthier choice, order a cup, limiting the extra calories from sugar and fat, which usually come from sugar sachets, syrups, milk, cream and other toppings.
- Choose the size you prefer. The great thing about black coffee is that you can have a nice cup of it without overdoing the calories. A short black coffee (the smallest size) contains 3 calories, a twenty (the largest size) 5.
Step 2. Order a very simple espresso, just like you would in an Italian bar
Espresso is obtained by percolating hot water under pressure, which passes through a layer of ground and pressed coffee. The resulting blend is intense and concentrated, creamy on the surface. Espresso is used to prepare other drinks, such as latte, macchiato and cappuccino, but even on its own it tastes great and low in calories.
- Order a single or double cup of espresso, which in Starbucks parlance translates as single and double, respectively. The first has 5 calories, the second 10. Obviously these drinks are shorter than typical Starbucks drinks.
- Caffè Americano also derives from espresso, in fact it is prepared by adding boiling water to a single or double cup of espresso. It has a few more calories (5 for a short, 25 for a twenty), but it's still a good option.
Step 3. From time to time, treat yourself to a classic cappuccino or latte
If you want to order something special and a little more elaborate, these drinks are for you. Cappuccino is prepared by adding boiling water and frothed milk to the espresso. Espresso is also used in the preparation of milk, which however contains more frothed milk and a little foam on the surface.
- A short cappuccino prepared with normal milk contains about 80 calories, which becomes 50 if you opt for skim or soy milk. A twenty has 110, 120 and 150 calories respectively for skim, soy and regular milk. The calorie intake and portion size are slightly smaller than the latte, but the flavor is still intense.
- Milk has more calories, as it contains more milk and therefore more sugar: a short has 100 calories with normal milk and 70 with skim or soy milk. A twenty has 240, 170 and 190 calories respectively.
- Limit the amount of sugar you use for cappuccino and milk, as they will increase your calorie and carbohydrate intake. Instead, sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg on the surface. These spices also contain very few calories.
Step 4. Avoid long-name drinks
At Starbucks, it is a good idea to be wary of products that contain words such as Mocha, Vanilla, Caramel, White Chocolate or Caramel Apple Spice in the title. They'll look delicious too, but they're full of sugar, fat, and calories, all of which come with flavorings and sweeteners. When you see a long headline, it probably won't be a healthy choice.
- For example, consider a Caramel Macchiato. Twenty contains 240 and 250 calories respectively with skim and soy milk, 300 with normal milk, which is the equivalent of a large snack. These calories come almost entirely from the added sweeteners.
- Coffee Mocha without cream is even worse. A short contains 110 calories with skim and soy milk, 130 with regular milk. A twenty has 280, 290 and 340 calories respectively. Most of these extra calories come from sugars.
Part 2 of 3: Personalizing the Coffee
Step 1. Order a short
When grabbing your coffee at Starbucks, remember a simple tip: size matters, especially if you care about shape. A twenty often contains double or even triple the sugar, fat and calories than a short. Intermediate sizes, such as tall and large are more acceptable, but will increase your total calorie intake by 40-60 calories.
- For example, you prefer a short latte to a twenty. The calorie intake will be between 70 and 100 calories, instead of between 170 and 240.
- The same goes for White Chocolate Mocha, a real calorie bomb. A short has a caloric intake between 180 and 200 calories, while a twenty is equivalent to a full meal: 450-510 calories.
- The only exception to the rule is in the case of classic coffee, which is almost calorie-free when taken black. The important thing is to limit the amount of milk or sugar you add.
Step 2. Prefer skim or soy milk
Many love to add milk to coffee to enhance its flavor or because they don't like its naturally pungent taste. Milk makes it less bitter and enriches it. However, it also involves adding fat and sugar. If you can't drink black coffee, at least opt for low-calorie, skimmed milk.
- Consider that a tall cappuccino with skim milk contains only 60 calories, while the same size with regular milk 90. You would save 30 calories.
- Some Starbucks beverages are made with low-calorie milks only. For example, Skinny Latte is a great alternative to classic latte and contains only skim milk. The same goes for the Frappuccino Light Blend.
- Both of these skim milk alternatives have a reduced calorie intake. A short Skinny Latte contains 60 calories, while a classic short latte 100. A Light tall Frappuccino has 90 calories, while the normal one 180.
Step 3. Limit sugar and extra syrup
When you order from Starbucks, the additional sugars from flavored syrups are a major source of calories. They are used for many drinks typical of this coffee shop chain, they contain large amounts of sugar and sometimes hundreds of excess calories. You can limit your calorie intake by asking the bartender to use a sugar-free syrup or avoid it directly.
- For example, when customizing your coffee, Starbucks offers the option to request a sugar-free flavored syrup. Prefer it to the normal one. You can also use sugar substitutes, such as an artificial sweetener.
- Better yet, choose a drink that does not contain traces of syrup. For example, it is usually added to cold drinks, which can still be refreshing and tasty with skim or soy milk and sugar-free.
- Consider the sugar content of some of these drinks: a twenty cold coffee (with milk and syrup) contains 33-36 g of sugar, an amount that would be enough to almost completely satisfy your daily carbohydrate requirement. The twenty Frappuccino contains 66-69 g.
Part 3 of 3: Compare Drinks
Step 1. Learn to count calories
To choose a healthy drink, it is useful to know how to read nutritional labels, at least in general. They may seem incomprehensible, but they're actually pretty easy when you know what to look for specifically. For coffee, you need to focus on 3 categories: calories, fat and sugar.
- We must first think of calories, because they have the function of giving energy and can affect weight loss or fat gain. Taking in more calories than necessary leads to the accumulation of extra pounds over time, while consuming less helps you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
- Find the calorie intake of a drink by looking at the label. However, sometimes this information is not entirely clear and requires some calculation.
- Certain labels indicate the calorie intake of a serving. Example: 100 calories per serving. This does not necessarily mean that a drink contains 100 calories. Make sure you also check how many servings it includes. If it includes 2.5 servings, you must multiply this number by the calories in each serving, in this case 100. As a result, the drink will contain a total of 250 calories.
Step 2. Also look at the fat and sugar content, 2 other dangerous ingredients
They usually come from milk, flavored syrup, whipped cream, toppings, or other sweeteners, such as honey. In general, all these additional ingredients will increase the caloric intake of the drink without improving its nutritional values. Also look for the total content of these ingredients.
- Fats are generally found at the top of nutrition labels. In coffee drinks, most of the lipid content comes from milk, whipped cream, or sometimes chocolate.
- A healthy coffee drink should contain no more than 2-3g of fat.
- If necessary, remember to multiply the fats. For example, a drink that contains 4g of fat per serving is acceptable. However, if it has an amount equivalent to 3 servings, the total fat content will be 12 g.
Step 3. Search for nutritional information online
Unfortunately, not all Starbucks branches report nutrition information and calories, although a pilot program was conducted in 2008 and it was found that publishing such data actually resulted in lower calorie intake per transaction. In any case, the company publishes various information online. Check the website for tables and other data.
- Remember that no seasonal drink data, such as those for the Christmas period, is published online.
- You can also ask the bartender to explain the calories, fat and sugar of a specific drink or contact the customer service of the company itself.
