HealthTip: Are You Drinking Your Calories at Starbucks?

As the weather gets colder outside and the Christmas season approaches, many of us flock to our neighborhood Starbucks in search of a warm comforting beverage! But did you know that many of these beverages can contain over 500 calories. If you have no idea what "500 calories" means, think of it this way: a person's average daily intake should be about 2000 calories (this is just an approximation because all people differ in height, weight, muscle mass, and fat mass). So, in other words, one Starbucks beverage could be more than 1/4 of the calories you need in an entire day! Also, I'm just using Starbucks as an example, high calorie containing beverages can be found everywhere. So, continuing with the theme of Starbucks, it's fine to indulge in these comforting beverages sometimes, but if you're a Starbucks addict and need a specialty beverage everyday, you may want to consider the following:

• A grande (16oz) peppermint white chocolate mocha made with 2% milk and whipped cream contains 540 calories and 19 grams of fat. If you use non-fat milk and take out the whipped cream, you're down to 430 calories
• Ask for skim milk (non-fat) to be used in your beverages. If you don't mention this to the barista, they may use 2% or 3.5% homogenized milk
• If you're really craving a treat, get a smaller size with non-fat milk, and a little whipped cream if you just "have to" have it. An example of this would be a tall (12oz) peppermint white chocolate mocha with non-fat milk and a little whip= 390 calories and 11 grams of fat. If you take out the whipped cream, you're down to 320 calories and 7 grams of fat
• The addition of whipped cream to your drink adds approximately 70 calories to your beverage
• The addition of flavored syrup adds approximately 70 calories to a grande (16oz) drink and 50 calories to a tall (12oz) beverage
• Warm Starbucks beverages that are 200 calories or less include a (grande-16oz drinks; non-fat; no whipped cream) cappuccino, caffe latte, caramel macchiato, flavored caffe latte e.g. gingerbread or peppermint latte, and flavored skinny latte
• Latte's are a great choice at Starbucks because they provide you with 1-2 servings of milk and satisfy your caffeine needs! Soy milk options are available for those who are lactose intolerant

So, the next time you're at Starbucks, try the non-fat or smaller (e.g. tall) version of your favorite guilty pleasure and maybe you won't have to feel so guilty?
Asking for less or no whipped cream and trying a drink that's 200 calories or lower could also help prevent you from drinking a large amount of unnoticeable calories!

For more nutrition information about Starbucks beverages, see http://www.starbucks.com/menu/catalog/nutrition?drink=all#view_control=nutrition&drink=all&page=undefined