There are so many different ways you can enjoy your cup of coffee. Black, with milk and/or sugar, with honey, … Let’s find out if coffee has calories and if so, how many!
Are There Any Calories in Black Coffee?
If you’re on a diet, you may wonder if cutting out coffee will help you eliminate some calories during the day so you can lose weight a little faster. But before you decide to give up coffee altogether, there are some things you should consider. First of all, the average cup of black coffee has less than five calories in it, so you’re not saving any significant calories by giving up your morning cup of joe. That being said, you could save a lot of calories by drinking your coffee black with nothing added to it, and it’s easy to figure out why.
Many people start out with coffee and then add lots of sugar, cream, milk, and other high-calorie ingredients that make the coffee both higher in calories and less healthy in the long run. So the fewer ingredients you add to your coffee, the fewer calories you’ll consume. Still, for people who just love the taste of coffee, and there are those people out there, it’s good to know that with each cup you drink, you’re only consuming two to five calories total when you drink it black.
How Many Calories Are in an Average Cup of Coffee?
Each brand is a bit different, but most black coffee has less than five calories per cup. This means that if you drink your coffee black, you’ll be consuming fewer calories than you would if you decided to chew a piece of gum. Even though the average cup of coffee contains about eight ounces of the drink, many people drink out of small cups and, therefore, consume very few calories once they decide not to add any ingredients to it.
In fact, many coffee brands make coffee that is a mere two calories per eight-ounce serving, and this goes for black coffee, iced black coffee, cold-pressed coffee, and even coffee that is brewed from flavored beans.
Why Are There No Calories in Coffee?
Simply put, there are so few calories in coffee, and sometimes none at all, because coffee is made from fresh coffee beans and nothing else, and those beans have very few calories in them. In fact, when all is said and done, coffee is made mostly out of water, which is zero calories, and this is why the final product usually ends up with just two to five calories per cup, which is essentially nothing at all.
It’s good to also keep in mind that coffee has zero grams of sugar, no fat, and nothing else – except caffeine, of course, but caffeine (like coffee) has little to no calories both at the beginning of the brewing process and by the time you drink it. Coffee is simply an uncomplicated, natural product that you can drink a lot of and still not worry about consuming many calories.
How Many Calories Are in a Cup of Coffee with Milk?
As mentioned earlier, it is what you put into your coffee that gives it the most calories. If you like adding milk to your cup of coffee, this will definitely add some calories, but the number of calories it adds depends on how much milk you add to the coffee and what type or brand you’re using. Fat-free milk, for instance, will only add 10 calories per ounce, which is roughly two tablespoons. Milk that is higher in fat, for example, whole milk, will naturally be higher in calories, but if you stick to two tablespoons, it shouldn’t be much higher than the low-fat brands of milk.
By comparison, if you add two tablespoons of half-and-half, it adds roughly 37 calories to the coffee; and if you add heavy whipping cream, a whopping 101 calories will be added.
How Many Calories Are in a Cup of Coffee with Milk and Sugar?
The numbers mentioned in the previous paragraphs do not count the two to five calories that are in the coffee itself. Fortunately, foods such as the ingredients that go into coffee now have to have labels that mention the amount of calories, fat, sugar, and so on, in the product. Once you add the milk and remember that the coffee has two to five calories, you need to remember the number of calories in any sugar you might be adding. Let’s take a look at those numbers.
Regular sugar is 16 calories for one teaspoon, which is about four grams, but most people do not stop at just one teaspoon. If you use an artificial sweetener, these are usually not calorie-free, even though the number of calories is a lot lower than regular sugar. The bottom line is, when you’re trying to determine how many calories are in the cup of coffee you just drank, you have to consider the coffee, the milk, sugar, cream, and anything else you might’ve added to the concoction.
Is Coffee Good for Weight Loss?
While drinking coffee alone will not help you lose a significant amount of weight, it does have a few traits that can help. For one thing, coffee speeds up your metabolism, which may help you burn fat better. This is due to caffeine, which is a stimulant. In fact, one study found that people who drank four cups of coffee per day lost 4% of their body fat during the study. One word of caution, however, there are no conclusive studies that show that drinking coffee regularly either helps or hinders the weight-loss process. In short, you should never consider drinking coffee to be a positive or a negative thing when you’re trying to lose weight.
Does Honey Add Fewer Calories Than Sugar to Coffee?
Once again, you have to take into consideration the type of honey and sugar you’re using so that you can get an exact number for the calories consumed. Sugar, as mentioned earlier, is about 16 calories per teaspoon, which means only one tablespoon of sugar is a full 48 calories, which is quite a lot. Compare that with one tablespoon of honey, and you might decide to stick with sugar instead. A tablespoon of honey is about 64 calories, which is 16 calories more than what is in sugar.
If you’re trying to cut back on calories, therefore, you might as well stick with sugar. But if calories aren’t your only concern, keep in mind that honey is natural and considered a little healthier for you than sugar, regardless of the type of sugar you decide to use.
How Many Calories Are in a Latte?
A latte is essentially “coffee milk” and contains steamed milk that has been added to espresso. Most of the time, whole milk is used and, therefore, they can be quite high in calories. While each brand of latte is a little different, the average flavored latte has roughly 135 calories in it. The average nonfat latte has about 75 calories. That being said, a 16-ounce flavored latte could easily contain more than 200 calories, so they are indeed a high-calorie food.
If you’re counting calories, these are high numbers that can use up a lot of your daily allowance. It’s just something to keep in mind if drinking lattes is part of your life! You’ll be better off getting a tasty and calorie-less shot of espresso that you can make at home!
Does a Latte Have More Calories Than a Cappuccino?
While lattes are made out of steamed milk and a shot of espresso, a cappuccino is made out of equal parts of steamed milk, espresso, and milk foam. Once again, the calorie content may vary depending on where you purchase the coffee, but cappuccinos tend to be lower in calories than lattes.
Your typical 16-ounce latte has around 206 calories, while a cappuccino of the same size is around 130 calories. A nonfat cappuccino can be as low as 46 calories, so as you can see, cappuccinos are almost always much lower in calories than lattes.
Still, if you’re counting calories, even drinking a cappuccino will add to the number of calories you’re consuming each day. If you love lattes or cappuccinos, it’s best to drink them only occasionally when you’re dieting and try to go with the nonfat option whenever you can.
While pretty much everybody has a drip coffee maker at home, it’s not that common to have an espresso machine so you can make your own latte or cappuccino. Sometimes you can use K-Cup makers to get an espresso but it usually is not as good as the ‘real’ thing!
Final Thoughts
While coffee is indeed a low-calorie drink and contains no more than five calories in an eight-ounce cup, it’s the ingredients you add to the coffee that quickly change the calorie content and make it a high-calorie food item. If you’re counting calories, adding artificial sweetener and low-fat milk is the smartest option. Coffee itself is neither nutritious nor actually bad for you – unless you’re trying to avoid caffeine – so as long as you play it smart with the ingredients you add to it, you can essentially drink coffee guilt-free.
Of course, if you’re not dieting and simply love a good sugar- or fat-filled coffee every now and then, it shouldn’t hurt you. You can even indulge in a flavored latte, cappuccino, or macchiato if you have no dietary restrictions. All in all, coffee is a great eye-opener in the mornings and has even been proven to have some health benefits, so for most people, drinking coffee is not going to harm them in any way.
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