Sixty-four percent of Americans age 18 or over said they had a cup of coffee the previous day in 2018. Many coffee drinkers often drink more than one cup of coffee per day. So what exactly are you putting in your body when you drink a cup of coffee. How many calories are in a cup of coffee? What are the effects of the milk, creamer, or sugar that you put on your coffee on a daily basis? We’re going to explore each of these questions to give you some of the answers you’re looking for.
But before we go into the meat and potatoes of the question let’s give you the straight answer. So here it goes…
How many calories are in a cup of coffee?
- Black coffee = 2 Calories
- Decaffeinated (Decaf) Coffee = 0 calories
The Number Of Calories In Black Coffee
If you like black coffee than you’re really in great shape if you’re counting calories. Actually, the calorie count is so small that you’ve probably burnt off the calories from your first cup of coffee already from the time you started reading this article. The USDA National Nutrieant Database says that one cup of regular black 8-ounce coffee brewed from ground beans holds only 2 calories, and 1 fluid ounce of rich black espresso contains only 1 calorie. The calories come from a tiny amount of protein and some mono-unsaturated oils. If you drink decaf coffee than the process of making the decaffeinated coffee bean brings the calorie count to zero.
Now that you know how many calories are in a cup of coffee, at least black coffee, you might be asking how this is possible. But now let’s think about it. Whether you’re brewing your own pot of coffee or using a Kuerig just think about the process. You pour water in the basin and and coffee beans to drip the water through the beans. Hundreds of unique compounds are extracted from the coffee beans and the end result is coffee. But really, the coffee is mostly just water.
What About The Calories In Decaffeinated Coffee?
If you thought regular black coffee was great with the calorie count than you’re going to go over the moon with decaf. It contains 0 calories! The processes used to make decaf coffee strip the calories out of the beans which leaves you with a 0 calorie beverage. Of course, once you start adding milk, sugar, or creamer than the calorie content of the drink will change.
As for other health concerns there has been a debate on whether decaf coffee is bad for your health. The debate goes back to solvents that used to be used to decaffeinate coffee and the trace amounts of solvents could effect your health. In 1999, however, the FDA concluded that the trace amounts of chemicals from solvents in decaf coffee are too minuscule to affect your health. The agency strictly limits its presence to no more than 10 parts per million, or 0.001 percent, of the final product.
How Many Calories Are In A Cup Of Coffee? It’s In The Milk And Sugar!
Let’s face it. Overall, coffee gets a pretty bad rap for its impact on the health of your body. But almost all of of the bad effects on health coffee has comes from the cream and sugar that people add to their coffee. Were you ever the one had a cup of coffee and stood there pouring sugar into your coffee to mask the coffee taste? Since coffee is bitter many of us tend to sweeten up the flavor to mask the bitterness.
First, let’s look at some common extras that we add to our coffee:
| What You Add To Coffee… | Calories (Per Tablespoon) |
|---|---|
| Almond Milk | 8 |
| Cream | 52 |
| Fat-Free Milk | 5 |
| Flavored nondairy creamer (liquid) | 35 |
| Flavored nondairy creamer (powder) | 45 |
| Flavored, reduced-fat nondairy creamer (liquid) | 20 |
| Flavored, reduced-fat nondairy creamer (powder) | 40 |
| Half-and-half | 20 |
| Plain nondairy creamer (liquid) | 20 |
| Plain nondairy creamer (powder) | 33 |
| Plain, light nondairy creamer (liquid) | 10 |
| Plain, light nondairy creamer (powder) | 25 |
| Sugar | 48 |
| Whole Milk | 9 |
Now, the table shown above may not seem like a lot of calories. But let’s look at a reality for those of you who don’t drink black coffee and add the extras. I bet you are adding more than a tablespoon of cream and/or sugar. But let’s do some quick math for you.
Let’s say you drink a cup of coffee a day and add one tablespoon of creamer (52 calories) and one tablespoons of sugar (48 calories). Each cup of coffee (8-Ounce black coffee) is about two calories. Then you’re adding in your cream and sugar for a total of 100 calories. So you’re at about 102 calories for an 8-ounce coffee.
But now let’s look at another pair of realities. One is that you’re probably adding more cream and sugar than a tablespoon. And the second is that most coffee mugs used in the United States are over 8-ounces. The statistic below shows the results of an online survey conducted by the National Coffee Association (NCA) from January 9 to January 23, 2017. U.S. survey respondents were asked what size of cup they drank their coffee out of the day before. The survey revealed that 45 percent of respondents drank their coffee out of a small cup (5 to 8 ounces) the day before. 50% drank out of a 12 ounce mug. And 17% drank out of a large mug of 16 ounces or more.
So if you drink two 12 ounce cups of coffee a day and add two tablespoons of sugar and creamer than you could be adding over 500 calories a day to your diet! And this is only homebrewed coffee! What if you drink from a chain like Starbucks? Now let’s find out how many calories are in a cup of coffee there and what you’re adding to your body!
How Many Calories Are In A Cup Of Coffee At Starbucks?
First things first. Starbucks has so many drinks to offer that we can’t look at them all. But luckily, they post their calorie counts online so we can all easily see what the drinks consist of. The calorie counts default to Espresso drinks, but if you click on “Drinks” to the left you can find all the drinks on their menu.
But just to highlight a few “Grande” drinks that are 16 ounce drinks with whole milk:
- Caffe Mocha = 330 calories
- Blonde Roast (Light Roast Breakfast Blend Black Coffee) = 5 calories (no milk or sugar)
- Vanilla Latte = 290 calories
If you get a Venti drink than the number of calories increases by about 20%. But actually, the issue when it comes to Starbucks and your health isn’t necessarily the calories. It’s the sugar (again)! A grande size coffee, on average, is about 35 grams of sugar which is just about at the 37.5 grams of sugar a man should have each day. If you’re a woman, sorry, because you’re in a little more trouble. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat each day is 25 grams. So, not good!
Last Thoughts On Calories In Coffee And My Story
Over half of the adults in the United States love to drink their coffee, and most of us on a daily basis. Personally, I started thinking about the calories in coffee around 2008. One of my coworkers made fun of me for a long time because I was one of those people who kept on dumping a ton of sugar in my coffee. Of course, the milk or creamer was soon to follow. One day when we were traveling together for a business trip he kind of made fun of me like normal. But he also said, “have you ever thought about how much crap you’re putting in your body with that much sugar and milk?”
Well, after all the years he made fun of me something about the way he said it actually clicked with me. Probably because he was right. I decided that I would quit cream and sugar cold turkey and try drinking black coffee. To my surprise I actually liked came to really like it pretty quickly!
The truth is that you may be putting more “crap” in your body than you would think with the cream and sugar. As an experiment, maybe you should track it for a day or two. In the end, I hope you all keep enjoying your coffee and staying healthy!