*Coffee Love* + Nutritional Info (Also R.I.P. Mr. Coffee)

So there I was, one Monday morning.  Making my breakfast of peanut butter toast…crunchy peanut butter today with homemade “grandma jelly.”  I sat down to eat and suddenly noticed I was not hearing the usual bubbling of hot water coming from my coffee maker.  Weird.  I got up to check to make sure I had turned the switch on and I had, the green light confirmed it was on.  Hmm…checked the water and it was cold.  Frowny face. 🙁 I switched it off and turned it back on again…waiting a little bit to hear the familiar hissing from my little coffee maker.  Nada.

Since it was my day off, I wasn’t planning on driving somewhere to get coffee, nor would I be able to make myself a special latte at my coffee catering job.  *Sigh* No coffee this morning.

I have been on a coffee kick lately (okay I’ve always loved coffee), but usually in the summer I don’t brew coffee at home, I go with a diet mountain dew. 

It may have something to do with watching Gilmore Girls.  🙂  I’ve been getting Gilmore Girls sent to me via Netflix (one disc at a time) and when I told my friend she said, “Nonsense, I’m burning you all the seasons.”  I laughed and then forgot about it.  She then texted me that she had burned me the first season and she was going to drop it off.  What a sweetie!  I then discovered that she BOUGHT me the first season!!  She said it was online for really cheap but whatever she GOT ME THE FIRST SEASON OF GILMORE GIRLS.  LOVE HER!

{This is the same friend who’s lovely wedding I was in in June.}

I was actually going to write a blog post about coffee and nutrition and then this morning the coffee maker died.  Funny life.  Gotta love it.  (Coffee goes great with the *delicious biscottis* I made last week, too!)

R.I.P. Mr. Coffee

There are many benefits of coffee. 
It has many antioxidants, in fact, according to Web MD’s article on coffee, Americans get more antioxidants from coffee than any other food or beverage.  Of course this could mean that we simply drink a lot of coffee, but antioxidants are always a good thing!  This delightful beverage may also reduce the risk of type II Diabetes as well as Alzeimer’s Disease.

In another article I found on Coffee: The Good and the Bad, it also helps to boost metabolism, diuretic functions (keeps you regular), and improves brain function.

It also wakes us up and keeps us going in our chaotic lives!

Since America is such an on-the-go society, coffee shops have drastically increased in popularity.  Even those who aren’t coffee lovers can simply doll up their cup of joe with heavy cream and sugar and off they go!

I would like to share the benefit of making your own coffee at home, or at least choosing healthy options when you are at your local coffee shop.

Here’s my signature at home drink:
Brewed Coffee: 5 calories
Splenda with fiber: 2 packets
Creamer: 1 TBS: 35 calories (I probably use 2 TBS)
Grand total calories: 40-75 calories

Never hurts to get a little extra fiber in your diet!

I went to Starbuck’s Nutrition Page to make some comparisons:

Espresso Beverages
Espresso is basically condensed coffee.  This allows coffee shops/or those with espresso machines to put large amounts of milk, sugar, etc to cover up the coffee taste.
12 oz. Americano: Espresso and water: 0 calories
12 oz. Latte: No flavoring or sugar free flavoring with espresso and skim milk (the calories are coming only from the milk): 100 calories, 10g carbs, 10g protein
12 oz. Cafe Mocha: Chocolate, espresso, 2% milk: 200 calories, 5g fat, 31g carbs, 10g protein

Iced Beverages

About the same caloric count as their hot counterparts, just over ice.

Frapaccino Blended Beverages
12 oz. Coffee blended frappaccino beverage: No flavoring, just blended coffee with ice cream base and a little milk blended.  You can choose from the light or regular version of the ice cream base these figures are shown with nonfat milk as well:
Light: 80 calories; Regular: 160 calories
2% milk: Regular: 170 calories
Mocha frapuccino light w skim: skim milk, light ice cream base: 100 calories
Mocha frapuccino regular: 2% milk, regular ice cream base: 180 calories
WORST: 12 oz. White Chocolate Frapuccino with 2% milk: 320 calories, 12 g fat, 50 carbs, 4g protein
(And I didn’t even get into whole milk numbers.)



Photo Credit


Another issue at coffee shops can be the whipped cream!  Many make their own whipped topping which is delicious but can add 100 calories!  Beware!  The lovely picture above is a regular White Chocolate Frapuccinos with whip…420 calories…that’s a good dinner number!  However, if you buy your own light whipped topping it is only 15 calories per serving.

Also FYI…soy milk is not a healthier option!  For some reason we think that soy sounds healthy, but in calories and protein value, it doesn’t change with the drinks that are made at Starbucks!  I choose soy because of my silly stomach (dairy intolerance), but the healthier version at the coffee shop is skim milk.

If you have a problem with drinking too much coffee (more than 5 a day in my estimation), there are some health risks (some can be found in the previously mentioned article Coffee: The Good and the Bad), so as with everything, moderation is key!

Well I am off to do my second-to-last weeks work for my Nutrition Class.  The information I’m studying now is basically clinical nutrition which doesn’t interest me as much as daily/life nutrition.  The last chapter I read was about lower gastrointestinal disorders…bleh.

Any ideas on what kind of coffee maker I should get now?

Have a happy, semi-healthy, blessed day!
*~Semi-Health Nut~*