Coffee can sabotage your diet. Liquid calories aren't as filling as calories from food, so adding calories to coffee can undercut your weight loss efforts. To complicate matters, the sizes, ingredients and calorie content of coffee drinks vary widely. Learning more about how caffeine can affect your health and weight loss efforts will help you make decisions about coffee so that it doesn't sabotage your diet.
Background
An 8-oz. cup of coffee contains an average of 133 mg of caffeine, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Consuming 16-oz. and larger coffeehouse drinks and large mugs of coffee at home and work can lead to higher daily caffeine consumption. Coffee intake of up to six 8-oz. cups a day is considered safe for healthy adults, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. However, the more coffee you drink, the higher your risk of side effects, such as tension and disturbed sleep. The effects and side effects of caffeine intake can undermine your diet.
Types
Premium coffees may contain higher amounts of caffeine, and coffeehouse drinks can be loaded with calories from whole milk, syrups, cocoa and whipped cream. Drinking coffees with added calories can sabotage your diet. A 500-calorie coffeehouse drink comes to 25 percent of your daily calories based on a 2,000 calorie diet. One tablespoon of sugar adds 49 calories, a tablespoon of whipped cream adds 52 calories and a tablespoon of half-and-half adds 20 calories, MayoClinic.com reports.
Blood Sugar
Although preliminary research shows that people drinking high levels coffee or decaf are at lower risk for type-2 diabetes, drinking coffee can raise your blood glucose levels, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. This means that drinking coffee may result in your blood sugar rising faster than it would without the coffee. When your blood sugar soars and then crashes, you tend to experience food cravings. This effect may promote excess calorie consumption. Caffeine can also increase stress, and the foods you indulge in when you're stressed can sabotage your diet.
Side Effects
The side effects of coffee's caffeine content can sabotage your diet. Caffeine can increase tension and stress, leading to a rise in cortisol production. Cortisol is called a stress hormone and it promotes the accumulation of belly fat. If you're having difficulty losing weight despite following a moderate, calorie-controlled diet and exercising, you may need to reduce your coffee intake and make time for relaxation.
Coffee can also make it difficult for you to sleep or reduce your sleep quality. Getting too little sleep can promote weight gain, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Coffee Calories: Sabotaging Your Weight-Loss Goal?; Ketherin Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.; October 2010
- Center for Science in the Public Interest; Caffeine Content of Food & Drugs; September 2007
- Harvard School of Public Health; Ask the Expert: Coffee and Health; Dr. Rob van Dam
- National Sleep Foundation: Obesity and Sleep
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