When you feel sleepy during the day, chances are you grab a cup of coffee, more often iced brew, to kill your drowsiness. But most of us don’t realise they gain more sugar and fat than caffeine from that cup.
After learning of the rising trend of iced brew drinking among consumers in tropical countries like Thailand, Chalard Sue Magazine conducted a lab test on the nutrition of the popular drink. Iced cappuccino was chosen as the sample because it’s the most common brew in Thailand, and can be found at any coffee joint. The magazine picked 11 samples altogether —10 from famous brands and one from a roadside vendor.
The lab test unsurprisingly found an iced coffee a day can be an over-consumption not of caffeine, but of calories, fat and sugar. Daily energy intake for an adult generally shouldn’t exceed 2,000 calories. The recommended portion for a non-main meal is between 150 and 200 calories.
A cup of coffee generally features 200mg of caffeine. Daily intake shouldn’t exceed 600mg, or three cups, said Pradtana Tapanee, a dietitian and assistant instructor at Mahidol University’s Institute of Nutrition.
“But what’s more worrisome than the caffeine consumption are the additional ingredients,” Pradtana said.
An iced cappuccino sold in this country is, on average, 300ml and offers up to 368.7 calories, which equals a dish of khao ka moo (rice topped with pork knuckle).
The test also found these samples feature different portions of calories. Without additional sugar or syrup, Starbucks features the smallest amount of calories, at 53 per 100ml, while the same amount served at True Coffee contains 79 calories. Coffee Beans by Dao contain 106 calories, and Black Canyon Coffee, Coffee World,and Ninety-four Coffee come in at 112, 114 and 118 respectively. Blue Cup Coffee, D’Oro and Café Amazon contain 128, 141 and 155 calories.
The coffee containing the most calories is sold at Coffee Today, where a consumer takes in 183 calories from every 100ml they drink. If they finish their 290ml serving, which is priced at 50 baht, he or she will have consumed 530.7 calories. Brew from Ka-fae Anan contains 260.8 calories in its 160ml iced cappuccino, which is priced at 35 baht.
According to the test, a common size of iced coffee in Thailand is between 400-600ml, and contains anywhere from 97-400 calories, 0.4-22.1g of fat, 0.6-10.9 grammes of protein, 19.4-49.4g of carbohydrates and 11-38g of sugar. Compared to a cappuccino and caffe latte, caffe mocha contains the highest amount of calories.
The dietitian recommended a coffee addict avoid such additional ingredients as whipped cream, sweetened condensed milk and sugar, especially those who drink more than one glass of iced coffee a day.
She said a portion of whipped cream, usually four tablespoons, offers 200 calories, while one tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk contains 60 calories and one tablespoon of sugar 45 calories. These can be substituted with low-fat milk and artificial sugar.
Caffeine can easily be eliminated shortly after consumption, but it takes longer to burn the fat and sugar out of the body, concluded Pradtana.
