Watch the Lattes
Filed Under Coffee |
Most people don’t have to be overly anxious about their caffeine intakes, says Robert ]. Nicolosi, Ph.D., director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Lowell in Massachusetts. “In my view, avoiding caffeine is not one of the lifestyle interventions you need to be most concerned about,” says Dr. Nicolosi. While it’s possible that caffeine may contribute to elevated cholesterol, he says, “the evidence is very weak at this point.” Diekman concurs. “If you enjoy coffee in moderation and it’s not affecting your body-such as accelerating your heart rate-continue to drink it,” she says. “But keep in mind that coffee provides no nutritional value. So make sure it’s not crowding nourishing beverages (such as juice or skim milk) out of your diet.” Also, pay attention to flavored and specialty coffees, including those served at the local coffee bar, says Barbie Casselman, a nutrition consultant in Toronto. Some coffee beverages contain large amounts of high-fat milk and syrup, so you may be sipping more fat and calories than you realize. “Most people think that a cappuccino is 6 ounces of coffee and 2 ounces of whipped milk,” says Casselman. “But a regular-size cap;mccino is actually 2 ounces of espresso plus a cup of milk; in a large cappuccino, there are 12 ounces of milk. If whole milk is used, you might be consuming about 200 calories and eight grams of fat in that 12 ounces of milk. You could eat a dessert for that!”