Food and Nutrition

                                                        

The 6 Worst Coffee Drinks

                                                                  

6.  Worst Chocolaty Coffee Drink: Starbucks Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino with Whole Milk and Whipped Cream (venti)

520 calories, 23 g fat (15 g saturated, 0.5 g trans), 350 mg sodium, 69 g sugars

Talk about double trouble. Within this chocolate calamity lurks three-quarters of your recommended daily intake of saturated fat, and as much sugar as you’ll find in 10 Rainbow Popsicles! Slash your calorie intake by switching to skim milk and cutting out the whipped cream. Knock the size down to a grande, and switch from the frappe to an iced mocha, and you’re looking at a drink with 350 fewer calories than when you started. Make a switch like that every single day, and you’ll lose about 6 pounds in two months!

Drink This Instead!

Grande Iced Caffe Mocha with Skim Milk (No Whipped Cream)

170 calories, 2.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated, 0 g trans), 70 mg sodium, 28 g sugars

                                                 

 

5. Worst Seasonal Coffee Drink: Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Gingerbread Latte (large)

450 calories, 12 g fat (7 g saturated), 290 mg sodium, 68 g sugars

This holiday horror packs a whopping 68 grams of sugar (that's as much as in three and a half Twinkies!) and almost a quarter of your daily calories. (Hope you weren’t planning to eat much today.) To enjoy the same chilly gingerbread coffee flavor, simply swap the latte for iced coffee and drop down a size. Suddenly, you’re looking at nearly half as much sugar and a far more digestible 270 calories.

 

Drink This Instead!

Iced Gingerbread Coffee with Cream (medium)

270 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 90 mg sodium, 36 g sugars

                                                

 

4.  Worst Caramel-Flavored Coffee Drink: McDonalds Caramel Latte with Whole Milk (large)

330 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 210 mg sodium, 51 g sugars

This caramel confection hides an unhealthy dose of sugar and an unnecessary amount of calories. But don’t blame the caramel flavoring entirely. Choose the flavored cappuccino instead for a fat-free, lower-calorie, lower-sugar alternative that will hit your sweet spot just the same. When given the choice, always opt for a cappuccino over a latte—they’re made with less milk than lattes, which means they’re lighter, with fewer calories.

Drink This Instead!

Caramel Cappuccino with Skim Milk (medium)

190 calories, 0 g fat, 150 mg sodium, 41 g sugars

                                                 

 

3.  Worst “Arctic” Coffee Drink: Cosi Double Oh! Arctic Mocha (12 oz)

434 calories, 22 g fat (13 g saturated), 241 mg sodium, 46 g sugars

This drink’s deliciousness is no excuse for its queasy dietary overload: as many calories as you’ll find in nine Chicken McNuggets, as much sugar as in three and a half bowls of Froot Loops, and as much saturated fat as in 13 strips of bacon. Get the same great taste with a quarter of the fat and 245 fewer calories by opting for an arctic latte instead. No need for all that superfluous chocolate—the latte is just as delicious without the extra baggage.

Drink This Instead!

Arctic Latte (12 oz)

189 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 124 mg sodium, 34 g sugars

                                               

 

2.  Worst Hot Chocolate Drink: Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whole Milk and Whipped Cream (venti)

640 calories, 28 g fat (18 g saturated, 0.5 g trans), 340 mg sodium, 78 g sugars

No one orders a hot chocolate and expects it to be anything but a dessert-like beverage. And certainly you should enjoy the occasional indulgence. But other times try this: Go with 2% milk (which is Starbucks' default unless you specify otherwise) and shave 50 calories from these numbers. Cut the whip and trim another 70. Downsize to a grande and shed 120 more. Or swap to a cinnamon dulce latte, and cut out hundreds of calories while still indulging in a deliciously sweet treat!

Drink This Instead!

Cinnamon Dulce Latte (grande)

210 calories, 0 g fat, 135 mg sodium, 38 g sugars

                                              

1.  The Worst Coffee Drink in America: Cold Stone Creamery Lotta Caramel Latte, Gotta Have It Size

1,530 calories, 85 g fat (56 g saturated, 2 g trans), 161 g sugars

It may be coffee-flavored, but this latte shake is virtually unrecognizable next to your typical morning cup of Joe. It's simply a giant dessert drink disaster. This large shake has nearly a full day's worth of calories, as much saturated fat as you'll find in 62 strips of bacon, and you'll exceed your daily limit of trans fats in the few minutes it takes you to drink it. Oh, did I mention the ridiculous sugar load? (44 spoonfuls!) If you want a sweet, caramel latte taste, opt for the actual caramel latte at Cold Stone, not the shake. You'll cut more than 1,250 calories from your order!

Drink This Instead!

Lite Milk Caramel Latte, Love it Size

250 calories, 2.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 34 g sugars

Caffeine Content

Food and Nutrition

                                                      
                                                                  
Caffeine Content

Today's Health Tips

Protect Your Heart with Coffee

by Jill Yaworski July 2, 2012

Chugging wont help your heart.

Go ahead and down a cup of Joe—just don’t make it the 20-ounce Venti variety. Drinking coffee may lower your risk of heart failure, as long as you’re not drinking too much of it, found researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

The scientists reviewed five studies that analyzed the relationship between coffee consumption and heart failure risk. Of the more than 140,000 participants included in the studies, those who regularly drank about two 8-ounce cups of coffee had an 11 percent lower risk of heart failure than those who didn’t consume the java.

However, the risk increased among study participants that averaged five or more cups a day.

“Moderation is key,” says Elizabeth Mostofsky, the study’s author and a post-doctoral research fellow at Beth Israel.

So what in coffee shields your heart? Researchers think it might have something to do with java’s healthful compounds like antioxidants. “These may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, a well-known risk factor for heart failure,” says Mostofsky.

Although current heart failure prevention guidelines warn that coffee may be dangerous to heart health because it raises blood pressure right after consumption, habitual coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to the beverage’s caffeine and no longer experience this spike, she says. But don’t chug two cups of coffee as your first line of defense against heart failure, warns Mostofsky. Researchers still need to determine the appropriate brew strength and whether caffeinated or decaffeinated works best. For cutting-edge tips to lower your heart disease risk, follow these 5 New Tips to Help Your Heart.

Food and Nutrition

5 New Brain Foods

by Paige Greenfield July 17, 2012

http://news.menshealth.com

Mince it, dice it, or slice it—consider onions the new brain superfood.

When it comes to brain chow, blueberries, spinach, and omega-3-rich foods get all the cred. But did you know there are a host of other brain-boosting bites—many of which you probably already eat—that can safeguard your grey and white matter against disease?

Case in point: Antioxidants in onions may protect the brain from stroke-inducing damage, according to a brand new study in the journal Nutrition. Read on for more about onion’s cerebral benefits, plus four other items that can help you keep your dome sharp. (And for more mind-enriching tips, follow these 27 Ways to Power Up Your Brain.)

Onions
 

In the study, researchers fed some mice a regular diet and gave others a diet supplemented with an onion extract. When they induced stroke in all the animals, the onion-fed critters suffered significantly less brain damage. The reason: Antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase and glutathione peroxidase, in onions may block the formation of reactive oxygen species—compounds that damage the protective blood-brain barrier during a stroke.

Eggs
 

Choline, a nutrient found in eggs, chicken, and kidney beans, may protect your brain as you age, reports a study published last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In the nearly 1,400 adults studied, researchers found that those with the highest choline intake performed better on memory tests and were less likely to have markers of blood vessel disease in the brain that could contribute to dementia. Choline is needed to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which may play a role in memory and brain health. The recommended amount of choline for men is 550 mg per day—about the amount in five hard-boiled eggs. (Sick of your boring old morning scramble? Check out these Easy New Egg Recipes.)

 

Coffee
 

Order your java fully loaded: Caffeinated coffee might help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at the University of South Florida. In a study, scientists gave mice that were bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease either caffeinated coffee, decaf, or straight caffeine. They found that the regular coffee increased the levels of a brain-boosting hormone (granulocyte colony stimulating factor), which reduced symptoms of the disease. The hormone spurs the production of new neurons and creates connections between existing ones, researchers found. The key to reaping the benefits is the amount of coffee you take in: You’ll need about four cups of drip coffee each day spread out until about 4 p.m. (Later than that, and it could keep you from falling asleep.)

Citrus
 

Make it your main squeeze: People who ate two or more servings a day over 14 years had a 10 percent lower stroke risk compared with those who ate fewer than two servings a day, reports a 2012 study in Stroke. Credit a certain compounds found in oranges and grapefruits called flavones. The chemicals may improve the function of blood vessels and have anti-inflammatory effects that could reduce the risk for strokes due to blood clots. Reach for whole fruits—juices are often packed with sugar.

Red Wine
 

Compounds in grape seeds may help fight Alzheimer’s disease, a 2011 study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reports. Researchers found that grape-seed extract significantly reduced levels of proteins that contributed to the development of the disease in mice predisposed to develop memory problems. Red wine also includes the compound, so ahead and enjoy a glass with dinner. Need suggestions? 

Additional research by Andrew Katz

5 Signs You've Had Too Much Caffeine

Health

 

 

5 Signs You've Had Too Much Caffeine

You may love caffeine’s feel-good effects, but overdosing can harm your health. Here’s how to tell if you’re overdoing it

By Holly Corbett Bristol

5 Signs You've Had Too Much Caffeine

 

You know you’re a caffeine addict when your eyes won’t open before you’ve taken your first sip of morning Joe, or if your co-workers call you “Crabby” when you skip your afternoon Diet Coke. While the best part of waking up may indeed be Folgers in your cup, being over-caffeinated may also be harmful. “Studies have found that some caffeine can improve mental acuity and performance throughout the day, but too much caffeine can negatively impact your mood, energy, and even health,” says Erin Palinski, RD, CDE, CPT, who has a private practice in New Jersey. Enjoying a latte probably won’t hurt you, and may even have surprising health benefits such as lowering your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Just keep in mind that—as with most delicious things in life—it is possible to have too much of a good thing. “Some research has linked high doses of coffee to infertility and increased risk of hip fractures in older women,” says Keri M. Gans, MS, RD, CDN and author of The Small Change Diet. “If you stop drinking coffee abruptly, you may experience irritability, fatigue, headaches, and even depression.” So how much caffeine is too much? The American Dietetic Association recommends having no more than 300 mg a day, or the amount in about two or three 8-ounce cups of coffee. Even if you’re not a java lover, you may be getting caffeine from sneaky sources unknowingly: Sports drinks, supplements, and even certain medications contain caffeine. Sneaky sources of caffeine include:

• 2 tablets Excedrin for headaches; 130 mg
• Vital Energy water; 150 mg
• 16-ounce Snapple ice tea; 42 mg
• 1 cup Ben & Jerry’s No Fat Fudge Frozen Yogurt; 85 mg
• 1 cup Dannon Coffee Yogurt; 45 mg
• Barq’s Root Beer; 22 mg
• Hershey’s chocolate bar, 12 mg

 

For perspective, one 8-ounce cup of coffee can have anywhere from 125 to 150 mg. While caffeine’s effects may be different for different people, here are some common warning signs that you may have overdosed.

1. You hit an afternoon slump.

If you can’t get through the day without a Diet Coke fix, you may be hooked on the caffeine. "There is about as much caffeine in one can of Diet Coke as there is in a shot of espresso," says David J. Clayton, MD, author of The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living. Having a few cans a day could leave you feeling high, and then low when you come down from the caffeine buzz." Besides triggering major dips in energy, the acidity in soda can damage tooth enamel if sipped daily. Limit your Diet Cokes to one a day to avoid hitting a wall in the afternoon, and brush your teeth if possible after drinking soda to help reduce its enamel-eroding effects. 

 

2. You’re peeing orange.

Urine that is dark yellow or orange is a telltale sign of dehydration. "Coffee is actually a diuretic that can lead to dehydration by increasing the amount you urinate so you lose too much body fluids," says Amy Gross, MPH, RD, CDN and a clinical dietician at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Caffeine usually doesn’t trigger dehydration until after you’ve had about 500 mg, so you should be safe if you stick to a cup or two of coffee a day.

 

3. You can’t sleep.

"Caffeine takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour to get absorbed and has a very long half-life, meaning it lingers in the body for several hours and can affect your sleep cycle," says Molly Morgan, R.D., owner of Creative Nutrition Solutions in Vestal, New York, and author of The Skinny Rules. If it takes you longer than 30 minutes to doze off at night, you might try cutting out caffeine once the clock strikes 12 p.m. to see if it helps you get more restful sleep. That applies to all caffeine-containing substances: Sipping green or Chai tea may be a sleep stealer, too, because both beverages contain caffeine. Also keep in mind that decaf coffee and decaf tea are not caffeine-free: both have about one-third the amount of caffeine as the regular kind.

 

4. You feel anxious.

Sweaty palms, a racing heart, restlessness, and feeling jittery are all clues that you’ve overdosed on caffeine. "Caffeine can exacerbate stress and depression because it interferes with a tranquilizing neurotransmitter chemical in the brain called adenosine," says Palinski. Caffeine can also act as a stimulant that triggers the adrenal gland to excrete more stress hormones like adrenaline, which can increase heart rate, making you feel more anxious. 

 

5. You have heartburn.

Acid reflux happens when the muscle at the end of the esophagus, known as the lower esophageal sphincter, allows food and stomach acid to come back up, causing a burning feeling under your chest. If this happens to you, caffeine could be a culprit. "Caffeine relaxes esophageal sphincter, which allows acid to come up in the throat," says Gross. Try cutting out caffeine altogether to see if it soothes your throat.

Healthy Living

The Truth About Coffee

Coffee is big business. So to make sure a product stands out on a crowded shelf, java manufacturers have created a new wave of label claims, such as “shade grown” and “100% Arabica Beans.” Some of these promises are meaningful, but plenty are meaningless and will only waste your money. To spot the difference and firmly establish yourself as a coffee connoisseur, click ahead for The Truth About Coffee.

 

 

6. The Claim: "100% Arabica Beans":

Coffee beans come in two main varieties: arabica and robusta. Of the two, arabica beans deliver the most complex flavors, but because they’re more difficult to grow—i.e. more expensive—commercial roasters such as Folgers often fill out their blends with cheap robusta beans. That makes for a cup with big body but low acid, which means it’s heavy in the mouth but not particularly interesting to the tongue. Small-scale craft roasters don’t generally bother putting this information on the bag, but that’s fine considering most of them wouldn’t dare to pollute their coffee with robustas. But when you’re shopping the commercial blends in the supermarket, you should seek this claim.

5. The Claim: "Fair Trade Certified":

Much of the world’s coffee is grown in impoverished countries where farmers struggle to feed their families. The intent with fair trade certification is to lift these people out of destitution by encouraging coffee-bagging companies to pay them honest, living wages, which are determined by a German-based group known as Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). FLO has 24 members operating worldwide, and in the U.S., the non-profit organization TransFair oversees the approval of FLO-sanctioned fair trade certification. That means that any bag of beans you buy, so long as it carries the iconic certification stamp, has been audited by TransFair to ensure it meets the same regulations as all fair trade certified products worldwide.



Now, here’s the fair-trade coffee controversy. Right now, to be eligible for fair trade certification, coffee importers must pay farmers no less than $1.35 per pound of conventional coffee and $1.51 per pound of organic. That would have been huge in 2001 when a worldwide oversupply of beans drove the average rate for a pound of coffee down to a paltry $.46. But with the demand for coffee now catching up with the supply, the average farmer today, fair trade or not, takes in a more reasonable $1.40 per pound, according to the International Coffee Organization. Some journalists have criticized FLO standards for being too low, and in some countries, farmers making fair trade wages still aren’t meeting the loosely enforced minimum wages set by their governments. So is it worth the extra cash? From an ethical standpoint, sure. The average coffee farmer today is doing far better than he or she used to, but there are still many less-fortunate farmers that could use the help. What’s more, most fair trade coffee is also organic, so the premium price you pay is also going to improve the environment and eliminate pesticides from your cup.

 

4. The Claim: "Organic":

Organic coffee, so long as it bears the official logo of the USDA, falls under the same governmental regulation as organic produce, which tells you that the coffee has been grown, transported, and roasted without the use of herbicides or pesticides. Unfortunately, no major studies have looked at how this affects your health, but there’s no question about organic’s impact on the environment. Chemical-reliant farming methods have been linked to fish deaths along the coasts of coffee-growing communities, and pesticides in water raise the concern for long-term health problems for locals. For organic beans you’ll likely pay a premium—generally about 25 percent more. Some of that trickles down to the farmer, but a wave of Latin coffee growers, for example, have been abandoning organic beans because they can’t recoup the extra expenses. In short, buy organic because you don’t like pesticides, but not necessarily because the farmer will see more of that extra cash you shell out.

 

3. The Claim: "Shade Grown":

A common practice in coffee farming is to clear off the native trees to make room for more coffee trees, destroying natural biodiversity and creating monocultures that rely on pesticides and fertilizers to produce beans. So in theory, “shade grown” is supposed to tell you that a diverse ecosystem still thrives on the farm. The problem is that there’s no organization governing the term, which leaves it open to abuse by any farmer whose farm has a few lonely trees scattered about. For environmentally meaningful certification, look for “Bird Friendly” and “Rainforest Alliance Certified” stamps.

 

2. The Claim: "Morning Blend":

A blend is simply a mix of beans from at least two different regions, and a “morning blend” is whatever that particular roasters thought you might enjoy at the start of the day. In contrast with blends are the single-origin coffees, which are identified simply by their place of birth: Brazil, Columbia, Ethiopia, or whatever the case may be. Presumably the goal with blending is to create a better-tasting cup, but often that’s not the case.

Some roasters blend to bury the mistakes of flawed beans, and many connoisseurs find the pure flavors of single-origin coffee more satisfying than blends. And get this: When Consumer Reports recently rated 37 popular blends from places such as Starbucks, Peets, Caribou, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, not one of them was considered good enough to earn the top scores of “excellent” or “very good.”

 

1. The Claim: "Rainforest Alliance Certified":

Rainforest Alliance Certified must meet a strict set of requirements that promote sustainable resource management and the preservation of healthy ecosystems. That means farms must be partially covered by native trees, farmers must make living wages, and farming methods must have a minimal impact on the natural environment. The only designation more meaningful than Rainforest Alliance Certification is the Bird Friendly stamp. Typical coffee farms drive out birds by removing the trees, so Bird Friendly coffees, like Rainforest Alliance Certfied beans, require a canopy of trees to remain over the farm. But Bird Friendly also goes one step further by requireing the farm to be certified organic, whereas the Rainforest Alliance allows the use of some chemicals.

Coffee

9 Rules for a Perfect Cup of Coffee

By The Editors of EatingWell Magazine | Breakfast

ior

By Jessie Price, Deputy Editor: Food for EatingWell Magazine 

I often go to sleep thinking about the cup of coffee I'm going to have the next morning. I adore it! Whether your morning coffee is an estate-grown brew or just the best supermarket blend you can afford, these basic rules from EatingWell Magazine's editors and contributors will help you learn how to make coffee to prevent unwanted bitterness and virtually guarantee a satisfying cup of coffee every time.

Rule 1: Buy fresh beans.
 

Without question, coffee is best when used within days of being roasted. Buying from a local roaster (or roasting your own) is the surest way to get the absolute freshest beans. Be wary of buying bulk coffee from supermarket display bins. Oxygen and bright light are the worst flavor busters for roasted beans, so unless the store is conscientious about selling fresh coffee, the storage tubes get coated with coffee oils, which turn rancid. Coffee beans packaged by quality-conscious roasters and sold in sturdy, vacuum-sealed bags are often a better bet.

Rule 2: Keep coffee beans fresh.
 

Always store opened coffee beans in an airtight container. Glass canning jars or ceramic storage crocks with rubber-gasket seals are good choices. Never refrigerate (roasted beans are porous and readily take up moisture and food odors). Flavor experts strongly advise against ever freezing coffee, especially dark roasts. Optimally, buy a 5- to 7-day supply of fresh beans at a time and keep at room temperature.

Rule 3: Choose good coffee.
 

Snobbism among coffee drinkers can rival that of wine drinkers, but the fact is that an astonishing world of coffee tastes awaits anyone willing to venture beyond mass-marketed commercial brands. Specialty coffees that clearly state the country, region or estate of origin can provide a lifetime of tasting experiences. By all means look for 100% pure Arabica beans. The cheap alternatives may contain Robusta beans, noted for their higher caffeine content but harsh flavors. "Nasty" is a term commonly linked to Robusta coffees by Arabica devotees.

Rule 4: Grind your own.
 

Coffee starts losing quality almost immediately upon grinding. The best-tasting brews are made from beans ground just before brewing. Coffee connoisseurs prefer to grind in expensive burr mills (e.g., Solis, Zassenhaus, Rancilio), but affordable electric "whirly blade" grinders (e.g., Braun, Bodum) will do a serviceable job, especially if the mill is rocked during grinding to get a fine, even particle size. (Scoop for scoop, finer grinds yield more flavor.)

Rule 5: Use good water.
 

Nothing can ruin a pot of coffee more surely than tap water with chlorine or off flavors. Serious coffee lovers use bottled spring water or activated-charcoal/carbon filters on their taps. 

Note: Softened or distilled water makes terrible coffee-the minerals in good water are essential.

Rule 6: Avoid cheap filters.
 

Bargain-priced paper coffee filters yield inferior coffee, according to the experts. Look for "oxygen-bleached" or "dioxin-free" paper filters (e.g., Filtropa, Melitta). Alternatively, you may wish to invest in a long-lived gold-plated filter (e.g., SwissGold). These are reputed to deliver maximum flavor, but may let sediment through if the coffee is ground too finely.

Rule 7: Don't skimp on the coffee.
 

The standard measure for brewing coffee of proper strength is 2 level tablespoons per 6-ounce cup or about 2 3/4 tablespoons per 8-ounce cup. Tricks like using less coffee and hotter water to extract more cups per pound tend to make for bitter brews.

Rule 8: Beware the heat.
 

Water that is too hot will extract compounds in the coffee that are bitter rather than pleasant. The proper brewing temperature is 200°F, or about 45 seconds off a full boil. (Most good coffeemakers regulate this automatically.) Once brewed, don't expect coffee to hold its best flavors for long. Reheating, boiling or prolonged holding on a warming platform will turn even the best coffee bitter and foul-tasting.

Rule 9: Keep your equipment clean.
 

Clean storage containers and grinders every few weeks to remove any oily buildup. At least monthly, run a strong solution of vinegar or specialty coffee-equipment cleaner (e.g., Urnex) through your coffeemaker to dissolve away any mineral deposits. Rinse thoroughly before reuse.

What's your best tip for a perfect cup of coffee?

By Jessie Price 

Jessie Price is the deputy editor of food for EatingWell magazine, where she directs all food content. Besides her work on 11 other EatingWell books, she is the author of the James Beard Award-winning The Simple Art of EatingWell and EatingWell One-Pot Meals. She lives in Charlotte, Vermont where she stays busy growing her own vegetables in the summer and tracking down great Vermont food products when she's not working.

The Truth About Coffee

Food

 

The Truth About Coffee

Coffee is big business. So to make sure a product stands out on a crowded shelf, java manufacturers have created a new wave of label claims, such as “shade grown” and “100% Arabica Beans.” Some of these promises are meaningful, but plenty are meaningless and will only waste your money. To spot the difference and firmly establish yourself as a coffee connoisseur, click ahead for The Truth About Coffee.

And for the inside scoop on this year's top swaps, best picks, and most downright atrocious foods in the country, pick up a copy of the brand new Eat This, Not That! 2012 today!


please click on...

NEXT »

« PREV