Holiday-Themed Coffee—A Drizzle of Coffee on my Sugar, Please!
An exciting part of the holiday season is the change it brings to our taste buds. Coffee shops all over the country have responded to this tradition of winter holiday treats with sugar-loaded delights of coffee lattes.
Holiday-themed coffee beverages such as egg nog, candy cane, and hot cocoa flavored drinks, while delightfully tasty, will give you a surge in blood sugar level, best utilized by an Olympic marathoner.
The sugar-rush an individual is likely to receive from consuming this holiday’s coffee drinks is double the dietary recommended daily allowance. These favorite coffee treats not only contain in excess of 500 calories and at least 18 grams of fat, but also a startling amount of sugar, equal to 19 packets or 75 grams [300 calories] in just one drink.
And who are the consumers? Americans from across the states love to buy the sugary beverages and according to the American Heart Association (AHA) these drinks are the primary source of added sugars in the average American family diet. The typical amount of added sugar is 22.2 teaspoons per day or 355 calories.
This excessive consumption of sugar, along with the commercial response from fast food chains to satiate their customers' appetite are associated with higher than necessary energy intake, higher body weight, and lower intake of essential nutrients.
Although individuals are allowed a discretionary amount of added sugar, the recommended daily allowance is miniscule compared with normal consumption. A discretionary intake of sugar should vary between 100-150 calories [25-37 grams] for the day, approximately a quarter of what is currently used.
The correlation of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes to excesses in the American diet continues to be newsworthy discussions due to its foreboding trend unto the dining tables of successive generations.
Regardless, the holiday festivities is not about depriving yourself from partaking in season delights, such as a Peppermint Mocha Latte at the coffee shop, but while you are at it, be mindful of the fact that each New Year’s resolution for immediate weight loss is easily pledged, and not commonly achieved.
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