America loves coffee. Eighty-five percent of us drink it regularly, while two-thirds of us drink coffee on a daily basis without a second thought. That means that 208 million people are consuming coffee every single day. The average American spends over $1,000 on coffee annually. Over time, all of the $5 trips to Starbucks add up, don't they? But let's face it—who doesn't need a jolt of energy during our incredibly long workdays and overly busy lives?
So where are we headed with this? Obviously, people are spending a lot of money on coffee. What do we really want to dig into? While we're losing money on our coffee addictions, we are gaining inches in our waistlines. While coffee consumption can have some health benefits, a 2015 study published by the American Heart Association found that coffee consumption was linked to an 8 to 15 percent decrease in morbidity rate. While that's great, the healthy version of coffee and the actual version Americans drink daily are very different.
What do people love in their brew? Sugar! Without all of the added creams and sugars, you're looking at a two-calorie cup of black coffee. Now account for all of the add-ins that makes your black coffee taste better, and you're looking at an average of 300–400 calories in a regular size coffee! And unfortunately for us, we're not talking calories from anything but simple carbohydrates. Sugars are one of the main reasons for obesity in this country, and the sugar industry loves what the coffee industry has created. Think about tying in those averages in the first paragraph compared to the average calorie intake of a serving of your latte. Let's say, conservatively, that you are drinking three of these 300-calorie drinks a week. That's an extra 3,600 calories a week that you're consuming. That's an extra 43,200 calories, give or take, that you have to burn per year to just counteract that sugar-filled liquid you guzzled down over and over and over again.
Not surprisingly, it takes 3,500 calories to burn a pound of fat. With less than 20 percent of Americans holding an active lifestyle, you can see where this conversation is headed. So, if we take a sedentary lifestyle, add in all of these sugar calories and then sprinkle some consistency of habits in there, what do we get? Some not-so-welcome tight waistlines.
The point of this article? Be aware of your daily choices, as they have an incredible compound effect in both a financial view and a health view. Think twice before you order that Pumpkin Spice Latte this fall and brew some fresh black coffee at home.
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This post is a sponsored collaboration between Forward Thinking Fitness and Lehigh Valley Style.
