The hidden problem in your morning coffee

Could your morning coffee be giving you more than a caffeine hit?

A new report by Cancer Council reveals that, in one sweet slurp, your daily brew may be significantly contributing to your entire daily energy, sugar and saturated fat intakes.

“Many people might be unaware of just how much sugar, saturated fat and kilojoules they are consuming each day if they’re ordering anything more than the standard flat white, cappuccino or latte,” said co-author of the research and Nutrition Programs Manager at Cancer Council NSW, Clare Hughes.

The study of 564 coffee chain items, published on Tuesday, found iced coffees and chocolate drinks were the worst offenders.

The report noted that plain tea/coffee provided up to 15 per cent of our daily intake of energy, depending upon the fat content of the milk used. Some large hot coffees however, provided almost 50 per cent of our recommended daily intake of saturated fat.

It is hardly a surprise that researchers’ interest in what we are eating and where all the additional kilojoules are coming from has increased.

Being overweight or obese is now linked with 10 cancers, Hughes said. Separate research, published last week, found that poor diet accounts for as many as 7000 new cancer diagnoses each year.

Energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and drinks contribute just over one-third of our total daily energy intake.

“It is estimated that about one third of the household budget is spent on food eaten away from home,” Hughes revealed, adding that our expenditure on eating out increased by 50 per cent between 2003 and 2010.
Read also: How to detox your body at home

Adding a humble slice of banana bread to nibble with your fancy frappacino can spike your sugar intake even further through the golden arched roof.

“Banana bread is an innocuous name – it has fruit in it – but it can be really high in sugar and kilojoules,” Hughes said.

If you think opting for skim milk will help lessen the calorific harm, think again.

“Choosing the skim variety of a Tim Tam iced chocolate isn’t going to help,” Hughes warns. “It’s still similar in kilojoules to a Big Mac.”

The message is to remember that drinks count too and are not simply ‘snacks’.

“We’re certainly not saying people should avoid coffee altogether, but adding flavours, sugars, massive portion sizes or having cream-based coffee blows it out,” Hughes said, reiterating that a normal coffee with full-cream milk is fine.

She adds that being aware is important so that we can consider what we’re consuming, but the research is also a call to action for the food industry.

Credit: smh.com.au

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