Best Tips
5 Healthier Coffee Shop Choices
What would the world be like without Starbucks and other coffee shops? Somewhat thinner, perhaps. These havens for coffee lovers, specializing in sweet drinks to wash down irresistible pastries and cakes, have become a staple in Canada and elsewhere. Find out how to make coffee shop visits healthier.
Classify Doughnuts as Treats, Not Breakfast
A doughnut as an occasional treat is fine, but as a breakfast it’s disastrous. Not only will the simple carbohydrates and high sugar leave you drooping and hungry an hour later, but you get little to no nutritional benefit from the fat and calories. If you must eat on the run at your coffee shop, order a whole-wheat bagel.
Choose Milk
If you must order specialty beverages, order those made with milk, such as cappuccino or latte. And ask that they be made with skimmed milk. You’ll get a good amount of calcium but without the saturated fat.
Biscotti is Better
These twice-baked Italian delicacies are perfect for dunking; at Starbucks they carry just 110 calories and 5 g of fat
Self Serve
Order plain coffee and add the extras yourself. Not only are many of the specialty coffee drinks at coffee shops loaded with fat and calories, but some items are made from mixes, some of which may contain large amounts of trans fats. The solution: get a black coffee and add in healthy amounts of skimmed milk, sugar or sugar substitute and, if you wish, top with separate flavourings such as ground chocolate or cinnamon.
Bagel it
Go for a flavoured bagel. If you’re ordering blueberry, cinnamon and raisin or some other tasty flavour, you won’t need the extra cream cheese, butter or other spreads. Better still, go for whole-wheat, multigrain or oat-bran varieties – you can eat your bagel and have some good nutrition, too.
