Coffee Alert :: Sugar Content Harshes My Buzz

My husband’s recently diagnosed diabetes and the necessary adjustments in his eating habits have gotten me very curious about the near epidemic proportions of the occurrence of this disease here in America.

I watch several times daily as Steve checks his blood sugar, which seems to spike and dip like the Dow Jones Industrial average… with about as much mystery.

With every reading we sit and ponder what exactly it was that he ate that caused this or that to happen. He’s had to eliminate a lot of his old favorites – one of which is his daily Starbucks Frappuccino® habit.

So I got curious and grabbed one of those little nutrition brochures Starbucks keeps at the condiment stations. You won’t believe what I found…and you probably don’t want to hear it.

Following is a brief list of the sugar content in grams/calories of Starbucks' most popular drinks:
(Grande size, nonfat milk where applicable)

Caffe Latte 18/130
Caffe Mocha 32/290 (no whipped crème)
Caramel Frappuccino 45/270 (no whipped crème)
Caramel Macchiato 32/270
Coffee Frappuccino Light 16/130
Iced Brewed Coffee 20/90
Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte 42/270 (no whipped crème)
Iced Tazo® Green Tea Latte 43/220
Mocha /Coffee Blended Frappuccino 45/260
Vanilla Latte 35/200

Don’t see your drink here? You can go to the Starbucks website and see the entire menu and all nutritional contents…if you dare.

Yikes!

According to Wikipedia, Starbucks now opens 7 stores a day worldwide, with revenues exceeding $9 billion annually. I don’t know about your neighborhood Starbucks, but in mine, the place is filled in the afternoon with kids sucking on Frappuccios at $4 bucks and change every day. Talk about a prescription for trouble. Forget "Supersize Me"…let’s all say "Grande Mocha Frappuccino with whipped crème!"

Hey, I love my Mocha Frappuccino as much as the next girl. I’m just going to think twice the next time I sidle up to the counter and speak to the eager barrista waiting to serve me my next cup-o-joe!

BTW, in case you’re wondering, a general rule of thumb is that you burn about 105 calories for every mile that you run.

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