Coffee and tea are two of the most consumed beverages among adults in the United States. More than 160 million people in the US drink coffee or tea on a regular basis.
Twelve years of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) compiled that 51% of Americans drink coffee on a regular basis, and 26% drink tea.
Coffee has been found to have health benefits when consumed in moderation, and it’s nothing new that tea is something good to be adding to your daily routine.
The facts.
A new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign examined that for the most part, coffee and tea drinkers out there aren’t drinking coffee or tea plain.
For coffee especially, an overwhelming majority of consumers aren’t drinking it black. 67% of coffee drinkers are using caloric add-ins like creamer, sugar, sweeteners, or half and half. These add-ins are generally dense in energy from fat and sugar but low in nutrient density.
These coffee drinkers are consuming, on average, about 70 calories more than non-coffee drinkers each day. Those calories are coming predominantly from fat and sugar. But tea drinkers aren’t too far behind, averaging 43 calories more than non-tea drinkers.
The takeaway.
Another study concluded that the beneficial effects of tea consumption on weight management are counteracted by adding in as much sugar as Americans generally do.
This isn’t to say that we all need to stop drinking our morning coffees and grabbing an iced tea from Starbucks on the way to class. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that coffee and tea can be incorporated in healthy eating styles without being associated with increased risk of major chronic diseases.
The most important thing to take away about this suggestion is that those 70 calories add up if habitual. Whether it’s a coffee in the morning before class or a few throughout the day, it can easily become a routine.
Just as it’s important to be aware of the potential extra calories when we go out to dinner or celebrate a birthday, the additives to coffee and tea have to be accounted for.
Whatever your MO, roll with it. We all deserve to eat and drink what we enjoy. Whether it’s a sweetened coffee or a piece of chocolate each day, it can and should fit into a broader style of healthy eating.