Black Coffee Calories

Coffee can be many things to many different people. For some, it is simply a way to get enough caffeine to get started every morning. For others, it's more of an obsession and they will gladly spend time telling you about their favorite bean, blend, or brew. If you are a coffee lover, you may wonder if drinking coffee could be sabotaging your diet. Are you adding pounds simply by indulging in a few cups of coffee each day?

If you are drinking your coffee black, the answer to that question is a resounding "no." An eight ounce cup of brewed coffee contains only two calories. The calories in coffee come from the naturally occurring oils found in the coffee beans. If you are drinking instant coffee, the calorie count is slightly higher with four calories per eight ounce serving. This is due to the processing involved in creating instant coffee. For either option, brewed or instant, the calorie count is negligible.

The problem with calories comes not from the coffee, but from what we add to it. If you are like many people who find coffee slightly bitter without being sweetened, you may add a spoonful or two of sugar. Each teaspoon of sugar contains fifteen calories, so adding just one spoonful takes the calorie count of your eight ounce cup of coffee from two calories to seventeen calories. A teaspoon of milk will add another nine calories, or, if you are someone who likes cream in their coffee, a teaspoon of that will add another fifty calories.

If you are watching your caloric intake, you can still enjoy black coffee. At two calories per cup, it is something you can feel good about indulging in.

More About Coffee And Health

Good news, coffee lovers! Drinking coffee actually has quite a few health benefits. For many years, drinking coffee was considered to be a vice, and it was not until the past decade that we began to learn that coffee can actually be good for you.

In addition to the benefits that caffeine offers such as mental alertness and acuity, coffee also benefits your health in other ways. One of the most promising health benefits of coffee is its ability to help lower the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. With over a million new cases of diabetes diagnosed every single year, this is good news for all coffee drinkers. The link between coffee and a reduced risk of diabetes is still being investigated, but scientists have been able to determine that just a few cups per day may reduce your risk by up to thirty percent.

Recently, studies at Harvard Medical School have highlighted another benefit to drinking coffee. The studies indicate that coffee has significant anti-cancer properties, and coffee drinkers are fifty percent less likely to develop liver cancer than nondrinkers. There is data to indicate that coffee also lowers your risk for colon, breast, and rectal cancers as well.

There has also been significant research indicating that individuals who consume an average of 3-5 cups per day have a significantly lower risk of developing either dementia or Alzheimer's later in life.

Single Cup Coffee Makers Are They Worth It

If you love the taste of fresh coffee in the morning then you've probably thought about buying a home coffee maker before.

Whilst a good coffee maker can make a hassle free cup of great coffee, the average coffee machine is usually designed to make ten to twelve cups of coffee per pot. That's a lot of coffee! This might be perfect for the office or maybe a diner but the home coffee consumer doesn't need so much volume. Another point to ponder is if you buy a large jar or canister of coffee and only require a few cups per day, stored coffee can go stale after a while. The best solution to these problems is to look at the new generation of single cup coffee makers that combine convenience with home consumption.

Single cup coffee makers are designed from the outset for home use and those consumers who just want a better cup of coffee than that out of a jar or normal coffee pot. The best single cup coffee makers give you a higher quality brew because a lot of thought goes into the coffee making process with all components dedicated to making just one great cup of coffee at a time. Many other coffee makers will brew more at one time but they are designed for speed not quality.

One of the downsides of single cup coffee makers is that they can be more expensive than multi-cup machines. This is because the only coffee you can use is sold in single-use "pod" containers. Whilst this makes the process quick and easy there is additional packaging involved which adds to the overall cost of the end product.

Quick Tip

A good tip when comparing coffee machines is to visit the coffee aisle at your favorite food store and look for which brands of pod coffee are most popular. There's no point buying a great coffee maker if it proves difficult sourcing the required coffee pods. Also take note of the cost as there's no point spending money on a coffee maker if you neglect to use it because the cost of coffee is too high.

When comparing single cup coffee maker models you'll notice a variation in features. Some allow you to vary the amount and strength of coffee, some will add foam or froth on top of each cup and some will do much more. Whilst there are many options available the best approach is to start with the type and amount of coffee your prefer and work back from there. Don't get distracted by all the bells and whistles offered by the different models if you don't really need them.