Mochas found to be sweetened with up to three times the amount of sugar recommended for an entire day, making them hidden dangers for gaining weight and diabetes.
HEALTH
Iced coffees pile on sugary calories
1/01/2015
A mocca gives the highest kilocalories.
Popular iced coffees pack a lot more than just caffeine in each cup, with caffé mochaserving up to a whopping 400 calories.
A study by the Department of Health of 43 different mochas, cappuccinos and lattes from local and international-brand outletsfound that mochas also were sweetened with up to three times the amount of sugarrecommended for an entire day.
Pornthep Siriwanarangsan, director-general of the Department of Health, said the study showed that a mocha serving of 390-600ml (13-20oz), had 159-400 caloriesand five to nine teaspoons of sugar.
The same-sized cappuccino had 157-303calories and six to nine teaspoons of sugar while a latte packed 109-288 caloriesand three to nine teaspoons of sugar.
Dr Pornthep said any 20oz iced coffee tested has more than 200 calories with anaverage of 8-9 teaspoons of sugar.
He noted that the daily recommended serving of sugar is only 2-3 teaspoons, so iced coffees increase the risk of diabetes.
"Coffee is normally bitter, so people usually add creamer and sugar. But that is not good for health as cream is a trans-fat that may cause blood clots, he said. "So it would be better to add milk, instead of creamer," he suggested.
The department also recommends that coffee drinkers drink a lot of water as the coffee has diuretic properties [makes you "urinate" or "piss" a lot].