CAFFEINE AND CALORIES:
The Anatomy of a Mocha frap

By : Dr. Zarinah Gonzaga  

 

Some like it black. Some like it white. Personally, you like it cold, and blended, especially on a humid April afternoon. Ah... a venti cup of mocha frap sure does the body good. Or does it? To answer this question, it would be wise to analyze: what is it really in that cup of coffee?

 

Beverage Caffeine (mg) Nutrients
 

Short
(8 oz)

Tall
(12 oz)

Grande
(16 oz)

Venti
(24 oz)

Total calories (per 8 oz)

Carbohydrates (mg/8 oz)

Proteins (mg/8 oz)

Fat (mg/8 oz)

Brewed Coffee*

180

260

330

415

60

5

3.5

4

Cappucino

75

75

150

150

90

7

4.5

5

Caramel Macchiato

75

75

150

150

140

16

6

5

Frappuccino Blended Coffee (multiple flavors), with whip

-

90

115

160

500 (venti)

82 (venti)

17 (venti)

9 (venti)

 

This table lifted from the website of a popular coffee chain shows the nutritional contents of some common coffee drinks. Notice the two glaring figures in each row: calories and caffeine.


Calories

A calorie is a unit of energy. Technically, one calorie is the energy required to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade. The calorie used to define human metabolic needs is actually a kilocalorie which is equivalent to 1000 calories. The major nutrients carbohydrates, proteins and fats are metabolised in the body and eventually converted to calories. One gram of carbohydrate and one gram of protein can give 4 calories each. The same amount of fat can give 9 calories. When a food is said to contain 100 calories, say a half cup of cooked rice, it means that the body can get 100 calories from it after its metabolism.

 

Even at rest, the body needs calories to be able to perform its basic functions, such as breathing and digestion. This is called the basal metabolic rate. This in turn depends on a person’s height and weight. The body likewise needs an extra amount of calories to do additional physical activity. How much calories a person needs every day is a product of her basal metabolic rate and the amount of physical activity. For example, a 35 year old woman weighing 160 pounds has a calculated basal metabolic rate of about 1555 Calories per day. If she has a low level of activity, this figure is multiplied by a factor (1.2) which gives a total energy requirement of 1866 Calories, or roughly 1800 Calories per day.

 

This leads us back to the calorie content of a coffee drink. A 20-ounce cup of flavoured frappucino blended coffee contains about 500 calories. This means that a single venti mocha frap is equivalent to 2 1/2 cups of cooked rice or to 5 loaves of bread. Roughly, it is the same as the amount of rice a woman would normally eat in a meal! Now imagine if our 35 year old woman, who has already ingested say 2000 calories from her three regular meals, treats herself to a mocha frap venti cup. This translates to 700 calories more than what her body needs. Where will the extra calories go? Calories ingested in excess of a person’s daily requirement, if not burned through exercise, is converted to fat. If 500 extra calories are eaten per day, a woman’s weight could increase by 1 pound per week!


Caffeine

Caffeine is a drug. It is an addictive stimulant that induces the nerve cells to release a hormone called epinephrine which in turn causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. Caffeine is mostly found in coffee but is also present in tea, soft drinks, some medicines and food.

 

The amount of caffeine in foods and beverages varies widely. The caffeine content of coffee depends on how it is prepared and the type of beans or leaves used. In general, an 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains about 140 mg of caffeine. Instant coffee contains about 80 mg caffeine per 8-ounce cup while a 12-ounce can of caffeinated soda contains about 40mg. A cup of mocha frap may contain anywhere from 90mg (tall) to 115mg (grande) to 160mg (venti) of caffeine.

 

Caffeine intake by women, especially during pregnancy, has been the focus of much attention by public health officers and the media as well. Numerous studies have been made to study its effects on a woman’s reproductive health and its effects on the fetus. While caffeine is cleared from the body of a non-pregnant woman between 2.5 hours to 4.5 hours, pregnant women take longer to clear it from their bodies. Caffeine is rapidly absorbed from the digestive system and crosses the placenta freely so that the amount of caffeine in the blood of the fetus reaches similar concentration to that found in the mother’s blood. Unfortunately, fetuses do not metabolise caffeine well. It may cause blood vessels in the placenta to narrow, resulting in decreased blood and nutrient supply to the fetus which in turn can influence cell development and reduce fetal growth.

 

Studies on the effects of caffeine on the baby show conflicting results. Pregnant women who take in more than 300mg of caffeine per day are more likely to give birth to babies with lower birth weight than women who consume less caffeine. Yet, not all studies found this association. In other studies, pregnant women who consume more than 151 mg of caffeine per day have been found to be 2 times more likely to have first and second trimester pregnancy losses. Still, not all studies found this association. Most studies however, show no association between caffeine intake and congenital malformations and preterm birth.

 

The results of these studies are as confusing to public health authorities as they are to pregnant women. However, it appears that moderate amounts of caffeine during pregnancy do not pose considerable risk to the fetus. On the other hand, high doses of caffeine may be related to increased risk of spontaneous miscarriages, difficulty in getting pregnant and infertility. It would be prudent to limit caffeine intake to less than 300 mg per day. This is equivalent to no more than 2 short cappuccino or caramel macchiato per day, and certainly no more than one grande or venti mocha frap per day.


Finally...

Calories aren’t bad – for as long as you burn enough of them through exercise. Caffeine in moderate amounts is not harmful either – for as long as you limit your intake to 2 8-ounce cups per day. So go ahead, indulge once in a while. After reading this, you probably won’t look at a mocha frap the same way ever again.

 

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Dr. Zarinah Gonzaga
Dr. Gonzaga took her OB-gynecology residency at The Medical City. She has special interest on writing and research. She writes practical and useful topics on pregnancy and child birth.

 

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