Healthier (and cheaper) Iced Cappuccino

June 3, 2011 By Leanne Vogel March 3, 2017

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, then you know that I don’t necessarily support the amount of coffee our society drinks. At over 400 billion cups consumed per year, coffee is the most popular drink in the world. Sadly, it shouldn’t be like this. In large amounts, coffee…

• reduces fertility. More than one cup a day makes women half as likely to conceive.
• is linked to ovarian, bladder, and kidney cancer, doubling the risk of bladder cancer.
• consumption can lead to an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, perspiration, nervousness and irritability.

[with Raw Carrot Cake Cheesecake]

Having said that however, health is all about balance. If you like coffee, have a bit from time to time, enjoy it, and look forward to the next time you get to indulge. Same goes for dairy, soy, microwaving, take out, sugar, you name it. As with anything, the healthier choices we make, the better off we’ll be. So, when we decide to have that tall mug of coffee, here are a couple of steps we can take to make it as healthful as possible:

• Unbleached filters. White coffee filters are bleached using chlorine and some of this chlorine will be extracted from the filter during the brewing process.
• Go for chemical free decaffeination. If you like your coffee decaffeinated, make sure you look for a non-chemical based method. The “Swiss Water Process” is the best choice. Most of the major brands are chemically decaffeinated, even if it says “naturally decaffeinated” right on the container. If you are unsure of the methods, contact the manufacturer.
• Use organic coffee. Coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking organic coffee may reduce or eliminate your exposure to toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
• Avoid sugar and milk. Instead try stevia, coconut milk, or go black!

Kevin loves his coffee and Tim Horton’s iced cappuccinos. I know he would never, ever give them up. So as a compromise I tried to come up with a way to:

• reduce caffeine intake
• decrease his sugar intake
• increase protein + micronutrients
• remove the dairy

And still keep him satisfied. That was 2 years ago and I’m happy to say that he still enjoys these at-home iced cappuccinos throughout the warm months. Mission accomplished. View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down) A 500mL store-bought iced cappuccino has 470 calories, 20g fat, 63g carbohydrates, 62g sugar, and 4g protein. Our 500mL at-home version has 210 calories, 5g fat, 20g carbohydrates, 17g sugar, and 10g protein. I can’t believe how much sugar is in the store-bought version! Are you a coffee drinker? If not, did you remove coffee from your life, what steps did you take to do so?

This entry was tagged: coffee