Weight Loss and Lattes Don’t go Together It seems that everyone I meet for coffee these days is ordering low-fat lattes.
Sometimes, these same people are horrified when the waiter asks if they want toast. ‘No toast please, I’m Banting!’ the portly gent I met with a few days ago, indignantly informed our waiter. He would have been horrified to find out that his latte was about to add as much to his waistline as the piece of toast he was avoiding.
My years of experience as a human carb detector have taught me to keep my well-meaning food choice advice to myself. Nothing destroys the joy around a table faster than a food-Nazi, offering unwanted advice to fellow diners. As a result, I generally keep quiet and ‘Let them eat cake’, which has proved to be the safest strategy for me.
However, for you my faithful reader, I will make an exception and explain why weight loss and latte are not compatible.
Latte Dangerous
Any idea what goes into a latte? It’s simple: a glass of warm milk mixed with a shot or two of expresso will do it.
There are two reasons why the glass of milk that makes the latte dangerous:
- First, there are about 3 teaspoons of sugar in the average glass of milk!
Which comes from the 10 to 15 grams of lactose (milk sugar) in an average latte.
- Second, milk contains a lot of protein.
Milk protein is made up of BCAA’s (branch chain amino acids) which strongly raise insulin levels. BCAA’s are used by bodybuilders in their protein shakes to grow muscle precisely because BCAA raise insulin levels and spur muscle growth.
Unfortunately, most of us genteel folk, lollygagging at coffee houses aren’t looking to grow muscle. Neither are we looking to grow fat; but that is exactly what the latte does!
The Americano Alternative
Consider swapping your latte for an Americano with pouring cream.
By doing this swap you win in many ways. Cream has about half the milk sugar of milk and you are using much less in your Americano. Thus, the sugar levels are about 3 times less AND there is less protein, which lowers the insulin raising potential of your drink substantially.
Also, many people find that the heavier cream suppresses appetite and tastes better; so why not give the Americano with pouring cream a chance?
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