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Regardless of the season, starting off your morning with a nice hot drink is a great way to kickstart your senses and offer ample energy as you begin your day. Coffee and tea are some of the most common morning beverages as they’re packed with caffeine to give your body a boost, and are generally a positive addition to your day as they’re often low in calories.
But some drinks have a less positive impact on your health, skyrocketing your blood sugar and even potentially causing weight gain over time. If you’re hoping to improve your wellbeing and want to fuel your body without overwhelming your system with sugar, there’s one drink you should steer clear of to start off each day.
It’s well known that black coffee has numerous health benefits that range from boosting your metabolism to providing your body with ample energy to make it through your morning without crashing. However, it’s when you add sugar and cream into your coffee that things can take a turn, increasing your blood sugar rapidly and potentially overloading your body with calories.
“Coffee in itself cannot increase blood sugar levels but adding milk or sugar to the coffee can spike up the calories,” warns nutritionist Mazia Ahmed. “A simple coffee latte made with whole milk can have as many as 542 calories. This can hinder your goal of shedding the extra pounds, especially belly fat.”
Blood sugar spikes can occur when your body consumes an influx of sugar that causes it to rise quickly and then fall. This can lead to lack of energy, weakness, and an increased appetite, often leading to overeating later in the day. It’s no secret that added sugar is one of the worst things to include in your diet, and your morning coffee is no exception.
“Adding a spoonful of sugar in your regular coffee can accelerate the calorie count and make your fat loss journey more difficult. The sugars from milk and simple sugar grains are easy to digest and can instantly convert into fat,” notes Ahmed. If you continue to experience blood sugar spikes over time, eventually your body will struggle to regulate your levels, leading to the development of type II diabetes.
Healthline also explains, “Though cells become resistant to insulin’s effect on blood sugar uptake, they remain responsive to the hormone’s role in fat storing, meaning that fat storage is increased. This phenomenon is known as selective insulin resistance. This is why insulin resistance and high blood sugar are associated with increased body fat — specifically in the belly area.”
One solution to preventing blood sugar spikes caused by your coffee is eliminating artificial sweeteners from your morning cup of joe. While black coffee is undeniably an acquired taste, slowly cutting down on the amount of sugar or creamer you include will allow your taste buds to adjust until you no longer crave that flavor.
Starting off your morning with less sugar will also help to temper cravings throughout the rest of the day, and you may find that eliminating sugar from your coffee will naturally reduce the amount you’re consuming as the day goes along, saving you calories and reducing your risk of developing type II diabetes in later years. You may even notice that removing sugar from your morning coffee will leave you less bloated--this is because artificial sweeteners have actually been known to cause inflammation as well as increase your blood sugar.
It may seem harmless to consistently add sugar to your coffee, but over time this influx of sweetener can add up to make a major difference in your health, spiking blood sugar, worsening cravings, and causing weight gain. Instead, cutting back to black coffee or using lightly sweetened plant milk is an excellent alternative to sugar that will keep your insulin levels regulated, allowing you to maintain your weight and enjoy your morning coffee without a crash.
