Upscale coffee drinks almost as fattening as a Big Mac

5/4/06 Starbucks' Caramel Frappuccino - a blend of coffee, milk, caramel and ice capped with whipped cream and a swirl of caramel is a tempting treat.

But at 525 calories for a venti, or 24-ounce cup, it's nearly as decadent as a Big Mac, which weighs in at about 560 calories.

That's a third of most people's daily allowance of calories; add a couple of colas and you've consumed 1,300 calories - without taking a single bite of food.

"Most women will maintain their weight on about 1,600 or 1,700 calories a day," said Connie Ruiz, a dietitian and professor of Family and Consumer Sciences at Lamar University.

"If you have a beverage like that, where does it leave you? To me, it's like a meal."

Researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., revealed last year that beverages, whether coffee, soda or cocktails, have become one of the main sources of calories for most Americans. Even fruit juices, with natural sugar content, have come under attack.

And although they might be high in calories and fat, liquids usually don't make people feel full.

"If you have a sugar-containing soda, it causes your blood sugar to rise rapidly," Ruiz said.

"Then your body secretes and releases a lot of insulin rapidly so it could get into your cells. It wipes that sugar out of your bloodstream really fast "¦ whenever you have high insulin, you're going to be hungry."

Mary Ellen Vivrett, clinical dietitian at Memorial Hermann Baptist Beaumont Hospital in Beaumont, Tex., said the calories vested in a venti Frappuccino would best be consumed elsewhere.

"You could have 8 ounces of skim milk, half a cup of fruit, two slices of toast or a whole bagel, and 2 ounces of meat or two egg whites for what you would get (in a Frappuccino). You get a lot more fiber, a lot more psychological enjoyment from chewing the food, a wider variety of vitamins and minerals, and it'll help keep your glucose more normal longer," she said.

Enjoying a frothy drink need not be a guilty pleasure. Many coffee shops, including Starbucks - which referred inquiries for this article to the nutrition page on its Web site - offer a line of sugar-free and fat-free drinks.

"We can do all of our frozen drinks sugar free, a selection in low-carb. Lattes, cappuccinos, we do with skim milk," said Josh Tortorice, manager at Rao's Bakery in Beaumont.

"If you have a regular cappuccino without syrup, that's maybe 80 calories," Joyce Aldrich co-owner of Solid Grounds Coffee House in Vidor, Texas, said.

"Lattes with skim milk are about 120 calories. It's better than a Coke, but not as good as a Diet Coke."

People should feel all right about an occasional indulgence - occasional being the key word - like a Big Train Blended Ice Coffee, a cool creamy treat offered at a number of local coffee shops, or a Carmella, a frozen vanilla latte garnished with caramel and whipped cream, sold at Rao's.

"Everything in moderation is the goal," Vivrett said. "And try to go for the smaller version and the lighter version. If you got to have your regular fat content in it with the milk or the cream, don't get the whipped topping. Make it a special treat for you, not an everyday habit. Not only will you save money, you'll save calories."

Some people, though, can't help themselves.

"It just tastes very good," 48-year-old June Ryherd of Beaumont said of her daily Carmella. "It's full of sugar, but I don't worry a bit."

How fattening are your beverages?

s 16-ounce Dairy Queen Mocha MooLatte: 590 calories, 23 grams of fat, 70 grams of sugar.

s 24-ounce Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino Blended Coffee with whipped cream: 530 calories, 17 grams of fat, 71 grams of sugar.

s 32-ounce Coca-Cola: 388 calories, 0 grams of fat, 108 grams of sugar.

s 16-ounce Dunkin' Donuts Tropicana Orange Coolatta: 370 calories, 0 grams of fat, 87 grams of sugar.

s 15.2-ounce bottle of Welch's 100 percent grape juice: 330 calories, 0 grams of fat, 80 grams of sugar.

s 20-ounce bottle of Nestea Cool Lemon Iced Tea: 200 calories, 0 grams of fat, 54 grams of sugar.

s 20-ounce bottle of PowerAde Liquid Hydration and Energy Drink: 150 calories, 0 grams of fat, 38 grams of sugar.

s 12-ounce Budweiser: 145 calories, 0 grams of fat, sugar content unavailable, though a 12-ounce bottle contains 10.6 grams of carbohydrates.

s 8.3 ounce can of Red Bull energy drink: 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 27 grams of sugars.

s 8-ounce glass of skim milk: 90 calories, 0.6 grams of fat, 12.3 grams of sugar.

s 16-ounce cup of Starbucks Coffee of the Week with no cream or sugar: 10 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of sugar.