What's in a Starbucks mocha, and how bad is it for you?

[beer]

As I sit here drinking my Grande Iced Nonfat Mocha, a thought occured to me. What's in it and how bad is it for you? In my case, I know the basic ingrediants:

Nonfat skim milk;
Two shots of espresso;
Chocolate;
Poured over ice

Is that really it? It doesn't appear to be that bad for you then....only if you go with whole milk...

 

[Shazam]

More sugar than you can shake a stick at.

 

[beer]

Is it sugar, or is it caffeine?

 

[luv2chill]

Well nonfat milk is full of carbohydrates (which are the same as sugar once digested) and that chocolate syrup they dump in there is also loaded with carbs.

There is also a ton of caffeine (a grande is two shots of espresso).

It's not that bad for you though, considering how many carbs a person ingests in a day. Keep in mind though that low-fat stuff has a lot more carbohydrates (got to make up for the lack of fat somewhere). Compare the nutrition labels on skim and whole milk sometime to see what I mean.

l2c

 

[LordMaul]

<< Well nonfat milk is full of carbohydrates (which are the same as sugar once digested) and that chocolate syrup they dump in there is also loaded with carbs.

There is also a ton of caffeine (a grande is two shots of espresso).

It's not that bad for you though, considering how many carbs a person ingests in a day. Keep in mind though that low-fat stuff has a lot more carbohydrates (got to make up for the lack of fat somewhere). Compare the nutrition labels on skim and whole milk sometime to see what I mean.

l2c >>



Uh-huh.

Do you like your CHILLED? Get it?! CHILLED?

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!

Sorry...

 

[beer]

That was just confusing.

 

[luv2chill]

What's confusing? Whether or not you consider a mocha bad for you depends on whether or not you see carbohydrates and caffeine as bad for you. There's no fat, so obviously if you're trying to control your fat intake then you're in the clear there...

but there's always a trade-off. Things that are lower in fat are higher in carbohydrates, so if you're trying to keep your intake of all the macronutrients in moderation then yes, a double mocha is bad for you. Yes, carbohydrates can make you fat, and they can reduce your sensitivity to insulin, which can eventually make you a diabetic.

Caffeine, some would say, is also bad in large quantities. And yes, two shots of espresso is considered a large quantity (between 60 and 100 milligrams!).

But it all depends on your perspective. Mine happens to be that in general &quot;all things in moderation&quot;. A grande mocha at Starbucks is something I wouldn't indulge in everyday, but many people do. The choice is yours.

l2c