Most things will change except this one: Coffee will always be one of the most popular drinks in our lifetime.
We love coffee for different reasons and find it irresistibly tasty and stimulating.
It gives you an instant kick and helps you stay awake, especially during those energy-drenching Monday mornings at work.
But does it contain any carbs? It depends on how you take your cup of coffee.
If you’re on a keto diet, you’re likely to pay extra attention to your carbs intake.
And that means you’ll be careful with your jitter juice too.
But it would help if you didn’t worry yourself sick because of carbs that you may get from sipping your coffee will depend on these two things:
- What you add to your coffee.
- And how many cups of coffee do you drink per day.
The good news is that the on carbs front, your coffee is safe.
Carbs in coffee are almost non-existent if you drink plain without adding milk, sugar, or any other things that make your coffee taste nice.
And to be honest, almost everyone would prefer a tasty coffee to a drink that tastes like a witch’s concoction.
When you drink a cup of coffee, you’re likely to get zero amount of carbs.
Plain coffee and espresso are almost carb-free if you don’t add sugar or coffee creamer, which is good news to you. This brings us to the next question; we can’t ignore:
What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are what dietitians call cousins to macronutrients, which are proteins, and fats.
Yet, you’re likely to get carbs when eating pasta, bananas, potatoes, bread, and juice.
Carbs are our source of energy and brain.
Carbs only become a concern when we take too much of them, which you are currently working on.
How can you drink coffee without increasing your carb intake?
You can still enjoy your cup of coffee without putting your health at risk.
And there are a couple of things that you can do.
One of them is stopping having your cup of coffee after 2 p.m.
Abstaining will benefit you, particularly if you’re one of those people who stay awake at night because of the amount of caffeine that you ingest in your system.
Sugar, sugar, sugar.
Can you find a way of substituting this harmful drug with something more healthy like stevia?
While at it, avoid using those artificial creamers.
Non-dairy creamers contain up to 84.2 grams of carbs, 32.4 grams of fat, and 602 calories.
Consider sprinkling a bit of cinnamon now and then to lower your blood glucose.
How many carbs do you get from drinking coffee?
The amount of carbs that you will get from drinking a cup of black coffee is zero.
If you love espresso black without sugar, you won’t get any carbs as well.
A 355-ml of coffee has only one gram of carbs.
But there is a little twist to this that will confuse many people: cold brew coffee contains up to 3 grams of carbs!
Yep, you read that right.
When you drink a cold brew coffee, you’ll get 3g of carbs per 8oz.
Why Does Cold Brew Coffee Have Carbs?
You might think it’s weird that a cup of hot, black coffee has zero carbs, while a cup of black cold brew coffee does have carbs.
Here’s why.
Many people think that cold brew is the same as iced coffee, but that’s not true at all.
As you may know, cold brew coffee is an ultra concentrated drink where the coffee beans are soaked in cold water overnight.
That means it has the bean soaking method results in more stuff extracted directly from the coffee beans, and coffee beans do have carbs that get extracted into the cold brew.
As a result, you end up with 3 grams of carbs in 8 oz. of cold brew coffee.
Does Starbucks Coffee Have Carbs?
If you get your coffee from your local Starbucks, instead of making it at home, then you may be curious about the carb content of your favorite grande Starbucks coffee.
The same general rules apply here as well.
If you’re just getting plain black coffee from Starbucks, then it doesn’t have any carbs – no matter what size you order.
But, when you start adding things to that black coffee or espresso shots, that’s when you get some carbs in your Starbucks drink.
If you like your Starbucks drinks white, then go with a nut milk (like almond milk) for fewer carbs than adding dairy milk.
And try to avoid the sugary syrups.
Here are the Starbucks coffee drinks with no carbs:
- Plain espresso
- Black coffee
- Plain iced coffee (no sweetener, milk, or milk alternative)
- Plain, Nitro cold brew
Last Thoughts
To be on the safe side, try to downsize your caffeine intake by using a smaller cup.
Add a bit of milk, a sweetener, or sugar with your goal of reducing carbs in mind.
But continue enjoying your cup of coffee nonetheless without abusing those carb-rich extras.