hafeezanwar
Junior Member
The calorie surprise
Who knew that a coffee could contain 628 calories? Here’s a report on the foods that pack a surprisingly high calorific punch.
There is an obesity crisis in the western world. In the UK where two-thirds of adults are overweight the government is offering cash bonuses to dieters, more walkways and compulsory school cookery lessons. But even as we all become more health conscious, it is likely we are still scoffing far more calories than we think.
Most food manufacturers offer nutritional information on their packaging or websites, including calories (Kcal) per serving and as a percentage of your recommended guideline daily amount (GDA). The GDAs used in the UK tend to be 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men but, as Rachel Cooke of the British Dietetic Association stresses, these are averages and will vary hugely depending on your weight, your metabolism and energy needs (how active you are).
“Lots of patients in our obesity clinic are eating in excess of 4,000 calories a day but will perceive that they are eating only 1,000,” says Cooke. For most ordinary adults, sticking to a 1,800 to 2,500 daily range means they will lose weight, she says; if an overweight person reduces their intake by 500 calories a day, they will lose one pound in weight every week. But it is just as easy to gain weight. “If you’re a normal weight and eat one chocolate biscuit more than your energy needs every day, then in 10 years’ time you will be obese,” she warns.
Cereal bars: Cereal bars are the healthy alternative to chocolate, aren’t they? Not exactly! Depending on the variety and brand they can vary from as much as 80 calories per bar to in excess of 300. Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain strawberry bar is a pretty tiny 37g but still boasts 140 calories. Its yoghurt bar range, at the same weight, counts up the same number of calories. Go Ahead! says it offers “a mouth-watering range of lower fat snacks” and its Hazelnut & Pistachio cereal bar dipped in milk chocolate comes with 117 calories per bar. You would be better off sticking to a (modest) chocolate bar: a two-finger KitKat is only 106 calories.
Sandwiches: Many people still count a sandwich as a light lunch, but it’s a surprise to see just how calorific they can be. To be fair, city sandwich chain Pret’s website calls its all-day breakfast sandwich, complete with egg mayo, sausage, bacon -- beech-smoked, apparently -- and ketchup, “extremely naughty” but it clocks in at a beefy 560 calories. Its New York cheddar club scores even higher: 598 calories. By way of comparison, a McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese contains 500 calories. It is not just Pret, of course: EAT’s club sandwich is a colossal 873 calories. Its lowest-scoring advertised sandwich is the crayfish, lime and coriander number, which comes in at 290.
Coffee: The doughty investigators recently visited 45 coffee shops around the UK to test and compare the price, calorie content and taste of different coffees. Starbucks’ admittedly luxurious-sounding large whole milk white chocolate mocha with whipped cream was found to contain a whopping 628 calories -- nearly a third of the recommended daily amount for women. A medium whole milk caffe mocha with whipped cream still comes in at a high 396 calories, while rivals Costa’s medium mocha flake with whole milk, cream and flake is a relatively modest 297 calories.
Muesli: Breakfast is a good thing, and muesli is probably the original health food. The British Dietetic Association suggests that you choose unsweetened versions and check your portions: not many of us stick to the recommended 30-40g, and we often add a banana, honey or sugar. A modest 40g serving of Alpen Nut Crunch muesli clocks up 200 calories. A larger 50g serving of Jordans Organic Muesli with semi-skimmed milk comes in at 221 calories but be careful what you add: honey is simply another version of sugar and really tots up your calorie count. But a generous 100g helping of Dorset Cereal's Fruit, Nuts and Seeds is 379 calories.
Fruit: Avocado is perhaps the best-known high-calorie fruit: a medium-sized 145g avocado is around 275 calories. Other fruits carry far less - an apple would give you around 45 calories, for example -- although bananas also carry more calories than most: 100g of banana serves up 95 calories.
Yoghurt: You might think eating a yoghurt is a virtuous option but it is all about the type you choose and, once again, your portion size. Some diet versions can be as little as 40 calories per pot, while thick and creamy offerings can exceed 300 calories. Take a Yeo Valley organic apricot yoghurt: it’s a whole milk yoghurt and it usually comes in a 450g pot (although you can get single portion pots, too). This only scores 96 calories with a 100g serving - but eat half a pot and that's more like 216 calories. You can beat that with just one 150g pot from Muller's Amore range - its walnut and greek honey yoghurt is 242 calories.
Nuts: Nuts are seen as the healthy alternative to crisps, but not when they are roasted, salted and extra large. A 25g serving from a 250g bag of roasted salted jumbo cashews and macadamias in supermarket Morrison’s “The Best” range gives you 167 calories, which, it says, is 8.4 per cent of a woman’s GDA. But snack your way through the other nine-tenths of the pack and that's 1,503 calories (well over half a man’s GDA). Or there are Neal’s Yard Roulettes - nuts, dried fruits and ginger, coated with yoghurt, milk and plain chocolate. A 100g portion is 477 calories -- but eat the whole 250g pack and it’s close to 1,200.
Who knew that a coffee could contain 628 calories? Here’s a report on the foods that pack a surprisingly high calorific punch.
There is an obesity crisis in the western world. In the UK where two-thirds of adults are overweight the government is offering cash bonuses to dieters, more walkways and compulsory school cookery lessons. But even as we all become more health conscious, it is likely we are still scoffing far more calories than we think.
Most food manufacturers offer nutritional information on their packaging or websites, including calories (Kcal) per serving and as a percentage of your recommended guideline daily amount (GDA). The GDAs used in the UK tend to be 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men but, as Rachel Cooke of the British Dietetic Association stresses, these are averages and will vary hugely depending on your weight, your metabolism and energy needs (how active you are).
“Lots of patients in our obesity clinic are eating in excess of 4,000 calories a day but will perceive that they are eating only 1,000,” says Cooke. For most ordinary adults, sticking to a 1,800 to 2,500 daily range means they will lose weight, she says; if an overweight person reduces their intake by 500 calories a day, they will lose one pound in weight every week. But it is just as easy to gain weight. “If you’re a normal weight and eat one chocolate biscuit more than your energy needs every day, then in 10 years’ time you will be obese,” she warns.
Cereal bars: Cereal bars are the healthy alternative to chocolate, aren’t they? Not exactly! Depending on the variety and brand they can vary from as much as 80 calories per bar to in excess of 300. Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain strawberry bar is a pretty tiny 37g but still boasts 140 calories. Its yoghurt bar range, at the same weight, counts up the same number of calories. Go Ahead! says it offers “a mouth-watering range of lower fat snacks” and its Hazelnut & Pistachio cereal bar dipped in milk chocolate comes with 117 calories per bar. You would be better off sticking to a (modest) chocolate bar: a two-finger KitKat is only 106 calories.
Sandwiches: Many people still count a sandwich as a light lunch, but it’s a surprise to see just how calorific they can be. To be fair, city sandwich chain Pret’s website calls its all-day breakfast sandwich, complete with egg mayo, sausage, bacon -- beech-smoked, apparently -- and ketchup, “extremely naughty” but it clocks in at a beefy 560 calories. Its New York cheddar club scores even higher: 598 calories. By way of comparison, a McDonald’s quarter-pounder with cheese contains 500 calories. It is not just Pret, of course: EAT’s club sandwich is a colossal 873 calories. Its lowest-scoring advertised sandwich is the crayfish, lime and coriander number, which comes in at 290.
Coffee: The doughty investigators recently visited 45 coffee shops around the UK to test and compare the price, calorie content and taste of different coffees. Starbucks’ admittedly luxurious-sounding large whole milk white chocolate mocha with whipped cream was found to contain a whopping 628 calories -- nearly a third of the recommended daily amount for women. A medium whole milk caffe mocha with whipped cream still comes in at a high 396 calories, while rivals Costa’s medium mocha flake with whole milk, cream and flake is a relatively modest 297 calories.
Muesli: Breakfast is a good thing, and muesli is probably the original health food. The British Dietetic Association suggests that you choose unsweetened versions and check your portions: not many of us stick to the recommended 30-40g, and we often add a banana, honey or sugar. A modest 40g serving of Alpen Nut Crunch muesli clocks up 200 calories. A larger 50g serving of Jordans Organic Muesli with semi-skimmed milk comes in at 221 calories but be careful what you add: honey is simply another version of sugar and really tots up your calorie count. But a generous 100g helping of Dorset Cereal's Fruit, Nuts and Seeds is 379 calories.
Fruit: Avocado is perhaps the best-known high-calorie fruit: a medium-sized 145g avocado is around 275 calories. Other fruits carry far less - an apple would give you around 45 calories, for example -- although bananas also carry more calories than most: 100g of banana serves up 95 calories.
Yoghurt: You might think eating a yoghurt is a virtuous option but it is all about the type you choose and, once again, your portion size. Some diet versions can be as little as 40 calories per pot, while thick and creamy offerings can exceed 300 calories. Take a Yeo Valley organic apricot yoghurt: it’s a whole milk yoghurt and it usually comes in a 450g pot (although you can get single portion pots, too). This only scores 96 calories with a 100g serving - but eat half a pot and that's more like 216 calories. You can beat that with just one 150g pot from Muller's Amore range - its walnut and greek honey yoghurt is 242 calories.
Nuts: Nuts are seen as the healthy alternative to crisps, but not when they are roasted, salted and extra large. A 25g serving from a 250g bag of roasted salted jumbo cashews and macadamias in supermarket Morrison’s “The Best” range gives you 167 calories, which, it says, is 8.4 per cent of a woman’s GDA. But snack your way through the other nine-tenths of the pack and that's 1,503 calories (well over half a man’s GDA). Or there are Neal’s Yard Roulettes - nuts, dried fruits and ginger, coated with yoghurt, milk and plain chocolate. A 100g portion is 477 calories -- but eat the whole 250g pack and it’s close to 1,200.
