Over the winter months, indulging in festive food and drink is expected.
With mince pies, Roses and an infinite number of roast dinners all in-season, you’ll find a hefty number of calories. Hot drinks are a surprising cause of weight gain around this time of year as they tend to contain a large number of calories.
However, it’s all about damage limitation at this time of year. Even for those dedicated gym goers amongst us, it’s accepted that some level of face-scoffing is part-and-parcel of celebrating Christmas.
Allowing yourself a treat could actually help your progress from a psychological perspective.
But if you are really concerned with fending off fat gain this festive period, which hot drinks should you opt for?
Personal trainers at PureGym have put together a list of the five healthiest festive hot drinks.
1. Caffe Nero Roasted Hazelnut Latte – 148 calories
“The Caffe Nero roasted hazelnut latte is a pretty standard festive beverage, based around hazelnut syrup.”
- Calories per serving (regular size with semi-skimmed milk): 148 calories
- Sugar: 23.6 grams
2. Costa Gingerbread Latte – 217 calories
“Costa’s gingerbread latte contains gingerbread syrup, whipped cream, berry crumbs on top, and a small gingerbread man (called Charlie) to enjoy.”
- Calories per serving (medium size with skimmed milk): 217 calories
- Sugar: 15.7 grams
3. Pret Mint Mocha – 220 calories
“The mint mocha is, in keeping with their famous company ethos, made with organic ingredients. These include arabica coffee, organic milk, organic chocolate powder, and mint syrup.”
- Calories per serving: 220 calories
- Sugar: 20.7 grams
4. Starbucks gingerbread latte – 220 calories
“Starbucks make their own version of a gingerbread latte. The key ingredients are gingerbread syrup, whipped cream, vanilla syrup and nutmeg, and this is made using semi-skimmed milk as standard, but you do have other options at the counter.”
- Calories per serving (medium size with semi-skimmed milk): 258 calories
- Sugar: 29.8 grams
5. Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte – 264 calories
“The toffee nut latte is quite an extravagant drink, with its main ingredients being milk, whipped cream, toffee nut syrup, and hazelnuts.”
- Calories per serving (medium size with semi-skimmed milk): 264 calories
- Sugar: 28.5 grams
As a rule of thumb, black coffee and green tea are the lowest-calorie hot drinks – barely making an impact on your overall intake.
If you’re looking to lose weight then milk, cream and flavourings are the main culprits you need to keep an eye on. You can either avoid these or opt for skimmed or nut milk if you’re looking to watch the calories.
