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Starbucks drinkers close your eyes, or head to a treadmill, ASAP. If you have ever picked up a Starbucks pamphlet, usually unseen or hidden behind the sugar/milk counter, you would know that one Venti Caramel Frappachino from Starbucks has a whooping 510 calories, 17 grams of fat, 84g carbs, and 6g of protein. While your at it, you might as well head to McDonald’s, and eat an entire 20 piece chicken McNugets, or indulge in a large Oreo Mcflurry and actually enjoy the calories your eating.
So lets explore where these 510 calories actually come from. On a very nieve note, I would like to assume ingredients are as simple as: coffee, caramel, milk and sugar. So what’s exactly In the concoction?
1) Frappachino mix -contains water, artificial flavoring, citric acid, potassium sorbate, caramel color and xantam gum which acts as a thickening agent. Of course caffeine is in there too and the positive side on indulging 510 calories and 17 grams of fat in a single drink, is that it contains coffee. Coffee acts as the number one source of antioxidants in the US diet, having 3,333 percent more antioxidants than an apple. That being said coffee may still be the heaviest chemically treated food commodity I’m the world. Buying organic coffee aids in keeping the water supply clean, but unfortunately Starbucks stopped offering organic as an option.
2) Next is the caramel sauce they drizzle all over the cup. It’s compromised of high fructose corn syrup (one of the leading causes of America’s obesity epidemic), butter, sugar, cream, water, dry milk, natural flavor , mono and di glycerides (trans fatty acids), potassium sorbate, sodium bicarbonate and soy lecithin. Although the trans fatty acids are disguised under the the title “emulsifiers”, which allows food to be marketed with having 0% trans fat. Heart attacks, strokes diabetes and obesity don’t have any sugar coated disguise.
3)Caramel syrup-aka more sugar, artificial flavoring, potassium sorbate, citric acid and caramel color, which contains two contaminants also fond in beer and cola. The browning coloring agent has been linked to lung, liver and thyroid cancer.
4) Whipped cream -although it looks white, it actually includes caramel coloring in there, along with vanilla syrup and heat whipping cream both filled with sugar. The whipped cream accounts for 25% of calories in this drink
5)And last but not least sugar. 81 grams of it. Drinking a venti caramel Frappachino is the equivalent to the same amount of sugar in one full size Kit Kat bar. As refined sugar doesn’t have any minerals of its own it robs the body of essential nutrients, which is why it promotes addiction and why you feel unsatisfied after slurping up the last sip!
The verdict: save calories, carbs and fat by having a venti coffee opposed to a possible heart attack via Frappachino!
