1. Switch to non-fat lattes. You can easily cut calories by up to half while still getting your caffeine boost by switching from whole to non-fat lattes (122 calories).
2. Use a smaller coffee mug. Put away all those gigantic mugs that hold up to 2-3 cups to help with portion sizes and prevent drinking away your calories (unless it’s water of course!). The bigger the mug, the more cream and sugar you’ll add.
3. Milk in place of creamer. Non-dairy creamers are considered a “free food” because they are low in calories (less than 20 calories). However, replacing creamer with milk can help fill you up (protein) and provide you with the calcium you need.
4. Ice, Ice, Coffee. Try brewing a pitcher ahead of time and putting it in the refrigerator for a quick and easy coffee fix when you’re in a rush. 1 cup of black coffee only has 5 calories and adding ice gives the illusion you’re drinking more while staying hydrated.
5. Go Decaffeinated. If you’re the type of person that doesn’t necessarily need the caffeine boost and just love the taste of coffee, try switching to decaffeinated coffee which contains a little caffeine but not enough to cause side effects such as anxiety, dizziness, headaches and jitters.

How do you like your coffee? What healthier alternatives have you made recently that you’d like to share?

Research assistance provided by Monica Lobo, RD.

So, how much is too much caffeine? Most people drink about two to four cups of brewed coffee a day, which is about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine. Heavy daily caffeine intake is about four to seven cups of brewed coffee – that’s 500 to 600 milligrams of caffeine a day! For comparison purpose, a 16oz brewed coffee from Dunkin Donuts yields about 140 to 200 mg of caffeine while an 8 oz generic brewed coffee yields between 95 to 200 mg of caffeine. How many cups of coffee from Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks do you drink a day?

Here are some symptoms of excessive caffeine usage:

• You feel nervous, restless, irritated and/or anxious easily

• You have muscle tremors, fast/irregular heartbeat, headaches, and/or insomnia/sleep deprivation

Using caffeine to energize yourself because of sleep deprivation may become an undesirable cycle. You drink coffee to stay awake at night to finish work. What resulted was that you couldn’t fall asleep because the caffeine is still in your system. When you wake up the next morning, you don’t feel rested and so you buy coffee before going to school or work because you need that “energy boost”. Then the cycle repeats. Oy vey! Read on to get tips on changing caffeine habits:

Start by keeping count of how many cups of coffee you drink per day. Pay more attention to the amount you consumed as you wait in line to buy coffee. Reduce the caffeine gradually as this can help reduce the withdrawal symptoms. You can try decaffeinated coffee or even decaffeinated tea! In addition, add more hours of sleep to your schedule. Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep per night to feel fully rested the next morning! If possible, try to avoid coffee at least eight hours before you go to bed. Otherwise, you’d just lie in bed wishing you can fall asleep! Do you know that even though caffeine is not stored in your body, it may take around 12 hours for it to leave your system?

What do you think about the effects caffeine have?

By Mitzi Dulan with research assistance from Rachel Yam