By Gretchen Tseng
On occasion I will saunter into Starbucks for a Grande Decaf Soy Latte because they taste so darn good. The last time my hubby and I had a date night we stopped in for a coffee between dinner and a movie. I noticed their pamphlet, "Nutrition by the Cup" and grabbed it on my way out. We arrived at the movie a bit early, so I pulled out the pamphlet and took a look. My drink wasn't awful weighing in at 170 calories, 4.5 grams fat, and 17 sugars (a bit high), but is definitely categorized as a treat.
I instinctively knew that a lot of their blended drinks were akin to milkshakes, however I was still SHOCKED by how much sugar they contain. A Venti Green Tea Frappuccino Blended Crème (WITHOUT WHIPPED CREAM...and how many people do you see walking out of Starbucks WITHOUT the whipped cream???) weighs in at 440 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 86 grams of sugar!!! Say what?!??!?!?!?
This pamphlet provided for great conversation with my husband. We zeroed in on the Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème. In his infinite wisdom my husband suggested I compare the nutrition of real strawberries with the Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème drinks. How many strawberries would it take to meet the sugar equivalent of a Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème?
Based on this information, for the same sugars amount of sugar in the Starbucks drink I can eat 87 strawberries!!! If I were to eat those 87 strawberries I would have given my body countless phytonutrients and over 17 grams of fiber. Yes, I would have eaten 348 strawberry calories vs. the 250 Frappuccino calories, but studies have also shown that your body burns up to 50% more calories when eating WHOLE versus processed foods due to the extra workload created when breaking them down. If this is true, the net calories you are truly consuming are 174…76 calories LESS than the Frappuccino. I personally would much rather consume real strawberries or make my own blended Frappuccino at home with vegan vanilla protein powder and real strawberries. Yikes!
Nutritional information for strawberries from Calorie King.
Gretchen Tseng is a Nutrition Specialist with Certification in Plant-Based Nutrition through Cornell University. At a young age she experienced a series of illnesses which propelled her to seek nutrition based solutions. Gretchen is absolutely passionate about sharing the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle and can be found doing so through her website Veggie Grettie (www.veggiegrettie.com ), as a Columnist for Chic Vegan (www.chicvegan.com ), and as a freelance writer. In addition to being a nutrition nut, Gretchen is a fitness fanatic and is thrilled to be a Brand Ambassador for a clothing line that she wears and loves, NEXT by Athena. Gretchen lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and 4 legged best bud and dreams of living on a farm someday surrounded by animals and an amazing organic garden.
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