Coffee calories have jumped nearly 40%. Sugar isn't the biggest culprit

Key points

• Average calories from coffee rose from 43 to 60 per day between 2003 and 2018.
• Non-dairy creamer became the top source of added coffee calories by 2018.
• Coffee intake stayed near 13 ounces daily while additions changed.

Americans are getting more calories from their daily coffee even though the amount they drink has barely changed, according to researchers at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. The study, published online in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, examined dietary information from 30,000 American adults aged 20 and older.

Between 2003 and 2018, average coffee consumption stayed relatively constant at approximately 13 ounces per day. However, average calories from coffee increased from 43 to 60 per day, a rise of nearly 40%. By 2018, the leading sources of added coffee calories were non-dairy creamer, sugar or syrup, and dairy milk.

What the data showed

The research team examined eight consecutive cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), covering 2003 through 2018. In 2018, dairy milk was the most commonly added ingredient by weight at 21.4 grams per day, followed by non-dairy creamer at 8.1 grams and sugar at 4.4 grams. Non-dairy additions rose from 3.65 grams per day in 2003 to 10.5 grams in 2018, with non-dairy creamer increasing from 3.37 to 8 grams per day.

By 2018, non-dairy creamer contributed 18.5 calories per day, compared with 16 from sugar and 11 from dairy milk. In 2003, non-dairy creamer had contributed just 7.71 calories per day.

We found that non-dairy creamer being added to coffee has now passed both sugar and dairy for its contribution to the total energy consumed from coffee.

— Yongyi Pan

What researchers said

Yongyi Pan, the study's lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at the Friedman School, said non-dairy creamer's contribution to coffee calories had passed both sugar and dairy. Pan noted that non-dairy creamers can be high in saturated fat and that their popularity has grown as consumers seek plant-based or dairy alternatives.

Fang Fang Zhang, senior author and Neely Family Professor at the Friedman School, said coffee is often accompanied by sugar and cream, which can add calories from added sugar and saturated fat. The researchers acknowledged the study relied on participants recalling what they ate and drank, which can introduce measurement errors.