Sunday, August 26, 2012

Healthy Alternatives To Coffee Creamer

Next question!  

Christina from CA asks:                              

"I really enjoy a cup of coffee every morning, sweetened and with creamer. What is the healthiest way to make my coffee yummy as I know what I'm doing now isn't (store bought sweetened liquid creamer) I cannot stand black coffee! "

Kellie's Answer:

Thanks for the question, Christina!  I, too, used to not be able to drink black coffee! I was hooked on the creamers, but then I realized they contain high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweetener, which is probably what you have noticed as well.  (not to mention the empty calories)

Here are my ideas for a healthy alternative:

1. half and half -- if you are able to tolerate dairy, you could try this, as it does not contain anything artificial.  however, many people are sensitive to dairy, so this is not something I recommend to everyone

2. coconut milk - or coconut creamer- So Delicious brand carries a really great coconut milk,  as well as coconut creamer. If you don't mind the taste of coconut, this would be a good alternative, as coconuts are so good for our health!

3. liquid stevia-- though you only need about 1 drop, as it is super sweet. some people don't care for the taste; however this is an option if you don't so much need the liquid, but really just need something to sweeten the coffee. Stevia is all natural and made from a plant (with a really long name that contains the word stevia!) other good sweeteners would be honey or coconut sugar (which is low glycemic)


For myself, I started off with half and half. I then switched to almond milk in my coffee, but didn't really like how it tasted.  After awhile, I began to appreciate the taste of the black coffee.  So your palate can be trained, but for now, I hope you enjoy trying out some of these ideas!  

Blessings,
Kellie


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2 comments:

Unknown said...

this is a good post. Ironically coffee has many lights and lives to talk about. Since I know friends in the industry, we chat over it quite a bit. The lighter the roast, the better it is for you. I unfortunately like DARK (hair growing, hair raising) BLACK as the NIGHT coffee. I have to admit, @ 1st I was also a syrupy, sugary, gooey, creamer addict once upon a time. The coffee bean itself is 84% protein, but you would have to eat a lot of beans to get its benefit. I personally recommend Black, Lima, most other type of beans there. What I found recently interesting, and it makes sense is that Stevia was given only a D+ rating (to my initial surprise) on Fooducate. Well now that I think of it, it is not something that grows out of the ground, and is not much of a food, so I can see their reasoning. I appreciate peeps who are struggling, little bit by little bit to improve their habits. We all start somewhere, so no matter where you are at, a good start is better than no start at all.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your words. You are so right, about how we all start somewhere. In regards to Stevia, I didn't know about the rating on Fooducate. It probably depends on the brand. What i like about stevia is that it is taken from the stevia plant, and it is low glycemic (so no sugar rush). Much better than splenda, which is artificial!