Starbucks The Smart Way

Do Now: Answer the following questions in your notes: 1. How many Starbucks locations are there in our area? 2. How often do you go to Starbucks? 3. What do you usually order?

Starbucks  Starbucks has locations all over, and around here, it’s one of the only places open at night where you can go to hang out with friends.  Their nutrition information is available online at _info.asp _info.asp  I think you will be (unpleasantly) surprised to find out what you are actually putting in your body when you have that pumpkin spice latte and rice crispy treat.

Which has more calories? Venti White Chocolate Mocha Big Mac

White Mocha A venti white mocha (with 2% milk) has 580 calories. A Big Mac has 540 calories.

Which has more fat? Marble Loaf from Starbucks Quarter Pounder from McDonald’s

Marble Loaf A slice of marble loaf has 22 grams of fat. A quarter pounder has 19 grams of fat.

Which has more sugar? Grande Caramel Frappuccino Skittles

Caramel Frappuccino A Grande Caramel Frappuccino has 48 grams of sugar. A bag of Skittles has 45 grams of sugar.

Which has more calories? A Grande Double Chocolate Chip Blended Crème Frappuccino A large slice of hand- tossed style meat lover’s pizza from pizza hut

Double Chocolate Chip A Grande Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino has 510 calories. A large slice of meat lover’s pizza has 490 calories

Which has more caffeine? A tall (8 oz.) latte from Starbucks 8 oz. of Mountain Dew

Tall latte A tall latte has 75 milligrams of caffeine. Mountain Dew has 37 milligrams of caffeine.

Which has more caffeine? A tall (8 oz.) latte from Starbucks 8 oz. of Amp energy drink

Latte The latte still has 75 mg. 8 oz. of Amp has 71 milligrams of caffeine.

Which has more caffeine? A tall (8 oz.) latte from Starbucks 8 oz. of Red Bull

Finally... Red Bull Still 75 mg. 8 oz. of Red Bull has 77 milligrams of caffeine.

So what?  Putting this amount of fat and sugar into your body can have extremely negative consequences, which is to say nothing of artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, and other nutritional bad guys.  Starbucks products are also highly addictive because of the high caffeine and sugar content.

 The good news is, you don’t have to give up Starbucks altogether, you simply need to learn how to see through their genius marketing schemes and confusing ordering system.  You can still have a white mocha, but you could customize your drink to make it less harmful to your body.

A better white mocha  A Grande White Mocha has 470 calories, 18 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 59 grams of sugar and 150 milligrams of caffeine.  Switch to a tall, ask for nonfat milk, no whipped cream, and only 2 pumps of the white mocha syrup. It makes a huge difference.  But what would you call it?

A tall, 2 pump, nonfat, no whip white mocha:  This way it has only 213 calories, 3 grams of fat, 2.3 grams of saturated fat, 35 grams of sugar and 75 milligrams of caffeine.  That’s less than 1/2 the calories, 1/6 of the fat, a little more than ½ the sugar, and ½ the caffeine.

Decoding the System  Read the following article about how to be smart at Starbucks.  Highlight or underline anything that is particularly interesting to you.  Circle any foods or drinks that you would like to try.  Any comments?

Your Turn  Now, go back to your usual order.  Underneath your “Do Now” answers, write down a modified version of your drink.  Make it something you’d actually try, but get rid of as many grams of sugar and fat as you can.  Let’s check out someone’s new drink online.online

Ticket Out  On your ticket out, write down: 1) one new thing you learned, 2) one thing you want to try, 3) one question about the lesson.