Last updated on June 7th, 2017
Early on in my low-carb adventure, I ran across the advice to stop drinking coffee. That nearly ended my low-carb adventure right then. There are some things you can’t give up. Coffee’s at the top of my list.
Repeat after me, friends: “Coffee is life, life is coffee.”
That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
Coffee is low-carb — right?
There are carbs in black coffee — about a tenth of a gram in a cup. S0 coffee is low-carb, though not quite as low-carb as plain water. In fact, black coffee has very little in terms of macro-nutrients of any kind. So why would low-carb dieters be told to avoid the wonder brew?
I’m not sure where I first encountered the out-dated “don’t drink coffee” advice; it may have been in the 1992 edition of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. In Chapter 15, Atkins wrote, “Stay out of the java jungle. Excessive caffeine . . . has been shown to cause a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) reaction, which will provoke carvings and cause you to over eat.” The good doctor went to say that giving up coffee might be a “big sacrifice for you,” but necessary for weight loss.
A “big sacrifice”? I’ll say! Let’s review: “Coffee is life, life is coffee.”
I’d rather stay fat — even put on more pounds — than give up my java.
Leave me here in the jungle, doc. I’ll be fine.
Well, Dr. Atkins was a great man, but nobody’s perfect. He based his anti-joe advice on the best science of the time. Twenty years later, we know better. The Atkins web site now says that when it comes to coffee, drink up: “Recent research shows absolutely no relationship between caffeine and blood sugar. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy a couple of cups of full-strength Java or other caffeinated beverages as part of your eight daily cups of fluid.”
That’s right — not only does the current version of the Atkins Diet allow you to drink coffee, but it even counts it as part of your minimum daily fluid intake, citing the latest guidelines from the Institute of Medicine.
However, the limit is two cups of coffee per day, at least as far as counting as part of your daily fluid intake goes. Two cups of coffee is the minimum for me, not the maximum, but I drink plenty of water, too.
Coffee is life
Drinking coffee is a pleasurable experience. It’s a form of snacking, and may prevent a person from munching away on high-carb goodies.
Dr. Jonny Bowden (PhD, CNS), in his 2010 book Living Low Carb, puts it this way: “While coffee is obviously a stimulant, drinking it is also a very pleasant experience for a lot of people, and that has to factored into the mix.”
But coffee isn’t merely a pleasant snack. What we need to factor into the mix, Dr. Bowden, is that “coffee is life, life is coffee.”
Any questions, smart guy?
I’m working on my fifth cup of life right now.
Another question is what to put in your coffee if anything. Generally avoid putting lots more carbs in coffee, and instead add fat.
When I had my first cup — about 40 years ago, at the counter of a hole-in-the-wall diner down at the end of our street — I drank it black. That was how my parents drank it.
Eventually, I started putting milk or creamer in my coffee. Usually, it was a non-dairy creamer because it had less saturated fat than half-and-half. What can I say — I was in the grip of Conventional Diet Wisdom! (I shudder when I think of all the soy oil I poured into the elixir of life.)
I never used sugar, but in recent years, I sometimes used one of those sweetened and flavored non-dairy creamers.
Today, I use either half-and-half or heavy cream. My wife always drank her coffee whitened and sweetened, but now drinks it with only heavy cream. In terms of carbs and taste, heavy cream is the better deal, and makes a cup of coffee a true low-carb, high-fat delight. But half-and-half has only a gram of carbohydrate per two tablespoons (which is more than I put in), is cheaper, and often the best you can do in a restaurant.
When I am reheating a cup in the microwave, I usually drink it black. For some reason, reheated coffee tastes and looks better to me if I have it sans cream.
Of course, I do reheat coffee because it would be a sin to let a drop go to waste.
You wouldn’t waste life, would you?
what about the sweetener stevia for low carb dieters? is that bad?
i really enjoy coffee too…
I’ve lost weight using the stuff. Trivia packets to be exact. One a day didn’t bother me a bit.
Bless you, fellow coffee (life) lover! I’m just starting my low carb journey and am meticulously researching all my favorite vices. Next: red wine and dark chocolate!
I skimmed past all the articles that said I shouldn’t drink coffee… now that I’ve found this one, I’ll seize on it as my definitive answer, and then go enjoy a delicious espresso. I don’t even care whether you’re right – thanks for taking a stand for the best beverage in the universe.
I drink 1.5 liters of coffee a day and 3 liters of water a day. Never affected anything as much as stress does to make me feel cravings. I will say however that If you expose yourself to something such as icecream while you are craving you will program yourself to want the icecream when you crave.
Pre-Atkins weight 258
Current weight 198
I have re-entered Atkins stage one 3 days ago to drop the last 15 pounds as I stopped myself at 203 six months ago. I saw too much muscular loss. I recouped and built muscle back over last 6 months on Adkins diet in phase 3, which is very much like a diabetic diet. Currently not working out as energy level is low for sustained weight training. I continue with a small P90x workout regimen to keep muscles from wasting again.
Goal…….I want a better abdominal region and clothes to fit like they are suppose to. Currently waist is same size it was when i was in the 7th grade.
I still drink coffee at same level and will not change this.
I take a multivitamin every other day and a Vitamin B complex daily.
When i get those cravings I look at it as, “Yeah take that fat ass. I am making you cringe and burn that fat off.” Remember your spirit and its shell are two different existences, always remember this.
I have been drinking coffee for years. When i started the Atkins diet over a year and a half ago I was 60 pounds overweight at 258 pounds. Currently 199 and I have restarted the Phase one program to bring myself into what is considered the correct BMI, which in my opinion is a joke by the way. I am a registered nurse and have been trying to find foundation of low blood sugar levels and how the body compensates for this.
By common sense if you are a 24 hour a day coffee drinker I would call that excessive. That’s me. Not going to stop. Also by common sense if there is a continual strained catch-up to keep your blood sugar levels at a regulated level your biology will do this if you are a drinker at my level. In other words, my biology is always starving for sugar to keep it at a level it likes. I also drink 3Liters of w
I just started drinking coffee last year. I just blogged about how I thought it definitely helped my weight loss, especially the first few months when I still was ‘kicking the carb addiction’. The caffeine, I think, made my work day go much faster so I wasn’t sitting there salivating while thinking about lunch/dinner all day 🙂
I now use it as a stimulant – I’ll drink it a half hour or so before I go to the gym, or if I’m feeling sluggish on the weekend I’ll drink a cup at home. Since I work ‘from home’ (typically not at my home but at a Starbucks), I have to drink it at Starbucks in order to not be a total mooch while using the wifi.
You have an awesome blog! One of the best I’ve seen.
mark
http://www.learnatmyexpense.com
If you really want to you can learn to live with out it. Life does go on!!!!!!!!!!!
My gambit was to switch to better quality coffee, half espresso/half regular. Savor the grinding & brewing process; drink a little less quantity, but enjoy it more.
You’re preaching to the choir!!
Mantra of the day. MUST HAVE COFFEE. Doen’t matter if it’s hot or cold, summer or winter. 365 days a year.
Geri
I refrigerate the coffee left in the pot and then use it to make iced, what a huge treat with a splash of heavy cream and a couple of drops of stevia. Excuse me, must go make a cup now. Creamy, sweet and cool life!
Oh, yes! My wife makes iced coffee for herself a lot, but I seldom think to do it. My father was a big iced coffee drinker, way back when.