Four Unhealthy Coffee Shop Treats to Avoid

Coffee shops are not the healthiest places to eat breakfast, but they are convenient. The problem is - once you guzzle down that high calorie coffee drink you may already be up five hundred calories - so you have to be careful what you eat with it. If youre not careful, you could easily turn a quick breakfast into a high calorie splurge - and not even know it. Here are three unhealthy coffee shop foods youre better off passing up at breakfast or any other meal.

Unhealthy Coffee Shop Food: Scones

A blueberry scone may be fun to dip into coffee, but it does nothing for the waistline. If youve ever held a scone in your hand you know how heavy and dense it can be which means its also dense in calories. The average scone has 450 calories and nine grams of fat - not to mention 35 grams of sugar. Add that to the five hundred calorie drink and youve already eaten more than half of a days calories at one meal. To burn off that many calories, youll have to walk more than four hours. Who has time for that?

Unhealthy Coffee Shop Food: Bran Muffins

They sound innocent enough - after all theyre made with bran. The sobering reality is that the banana bran muffin at Starbucks has 410 calories and 36 grams of sugar. The only good news is you do get six grams of fiber. Unfortunately, even the heart healthy fiber doesnt make up for the very heart unfriendly 440 milligrams of sodium. Again, you need to do a lot of walking to burn of one of these babies.

Unhealthy Coffee Shop Food: Bagel with Cream Cheese

The average sized plain bagel with cream cheese has 460 calories and ten grams of saturated fat. You can lower those calories slightly by substituting low fat cream cheese, but this wont compensate for the surprising 590 milligrams of sodium it contains. Its not good for your blood pressure, your heart, or your waistline. Heck, its not good for anything. If youre concerned about your health, choose another option - unless youre up for a splurge.

Unhealthy Coffee Shop Food: The Bottom Line?

Dont risk blowing a days calories in one place with these calorie inflated coffee treats. Theyre high in carbs and fat, and weak on nutrition - not a good combination. When youre at the coffee shop, look for packages of nuts, a fruit cup, fresh fruit, or yogurt. Not only will you take in fewer calories, but youll get some vitamins too.