Introduction
With only about 2 calories, a cup of black coffee has come a long way in recent decades. Coffee can now be customized in thousands of ways given all the different sweeteners, milk, creams, flavors, and toppings. The retail gourmet coffee marketplace has grown exponentially in the past few decades. Dunkin’, previously Dunkin’ Donuts, now has over 8,500 restaurants in the U.S. alone and 11,300 restaurants worldwide.
When we analyzed Dunkin’s drink menu, we discovered that the Frozen Coffees are by far the least health choices on the menu. Consumed on a regular basis, the excesses presented by Dunkin Frozen Coffees can cause health problems such as an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay, and other chronic health conditions.
In this article, we look at the main calorie themes, such as portion sizes, adding sugar and sugar alternates, milks and creams, and flavors and toppings. Then we reveal the Top 5 least health Dunkin’ Drinks.
Main Calorie Themes of Dunkin’ Drinks
In terms of calories, we analyzed Dunkin’s coffee and drink menu and found some astonishing results:
- Portion Control Matters
When you upsize from a small to a medium Dunkin’ beverage, this adds 45% more calories on average, and upsizing further to a large beverage adds 33% more calories. - Adding the Basics Adds Up
For large cups of coffee, adding in the basics adds up. 135 calories from sugar, 115 from cream, oat milk adds 40, whole milk adds 35, almond milk 30, skim milk 20, and coconut milk 15. A large cup of coffee with cream and sugar from Dunkin’ is 255 calories, not to mention 12 grams of fat and 35 grams of added sugar. - Tea and Refreshers are Not Bad
Surprisingly, Dunkin’s non-coffee drinks do not rank among the highest in calories. Unsweetened tea has zero calories, but even adding flavors only pushes a large tea into the 120- to 320-calorie range. Fruit-flavored Dunkin’ Refreshers are in the 170- to 320-calorie range. - Flavors and Toppings Push Higher
The introduction of flavors and toppings significantly spikes the calorie count, adding more creativity. These include “Mocha Swirl”, French Vanilla, “Caramel Craze”, and Blueberry Cobbler. The addition of these pushes a standard large hot coffee into the 300- to 550-calorie range. - Frozen Coffees are Highest
So, what tips the scale with the highest calories on Dunkin’s drink menu? The summertime Frozen Coffee treats, particularly the Butter Pecan Crunch Frozen Coffee, reign as the current champion, totaling a whopping 1,240 calories for a large size.
#1 Butter Pecan Crunch Frozen Coffee
As previously mentioned, Dunkin’s Butter Pecan Crunch Frozen Coffee takes the crown for the worst high-calorie drink item, boasting a staggering 1,240 calories for a large size. This is nearly four times as many calories as Dunkin’s average large-sized drink. It comprises over half of the generally recommended 2,000-calorie daily intake for adult women and just shy of the 2,500-calorie recommendation for adult men.
Consuming one of these Frozen drinks can be challenging to justify for individuals with weight management goals. Looking at nutritional values, this beverage has:
- 40 grams of fat, which almost meets the total amount of recommended fat to consume for an entire day.
- 22 grams of saturated fat, which is almost double the recommended amount.
- 125 milligrams of cholesterol which are at least a third of the daily general recommendation.
- 580 milligrams of sodium which is 25% of the daily general recommendation.
- 199 grams of sugar, 186 of which are added sugars, which equates to nearly 50 teaspoons of sugar, or eight times the daily general recommendation.
#2 Caramel Swirl Frozen Coffee
- Size: Large
- Calories: 1000 Calories
- Total fat: 35 Grams
- Total sugar: 158 Grams
- Saturated fat: 18 Grams
- Added sugar: 148 Grams
#3 Mocha Swirl Coffee with Cream
- Size: Large
- Calories: 990 Calories
- Total fat: 35 Grams
- Saturated fat: 19 Grams
- Total sugar: 163 Grams
- Added sugar: 148 Grams
#4 Butter Pecan Swirl Frozen Chocolate
- Size: Large
- Calories: 900 Calories
- Total fat: 17 Grams
- Saturated fat: 13 Grams
- Total sugar: 162 Grams
- Added sugar: 144 Grams
#5 Vanilla Bean Coolatta
- Size: Large
- Saturated fat: 3.5 Grams
- Total sugar: 167 Grams
- Calories: 790 Calories
- Total fat: 6 Grams
- Added sugar: 150 Grams
Conclusion
Choose your coffee drink carefully as not all are created the same. Incidentally, there are many ways to Get Sweeter Coffee without Adding Sugar. And be careful because there are also many, many other ways in which sugar or sugar substitutes are being added to our drinks, so much so that Where is Added Sugar Found? can be a very challenging question to answer. You can keep a food journal to track all your calories, including Dunkin’s 1,000+ menu items, by choosing from over 1.5 million records in the The Difference App’s Food Database. Click here to find out more information about The Difference weight management app.
Source: Dunkin’ Nutrition Guide as of June 2, 2023.