Photo: pierofix, Flickr

A cup of coffee usually has fewer than 10 calories, so why is recent research finding that our afternoon coffee breaks might be making us fat? OK, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out -- while black coffee or tea on their own are practically calorie-free, not many people actually drink them this way, and all the add-ons can send the calorie count soaring.

Researchers from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene set out to find out just how we like our coffee and followed the habits of afternoon coffee drinkers at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts for 11 weeks. They found that while 78 percent of patrons at Dunkin' Donuts stuck to regular coffee with milk or sugar (averaging around 69 calories a cup), two-thirds of Starbucks addicts opted for fancier coffees, which upped the calorie count drastically.

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OK, I already knew that caffeine could give my running pace a boost (and I haven't run a race without a cup of coffee to start things off since!), but it turns out caffeine has another benefit -- a reduction of post-workout pain. Shoot, I might be more excited about that than I am about running faster!

A small study found that fit, young men experienced less soreness after a tough cycling session if they had a dose of caffeine prior to the workout. This held true for both those who habitually ingested caffeine and those who generally avoided it. So, even if you guzzle the java every morning, you might not build up a tolerance, so everyone can enjoy the benefits. Yay!

So why does caffeine reduce post-workout muscle soreness? Robert Motl, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was one of the researchers involved in the study. He found that caffeine affects a system in the brain and spinal cord involved in pain processing, and, as any athlete knows, less pain can lead to improved performance.

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I don't know about you, but when the weather warms up to any sort of temperature that doesn't require a coat, I immediately crave a cold drink, and usually a tall glass of ice water won't cut it. I want something tasty I can sip on as I amble through a park or do a bit of window shopping. A frappuccino fits the bill nicely.

But while they're meant to be a refreshing oasis between meals, most of the fraps out there are more like meals themselves. That can't be healthy, right? So, you tell me ...

Love it or hate it, your metabolism is just something you need to learn to live with. That's not to say you have no control over it -- you can change it if you know how. Our friends at Fitsugar recently revealed some tricks that can help you burn more calories:

• Eat a bit of protein at every meal. Some nuts or low-fat cheese will do nicely.
• Stick to one drink. From the second one on, your body will burn empty calories from alcohol rather than from food.
• Drink coffee, or better yet, green tea. It will increase your metabolism by five to eight percent.
• Train in intervals to increase your body's metabolism both during the workout and after.
  

Want more metabolism tips? Click here to get them. Then try this America Takes It Off quiz and test your metabolism smarts.

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Extreme dieting is usually a habit adopted by young women, though it does affect men as well. Caleb Followill should know -- the Kings of Leon lead singer struggled with body image issues for years, and it kept him from eating properly.

According to Female First, extreme insecurity lead to years of vigorous dieting and fitness. "I always thought I wasn't good enough. I'd do anything to keep my hands and mouth busy without eating," says the singer, 26, adding that he would do hundreds of push-ups, run in hot weather and drink coffee all day to suppress his appetite.

These days? He's re-affirming his love for food and practicing healthy fitness habits. Thank goodness.

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Brrrr ... it's cold outside. And it's so very tempting to take a detour into your nearest Starbucks to warm up with one of those delicious holiday drinks.

It's also tempting to believe that coffee drinks don't "count" toward your daily calorie total. But, ohhhh, how they do. To see how bad it gets, check out this post over at Holidash.

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Have you ever stood in line at the coffee shop determined to be a good little coffee drinker and order non-fat milk? Then as you're downing your quite rich and creamy coffee, you wonder if you really got non-fat after all?

A Glamour blogger recently wondered if baristas ever mess with your coffee drinks. After all, it can't be easy to remember grande, skinny, mocha and all the other variations that can be ordered. One Glamour reader commented that in her experience, yes, it can happen. Maybe there's a long line and there's already whole milk perfectly steamed or maybe a certain milk must be used up before it goes bad. Whatever the reason, there's certainly a chance of not getting what you ordered and you might not know the difference.

Is coffee confusion a catastrophe? Of course not. Just know that when you stop for a specialty coffee, you're also probably getting some "specialty" calories. When you make it at home, you know for sure what you're getting -- and saving some coin in the process.

Speaking of coffee, see if you've got a clue about caffeine with this fun quiz from AOL Health.

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We know portion sizes have grown. They've grown a lot -- and many of us have grown right along with them. But DietBlog is providing some fairly shocking comparisons of portions now compared to 20 or so years ago.

Consider these four items -- take-away coffees, potato chips, chocolate milk, and soft drinks. A standard bottle of pop used to be 12 oz, containing about 160 calories, but now, a dollar (or more, depending on where you are) in a vending machine will get you 20 oz and 245 calories. Chocolate milk is worse, having doubled in size and calories.

That's not the worst of it, though -- coffee, which once was only available in convenience stores (do you remember the days before Starbucks?), generally came in a 7 oz cup, so even with sugar, you were just getting around 85 calories. Now, a large coffee is more than double the size and with all the extras you can order, you can take in just shy of 500 calories. But chips are the icing on the big, fatty cake -- snack bags used to have just about 150 calories, and now, some snack bags that come with sandwiches have 500 calories!

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I think the general consensus is that coffee, in moderation, is healthy. It's packed with healthy antioxidants and as long as it's paired with skim milk instead of cream and sugar, it's low in calories. And it can give your metabolism a bit of a boost -- something I think we all could use every now and then.

Yes, coffee can help you lose weight but that's not always a good thing. According to recent studies out of the UK, drinking coffee can shrink a woman's breasts -- and ladies, I think most of us can agree that this is the last place we want to slim down, right?

However, these findings were true of women who drank three or more cups a day. Stick to one -- two, max -- and you should be fine.

(via Diet Blog)

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Celebrities slimming down for a film is nothing new, but one would hope they'd do it in the healthiest way possible -- after all, yo-yoing weight is unhealthy enough as it is. Hunky Irish actor Colin Farrell recently slimmed down dramatically for his role in the upcoming film Triage. How did he do it? Here's what he ate each day according to FitCeleb:

• Two cans of tuna
• Black coffee
• Diet Coke
  

That's it. That's about a net caloric intake of 300 calories a day. No wonder he lost 44 pounds. Though Farrell previously said his weight loss was healthy, he's changed his tune -- he now admits that his weight loss was not 'healthy' or 'advisable.' No kidding, huh? He has since gained it back: "I just ate like a pig,'" the actor says.

This is probably the least healthy way to slim down, don't you think?

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Caffeine has had its fair share of bad press in the past, but this one gets the prize ... the booby prize.

A new study reveals that drinking caffeine over an extended period of time can make a woman's breasts shrink. Regis filled Kelly in on the news during a recent episode and said that he thinks cutting back on the coffee "could help." Why? Because as little as three cups of coffee or other caffeinated beverages a day can impact estrogen levels, subsequently causing breasts to shrink. But don't worry too much -- according to the study author, "They will get smaller, but the breasts aren't just going to disappear." Whew! Good to know.

Coffee has some health perks so if you like a cuppa Joe there's no need to avoid it. But maybe you should opt for decaffeinated.

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Still wondering about coffee, the very drink once implicated in a variety of diseases and now touted as a possible health food? Reader's Digest weighs in this month on the mounting evidence suggesting coffee has the power to heal.

Coffee is packed with hundreds of compounds, say the Digest folks, including the all-popular and all-powerful antioxidants -- one Norwegian study reports that brewed black coffee is richer in antioxidants than a serving of blueberries, raspberries, pineapples, and fruit juice. Who knew? Not me. Maybe if I drank coffee, I would have known, because coffee might one day prove to boost the brain just as much as it does the body -- studies of sleep-deprived rats show a calming after-coffee effect.

The bottom line if you're confused about coffee is this: Moderation is key. Limit consumption to one to two cups a day; skip the whole milk, sugar, and cream; cut out or limit coffee if you're pregnant; and if you're worried about cholesterol, opt for paper-filtered and instant coffees --unfiltered varieties, often made with a French press, contain more of a cholesterol-raising substance called cafestol.

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If you've been debating whether or not to try a nutritional supplement, you may be surprised to know that you've already been using one for quite some time -- even if you didn't realize it.

Ask almost any regular exerciser what one of the most effective and widely-used supplement is, and they'll surely tell you it's caffeine. Research shows that drinking a caffeinated beverage prior to a workout can help a person lift more weight and complete more reps. What's more, caffeine -- in particular, coffee -- is one of the main single sources of antioxidants in the American diet, which means that it helps neutralize free radicals as it helps burn fat and improve athletic performance.

There have been over 21,000 studies conducted on the health benefits/detriments of caffeine on the body. And though I obviously focused on a benefit in this post, it's worth knowing that other research indicates that consuming too much caffeine can restrict blood flow during exercise. Clearly this falls into the "detrimental" category. However, in this study, participants consumed 300mg of caffeine, or the equivalent of about three cups of home brew. Therefore, using the results of said study as our guide, if you keep your pre-workout caffeine intake to one cup, you should be just fine.

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Do you ever have those mornings when you just need a sweet coffee-like treat to get started? I'm normally a black coffee, sometimes with a little milk gal, but every once in a while I really want something warm and chocolatey to get me started. Unfortunately, many of those drinks pack a wallop when it comes to the calorie content, and wasting 300 calories on a drink is not the way I like to begin my day.

Fortunately, the folks at Cabaret Brewed Chocolate were nice enough to send me a sample of their product, which is a whole bean beverage. It contains water-brewed whole cocoa beans (cacao) and organic evaporated cane juice. That's it. You mix it into a bit of hot water, and, voila! You have a hot, sweet, chocolate beverage with only 24 calories per serving!

It's not quite like hot chocolate -- it's a little thinner, maybe more like a rich, yummy, chocolate tea. I found that it helped me achieve a relaxed, but focused state, kind of like coffee but without any jitters. Other people report extreme relaxation, and some feel really energized. I found it to be a great way to get a satisfying taste of chocolate without sacrificing my good eating habits.

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Workout wisdom says to put something in your body after exercise takes so much out. What's the best something, though? How about whole-grain cereal, a bite of Indian takeout, or a big fat non-fat latte? RealAge says these are real possibilities.

Why these three snacks? Because they have something in common, capable of helping the body recover post-workout -- the three C's: Carbs, Curcumin, and Caffeine.

A carbohydrate-rich snack like cereal restores glycogen -- the stuff muscles use for energy -- and helps conquer fatigue. Curcumin, a substance found in the Indian spice turmeric, helps minimize muscle inflammation. And caffeine. It works to block muscle-pain-producing substances. Coffee has other health benefits too.

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