Is Decaf Coffee Fattening?
Black, it's close to zero. The calories come from the sugar and cream, and here's how much they add.
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No. A cup of plain brewed decaf has next to no calories: the USDA lists it at 0 calories per 100 grams, which works out to less than 1 calorie in an 8-ounce mug, with no fat and no sugar. What can make a decaf drink fattening is what goes in after the coffee.
So if decaf is your evening cup or your way of cutting back on caffeine, it adds almost nothing to your day, as long as you keep an eye on the sugar bowl and the creamer. A decaf with real flavor makes that easier. Kicking Horse is a dark roast that Kicking Horse describes as chocolatey and nutty, one I'd happily drink black, at about $15 for a 10-ounce bag of whole beans.
How many calories are in decaf coffee?
Almost none, and the same goes for regular coffee. These are the figures for coffee brewed with water and nothing else.
| Drink | Serving | Calories | Caffeine | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brewed decaf | 8 oz | less than 1 | about 2 mg | USDA FoodData Central, decaf brewed coffee |
| Brewed regular coffee | 8 oz | about 2 | about 95 mg | USDA FoodData Central, brewed coffee |
| Any plain brewed coffee | 1 cup | less than 5 | Mayo Clinic |
The USDA gives its numbers per 100 grams, and an 8-ounce cup weighs 237 grams, so I converted. Whichever way you round it, the coffee itself isn't where the calories are.
What actually makes a decaf drink fattening
It's what you add. Mayo Clinic lists the calories in the usual add-ins:
| Add-in | Amount | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 teaspoon (4 g) | 16 |
| Flavored sweetened syrup | 1 pump | 10 to 20 |
| Fat-free milk | 2 tablespoons | 10 |
| Half-and-half | 2 tablespoons | 40 |
| Whipped cream | 2 tablespoons | 73 |
| Heavy whipping cream | 2 tablespoons | 101 |
Do the math on your own mug and the numbers add up quickly. Two teaspoons of sugar and a good splash of half-and-half come to 72 calories, so two of those a day is about 145, every day. A café drink with three pumps of syrup gets 30 to 60 calories from the syrup alone, before the milk. Oat, almond and soy milks vary a lot, and Mayo Clinic points out that many have added sugar, so the label is the only way to know.
If you'd like to cut the sugar, start with a decaf that tastes good black.
Can decaf help with weight loss?
On its own, a little at most, and the best evidence is about the sugar. A 2023 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition followed about 155,000 people from three long-running US studies of nurses and health professionals, checking their coffee habits and their weight every four years. Each extra daily cup of unsweetened coffee, decaf included, went with about 0.12 kg less weight gain over four years, roughly a quarter pound. Each extra daily teaspoon of sugar went with about 0.09 kg more. Cream and nondairy creamer showed no clear link either way.
Keep in mind that it's an observational study: it shows that coffee drinkers who skipped the sugar gained a bit less, not that the coffee caused it. And a quarter pound over four years is small. The useful part is the comparison: decaf and regular coffee came out about the same, and the spoonful of sugar pulled the other way.
Other research is less clear. Healthline sums up a 2021 review of eight studies on waist size, which found reductions of 0.3 to 1.6 percent with both regular and decaf coffee, while one of those studies saw decaf increase waist size for some people. Plain decaf isn't going to move the scale much either way. The sugar you stir in is more likely to.
Is decaf fine in the morning or at night?
Calories don't change with the clock: a black decaf is the same near-zero cup at 7 a.m. or 9 p.m. What's worth knowing for the evening is that decaf isn't caffeine-free. The FDA puts a typical 8-ounce cup at 2 to 15 mg, against about 95 mg for regular brewed coffee by USDA's figure. One study that Healthline cites found decaf made people more alert than a placebo did.
If you're sensitive to caffeine at night, an herbal tea has none at all. My guide to whether chai has caffeine covers the warm, spiced options that start with no tea leaf.
