How do you take your coffee? This question, asked to millions of Americans each year, has hundreds of different answers. Many drink it black or use cream and sugar to take off the edge. For many health-conscious Americans, the question of how to drink their coffee is a complicated one.
You may prefer coffee with sugar to get rid of the bitter taste but want to lower your intake of sugar to avoid the added calories. And the added calories can add up. If you’re like the average American, you drink three cups of coffee a day. Those three cups, with 2-3 teaspoons of sugar and a bit of half-and-half each, add up to over 100 calories per day more than a black cup of coffee (0 calories).
Many, therefore, have looked for healthier ways other than prepared sugar to sweeten their coffee. You could buy dairy alternatives or artificial sugar, but there may be a better way likely already lurking in your kitchen cupboard.
If you’re looking for a way to change up your coffee, or if you want to drink your coffee healthier, you might try vanilla extract. The pure taste of vanilla made from organic vanilla beans, along with the various health benefits of vanilla extract in coffee (not just calorie-saving!), make this an increasingly popular way to drink a morning coffee.
In this guide, we’ll run through some of the different ways health-conscious Americans take their coffee today, cover some of the health benefits of vanilla extract, and go over some interesting ways to use vanilla extract in coffee to make your coffee-drinking experience a special one.
Why You Should Take Vanilla Extract In Your Coffee
According to Reuters, the United States is the single largest consumer of coffee every year. Indeed, almost two-thirds of Americans drink coffee every day, with 7 in 10 drinking the beverage every week. And two-thirds of coffee drinkers reported needing some form of extra sugar to enjoy their coffee.
In short: we drink a lot of coffee. What we put in our coffee, then, matters a lot, and many of us don’t think about it.
As soon as the board shorts and flip-flops get brought out of the basement for summer, Starbucks releases its summer drink menu for customers with a wide choice of tastes. This year, the Strawberry Funnel Cake Frappuccino is likely the drink of choice for coffee-consuming teens and sweet-toothed adults alike.
This drink is 410 calories with 51g of sugar, and although we haven’t tasted it yet, we promise it doesn’t even have the coffee taste. While it may taste good, this 51 grams of sugar is about five times the recommended sugar intake for a whole day.
There are those of us who do think about our beverage intake and the health benefits therein. Coffee is a major part of the Keto diet for many Americans.
For example, in bulletproof coffee, a drink coined by Dave Asprey, the drinkers drink their coffee black except with butter added. Keto users often replace their standard breakfast with a cup of high-fat, zero-sugar bulletproof coffee to start the day with increased mental performance and physical energy.
Now, if this sounds a little strange to you, it’s probably because it is.
Health Benefits of Vanilla Extract in Coffee
Though vanilla extract is used as a sugar substitute by many, there are plenty of health benefits of vanilla extract beyond its absence of calories and daily sugar savings.
Vanilla extract is made from vanilla beans, the pods of the vanilla plant, which naturally grows in the tropics. As far as extracts go, vanilla extract is very labor-intensive and, therefore, costly. At the same time, however, it is one of the most popular flavoring methods for coffee.
According to WebMD, vanilla extract has been shown to have various health benefits, all of which are present when introduced into coffee. Beware that cheap imitation vanilla extract, which is easier to produce and therefore less expensive, doesn’t carry the health benefits of natural vanilla extract.
Here are some ways that using vanilla extract products in coffee can improve your mind and body.
Increases Relaxation
Interestingly, one of the primary properties of vanilla is its calming effect on its human consumer. Many drink coffee to feel awake and alert, but some complain that, in addition to getting their brain working, coffee makes them feel edgy or anxious. Adding a few drops of vanilla extract may help strike a balance and reduce the anxiety that comes with more mental activity.
Eases Aches and Pains
A common homeopathic remedy for toothache is vanilla. If you’ve got some pain in your mouth, adding a little vanilla extract may help out! Vanilla has also been found to help ease stomach aches and joint pain.
Reduces Sugar Intake
Vanilla, naturally sweet as it is, disinclines us to use sugar in our drinks. Many looking for flavoring alternatives for their coffee are doing so for health reasons, and organic vanilla extract in coffee is excellent. It improves the flavor of your beverage without adding the unnecessary calories of sugar and creamer.
Vanilla Extract in Coffee Special Drinks
You can do many fun things with that vanilla extract bottle in your cabinet. Here are some of our favorites.
The Cowboy
This classic drink has two simple ingredients: coffee and vanilla extract. Adding a little vanilla extract to your coffee will give it the taste and essence of vanilla. Many people also rub some vanilla pod into their beans overnight, giving the roast a nice vanilla flavor when it comes through the coffeemaker.
The Alt Vanilla Latte
If you’re a vanilla latte aficionado in the wintertime, it would be a shame to have to give that up for the summer. Luckily, you don’t necessarily have to. By replacing the vanilla syrup of the vanilla latte with real vanilla extract, you save yourself 20 grams of unnecessary sugar.
The Alt Iced Vanilla Latte
On a summer day, you can add ice to your vanilla latte and have a cool summer drink that maintains the cozy palate and smell of vanilla. Try this with cold brew for a powerful, healthy drink!
Vanilla Extract in Coffee
Vanilla extract, low in calories and not-too-unfamiliar to many Americans, may be an excellent way to bridge the gap between the super-sugary drinks of America’s fast-food coffee and the mega health-aware keto recipes. Giving a calming effect to those that use it, saving you grams of sugar intake, and even easing toothache, vanilla extract is a fun way to mix up your coffee drinking and stay on top of your health.
A serving of vanilla extract in coffee is becoming more and more popular to coffee drinkers across America, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a healthy alternative to sugar that can make your daily coffee an experience rather than something mechanical.
Is vanilla not right for you? Try looking at our other coffee flavoring suggestions. Sip on!
Happy Caffeinating!
