HHS HealthBeat (January 6, 2012)

The coffee-only break?

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

For dieters, a snack with the mid-morning coffee can be trouble.

At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Anne McTiernan looked at data on 123 overweight to obese women, ages 50 to 70, who were dieting. Mid-morning snackers lost about 7 percent of their weight, but nonsnackers lost about 11 percent. Dr. McTiernan says it pays to watch what you eat – and when – and maybe drink something instead of eating:

``The best beverages are things that don’t have sugar in them – things like water, or tea, or coffee. But be careful with the coffee – that you’re not loading it up with a lot of things like syrups or whipped cream.’’ (10 seconds)

So much for the venti caramel macchiato.

The study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: January 6, 2012