• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Won't be going to Costa again!

poshtotty

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,012
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I had a lunchtime meeting today which was running late today so I thought I'd pop into Costa at 1pm and have a cheeky cold drink to see me through until I got back for lunch.

I thought I was being good by choosing their red berry cooler, instead of the strawberries and cream or any of the frappacinos laced with UHT milk and artificial cream. 2 hours later my bs are 12.4! My late lunch when I got back consisted of cheese, celery, a bowl of strawberries and dash of cream and a coffee with cream. 2 hours after lunch they are the lowest ever - 4.3.

What is going on?
 
Only have double espresso with whipped cream if ever visiting Costa actually Cafe Nero have this on the menu
 
Why not have a look at the nutritional info before going? You can get away with a few of their offerings but you have to be selective.
I don't low carb and I have T1. I sometimes have a mocha . That has 41g carb and I've usually walked enough to be less than 70 ( edit: whoops. 3.8mmol/l)when I have it
(and even then sometimes give myself 1 unit of insulin)
The middle size red berry offering is one of the highest in carbs on the menu (90.2g,) . At the other end of the spectrum, a mint infusion has less than 1g carb.
It's worth looking at the calorie counts too.
https://www.costa.co.uk/nutrition/#1244
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I see people turning down a hot chocolate in Caffe Nero for one of the iced drinks. By the time they put the thickening powder in, you've had at least a third of your daily calories. And the fruit ones are just sugar suspensions.
 

Well, as I said in the post, I wanted a cold drink not a hot drink. Its been 36 degrees here today, and I was hanging around unexpectedly with time to kill in a town which isn't my own, so sought refuge in the shade at Costa. I also wanted a food substitute since it meant I wasn't going to get lunch until at least 3pm, when I'd expected to be back at lunchtime. Everything else was obviously high carb being paninis and sandwiches.

If it had been a planned visit, of course I'd have checked out the nutritional info, which I usually do, and is how I knew to steer away from the strawberries and cream cooler.

Since checked the ingredients of my small red berry cooler and the carbs differ from your quote

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/costa-red-berry-fruit-cooler-primo-2613483

Still a learning curve...
 
OMG! 90.2g of carb!
No wonder it was 12.4 @dianagrace !
How are you feeling now?
 
Scandichic said:
OMG! 90.2g of carb!
No wonder it was 12.4 @dianagrace !
How are you feeling now?
Click to expand...

No according to myfitnesspal its was 51g of carb. Dunno where Phoenix got his 90.2g from. I feel fine, thank you, and have done all along. Picked a fight earlier with my ex husband, but that's nothing new...... Have maintained 5.3 since before my evening meal and now its only 5.4. It really is a learning curve. My readings do seem to rise and fall quite rapidly at the moment. Unsure if its the heat or the higher dose of metformin.

Hows you @Scandichic ?

I drank it all @Bluetit1802
 
It is a learning curve. I didn't mean to sound as if I was being the diabetes police. (I hate that.)
I got the carb total from the link I gave to Costas own site
Red Berry
Energy (kj) Energy (kcal) Protein (g) Fat (g)Saturated Fat (g)Carbohydrate (g)Sugar (g)
Primo 1209, 284, 1.0 ,0.4, 0.2, 68.1 67.5
Medio 1600 ,376, 1.3 ,0.5, 0.2, 90.2 89.4 (which is the medium I quoted)
Massimo 2019 ,474, 1.6 ,0.7 ,0.3 , 113.8 112.8
I actually think that places like Costa are responsible for people taking in a lot more carbs and calories than they think, you just don't think that a drink can have so many .
I once watched my small grandson and a friend becoming quite hyperactive after a raspberry drink in a coffee shop, they just kept running round in circles; we as adults can't do that!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks @phoenix. That's all really helpful. While I seem to have grasped the food side of lchf, I'm still learning about thedrinks side. I haven't had a latte since starting low carbing because of the milk content so am still exploring substitutes. Somedays its more fun than others!

I had the Costa strawberry and cream cooler last time and it didn't spike my bs nearly as much as this did, which appeared the healthier option, and according to myfitness pal has no sugars. Hey ho!

I totally agree about Costa and other outlets, but that's another post altogether.

Thanks @Bluetit1802 for the info about American cups. I hadn't realised, but I only had the Primo. Eeek! Obviously I'm not as fine as I thought I was.....
 
What is the Primo? I've never been in a Costa in my life - never even seen one round here. I thought they were just on Motorway Service Stations. Lol. I'm a country bumpkin.
 

Your lowest ever looks like a false reactive hypo where your pancreas maxed out
 
Lol.... I guess you missed the word, false
But you may have even had some symptoms if you are normally higher

Of course this raises the question of how high is normal for you?
 
God those figures are horrendous! No wonder so many of us are obese! I learnt tonight that 100g cadburys caramel dairy milk chock had over 1000 calories in it. I have eaten half a bar in the course of several hours in the past whilst watching tv. Just imagine: a trip to costa for a drink and a piece of cake in the afternoon and some chocolate whilst watching tv. In excess of 1000 calories. Now add in that "healthy low fat " pasta dish. Scary!
 

Yep indeed. I can adapt to lchf eating and don't miss the naughty food treats at all, but I'm obviously struggling with drink substitutes. Never been much of an alcohol drinker (such a cheap date!) but I do like social coffees and drinks. I drink a lot of peppermint tea at home, but when I'm out I like to have something different and coffee with cream gets a tad boring and doesn't quensh my thirst in this heat.

If anyone can suggest anything low carb other than a bottle of water, I'd be really grateful
 
I tend to stick to large black coffee in cafes, or tap water with ice and a slice of lemon, and red wine for an alcoholic drink. I would drink infusion teas but I'm not keen. I do miss my latte drinks.
 
There ain't no such thing as LC drinks other than lettuce and celery juice and half of those would have sugar and salt snuck in for that 'special' taste
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…