With the New Year comes new goals and like many, I’m aiming to get fit and drop a few pounds. For me, it‘s all about making exercise a priority and changing my diet to opt for healthier versions of the things I consume on a regular basis. This year, I’ve started off in full force at the gym and in the spirit of healthier alternatives, I’m drinking Skinny Lattes.

A regular 8oz. latte has 150 calories and 70 calories from fat while an 8oz. Skinny Latte has only 90 calories and 0 fat calories. This one small change in my diet is saving me 60 calories per day. That might not seem like much, but it adds up to 21,900 calories per year!

A Skinny Latte is made with espresso and non-fat milk instead of whole or 2% milk. If you want to add some flavoring and keep it skinny, you can add sugar-free syrup in place of regular syrup or flavoring. Monin Sugar-Free Syrups have 0 calories while regular syrups add about an additional 100 calories to your drink.

Check out my video to see how easy a Skinny Latte is to make!

For people relying on caffeinated beverages to make it through the day, the choice between coffee and soda may have just become even more cut and dry. A press release from the American Academy of Neurology outlines the findings of a study authored by Dr. Honglei Chen, MD, PHD that suggests the drinking coffee may lower a person’s risk of developing depression, whereas drinking soda and other sugary drinks had the potential to increase it.

For approximately 10 years some 262,925 people between the ages of 50 and 71 were monitored and their drink choices examined; after the 10 year period, the participants were asked if they had been diagnosed with depression. The study found that 11,311 of the participants had in fact been diagnosed as clinically depressed and a correlation was found between increased risks of depression and the consumption of sugary drinks such as soda and fruit punch.

People who drank more than four cups of soda a day were found to be at a 30 percent greater risk of developing depression, and the risks were even higher for those people who drank diet sodas. Alternatively, the study also found that drinking four cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of developing depression by 10 percent. Dr. Chen suggests that replacing sweetened and sugary drinks with unsweetened coffee may be a natural means of reducing a person’s depression risk.

So, the next time you’re looking for a boost, ditch the diet and stay away from the sugar, a better alternative exists, and its name is coffee.

Sometimes it's the simple things that really make all the difference, and so, today I'd like to put a spotlight on something we can all do to improve both our health and our mood. Smile! By the way, today is also Smile Power Day so I'm going to be taking some time to talk about why it's important to show some teeth every now and then.

For some people, smiling is a reflex and that's a good thing. Health studies show that smiling can help to relieve stress, lower our blood pressure, release endorphins, and make us look more attractive. Also, smiling is contagious. The more you smile, the more likely the people around you will smile too, so do your part in spreading good feelings around the office.

Here at Whole Latte Love we spend all day dealing with coffee, so you can bet that we smile quite a bit. No matter what you do, remember, smiling can make a good day a great day!

The room is calm and artfully lit. I am ushered to a table graced with clean white linens and fresh flowers. Others are sitting at similar tables around the room and there is a vista through large windows at one end of the room looking out over the night time city lights. Soft music is playing and a dimly lit large painting on the wall nearest me is a scene of a faintly disturbing storm at sea tossing a large sailing vessel about.

As I pick up my menu I am approached by a smartly dressed person with a small cup and saucer medallion dangling from a golden chain around her neck. Ah, the coffee sommelier has arrived and begins to tell me about the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe vintage coffee that will go well with today’s chef’s choice of roasted salmon. OK – so it’s another of my dream scenes. But not so far off from what may soon be a reality.

When people travel today whether on business or pleasure they are often tempted to try new foods and beverages, however; after one or two gastronomic disasters the seasoned traveler sticks to foods they know won’t upset their stomach. This also applies to wines and spirits. Air travelers may know that white wine and beer are histamines and can swell the Eustachian tubes and cause ear problems, and of course business travelers and vehicle drivers know the pitfalls of drinking any spirits, but this is usually not so for coffee. The traveler is free to dabble in new coffee tastes and try regional favorites that they don’t have access to at home, and with the ever growing popularity of specialty micro-roasters there are many new choices to make.

Coffee can be grouped into three definable geographical regions exhibiting uniquely different taste profiles. The website allrecipes.com identifies the choices and makes some interesting suggestions for complimentary foods.

• Coffees from the Africa / Arabia region: Arabian coffees have characteristics of berries and wines, while African beans have a slight citrus flavor and floral elements. Both have medium to full body and medium acidity. Pair with: berries, citrus, fruits, raisins, currents, cinnamon, cardamom and chocolate.
  
  
• Coffees from Asia / Pacific Rim: Coffees from Asia, Indonesia and the Pacific islands have robust, earthy characteristics. Some have flower-like or herbal notes. Expect full body and low acidity. Pair with: cinnamon, cheese, butter, caramel, maple, toffee and herbs.
  
  
• Coffees from Latin America: Coffees grown in Central and South America, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico and Guatemala, are well-balanced with bright, tangy notes. With light to medium body and medium to high acidity, they fare well in iced coffee drinks. Pair with: breakfast breads, muffins, citrus fruits, blueberries, apples and nuts.

Of course for grizzled old coffee drinkers like me that need 6 to 8 cups of joe a day, I just need to know what coffee goes good with my bearclaw in the morning, will keep me alert all day, goes good with a pastrami sub at lunch and oh, what blend complements a late afternoon bag of micro-waved popcorn?

Thank you Johann! My sentiments exactly! Although I really don't know if I ever saw a piece of roasted goat fat, the stark visualization of what I expect it to be like sums up how I feel about life before I have my morning coffee.

Bach, the German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist, directed Leipzig's Collegium Musicum, a group of student musicians who met each Friday evening at Zimmermann's coffee house to give concerts. This must certainly have been the inspiration for one of his most beloved works, the Coffee Cantata. For Johann, a professional musician employed by the Lutheran church, he may have written it as a fluff piece for the coffee house crowd. An often quoted line from the cantata occurs when the daughter Lieschen, forbidden by her father Herr Schlendrian to drink coffee, refuses to give it up saying that coffee is “more delicious than a thousand kisses, and sweeter than muscatel wine”.

Can you imagine what European culture was like before coffee and tea ushered in the "Age of Enlightenment"? Prior to the introduction of the coffee house like Zimmermann’s in the early 17th century, alcohol was the beverage of choice because un-boiled water was unfit to drink. So starting off your day with a cup of wine or a mug of beer was the norm, thus putting everyone into an alcoholic haze for the day, (ok, so it's not that unusual sounding for the frat boys at FSU, but for most working stiffs it's unthinkable today).

So as they switched from an all-day intake of alcohol depressants to stimulating drinks of caffeinated coffee and tea, Europeans rapidly began forming the cultural structures of our life today. This is the type of unexpected connection Tom Standage reveals as he relates human evolution to what humans were drinking through the ages. (See his book: A History of the World in Six Glasses.)

As I quaff my second cup of coffee this morning, and feel its simulating effects kick in, I wonder what it would be like to spend the day in an alcoholic haze. Oh, wait, I remember, roasted goat fat. Yikes!

My first reaction when I heard about caffeine infused marshmallows at about $2.00 apiece was, “this is way over the top”. Who needs these? Then I visited the Caffex.com website where they sell Java, Coffee, and Mocha Mallows and found some interesting uses. A portable pick me up for air travelers not able to carry cups of coffee through security check points, an instant energy boost for a performer just before going on stage, a late afternoon get-me-to-5 o’clock jolt for the busy office worker, or just a sweet tasty treat without the hassle of going to the coffee shop or making your own cup of java.

Hmm, so a JavaMallow at $2.00 is equal in potency to a $5.00 espresso from the coffee shop. Alright, I’m caving in; maybe these are filling a niche that not much else can. I am starting to lean in their favor.

Yikes! Idea time! Wind up the campers in your life. Make Smores with the chocolate flavored MoccaMallows. Each MoccaMallow contains the caffeine punch of a double cup of coffee.

Woo hoo!, we will be dancing around the campfire tonight.

As you’re enjoying the last rays of summer, consider that in a few years you could be lathering on the coffee to prevent skin cancer. Findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science suggests that chemicals commonly found in coffee have the ability to absorb UV radiation when applied directly to the skin. Researchers at Rutgers University genetically engineered mice to suppress the same enzyme that caffeine does in humans and have found that they were slower to develop skin cancer. Because of its ability to suppress ATR, the enzyme responsible for turning damaged skin cells cancerous, scientists have suggested that caffeine could be added to sunscreens to boost protection levels.

In a strange twist, caffeine molecules may also help you develop a nice tan in addition to protecting your skin from tumors and cancer. Caffeine has actually been shown to stimulate pigment cells, urging them to produce more color. So, a safer tan may not be too far on the horizon.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is a cluster of bacteria that may develop in the human nose. This common strain of staph is occasionally referred to as a “Super Bug,” due to its resistance to antibiotics. It can result in fatal infections when coming into contact with open wounds. Like most bacterial illnesses, MRSA is spread by skin-to-skin contact and exposure to contaminated surfaces.

The latest estimates indicate that almost 2.5 million people show evidence of MRSA within their nasal cavities. But, new research published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Family Medicine bears good news for hot coffee and tea drinkers—the greater the consumption, the lower the risk for MRSA. In fact, people who drank hot tea and coffee were 50% less likely show signs of the dangerous bacteria. Yet another reason to brew up your favorite drink!

A new study, published in the American Gastroenterological Association Institute's official journal, holds some hope for Hepatitis C patients suffering from chronic liver disease. According to researchers, drinking three or more cups of coffee a day can help lower liver enzyme levels and slow the development of chronic liver disease and liver cancer.

Coffee consumption seemed to help patients better respond to Hepatitis C treatment. Non-coffee drinkers had a 46% early response rate to treatment, compared a whopping 73% response rate among those who routinely drank three or more cups of coffee a day. This is the first major study to analyze coffee and its relationship to Hepatitis C treatment. While encouraged, researchers stress that additional studies are needed before concrete conclusions may be drawn.

It is estimated that 270-300 million people are infected with Hepatitis C, worldwide. This study included over 880 patients and was conducted by Neal Freedman, PhD, MPH of the National Cancer Institute.