- Some of your favorite foods and beverages have just as much caffeine as coffee.
- The caffeine content in some of these popular drinks and foods will shock you.
- Do you crave chocolate at night? You might want to swap out your favorite candy bar for a treat with no caffeine.
Caffeine. Love it or hate it, this popular ingredient seems to be everywhere. From the foods we eat to the drinks we can't seem to start our morning without, caffeine has become a staple of the American diet.
But when you think of caffeine, what's the first thing to come to mind? Is it your favorite Starbucks drink or the extra tall can of energy drink you pound during your workout? Maybe it's the chocolate bar you like to eat before you go to bed.
Although it could be any of these, there's a good chance that coffee tops the list for most people. But what you may not know is that there are a lot of other foods and drinks that have just as much caffeine as coffee.
Jackie Arnett Elnahar RD, Esq., co-founder and CEO of TelaDietitian told INSIDER that depending on the brand, some food and beverages can have quite a bit of caffeine — even as much as coffee, which is around 95 milligrams of caffeine.
We rounded up a list of these surprising sources of caffeine.
SEE ALSO: 7 scary things that can happen to your body when you drink too much coffee
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Protein/energy bars
Arnett said protein and energy bars, which many of us eat on a daily basis, can have close to the same amount of caffeine as coffee. Depending on the brand and flavor, they can range from no caffeine to 75 milligrams of caffeine, especially if it’s a mocha or coffee-flavored bar.
Energy drinks
There's no doubt that energy drinks are known to provide a jolt. Arnett said they can include caffeine near the range of coffee (and some even exceed it). On average, an 16 ounce energy drink contains anywhere from 50 to 357 milligrams of caffeine. Again, it depends on the brand.
Chocolate
Chocolate can also have quite a bit of caffeine, especially if it's ultra dark. The higher the cocoa content, the more caffeine there will be. Arnett explained that while these sweet treats do not have as much caffeine as coffee, they still pack quite a punch.
In fact, one small square of Ghiradelli dark chocolate (.44 ounce) has 14 milligrams of caffeine. But who eats that small of a portion? If you ate three or four of these at one time and followed it up with a caffeinated soda, you're looking at a similar caffeine content to one cup of coffee.
See the rest of the story at INSIDER
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