The holidays are in full swing, and the cold brisk air is nipping at our noses. As we venture out into the world in our daily commutes and shopping sprees, we often find ourselves parched or just needing a nice warm beverage. We think “what’s the harm in grabbing one of these holidays drinks? It’s only tea (or coffee, milk, etc..).” We admit to ourselves that this is a treat and that of course we may be consuming a few extra calories; but in reality we are getting far more than we have bargained for.

If you had the choice of eating a plate of sugar cookies versus a small latte, which would you choose? Personally I would eat the cookies as they would last longer, but the real question is, “how could one latte have the same amount of sugar as a plate full of cookies?”. Well, it can. Especially if it has a name like Peppermint Mocha Latte…

The American Heart Association recommends that women eat no more than an additional six teaspoons of sugar per day, or 24 grams. This seems rather reasonable and even those on a fixed sugar intake should find this quite generous.

Here’s a look at some of the nation’s favorite holiday drinks and how they stack up against the daily recommended allowance of sugar. How do you compare?

Starbucks Eggnog Latte (Tall with 2% milk) - 39g of sugar

Starbucks Gingerbread Latte (Tall with 2% mill, no whipped cream) - 27g of sugar

Dunkin Donuts Peppermint Mocha Latte (large) - 73g of sugar

Peet’s Peppermint Mocha (Small with soy milk) - 34g of sugar

Peet’s Sea Salt Caramel Mocha (Small with Nonfat milk) - 50g of sugar

I am by no means suggesting that you should never again indulge in a frothy, tasty, high calorie, sugary beverage, but I would implore you to make an informed decision prior to partaking.