Who Makes The Healthier Vanilla Cold Brew, Dunkin' Or Starbucks?

For anyone following any kind of diet regime, you'll know that drinks can be where things get complicated. Liquids don't tend to keep you full in the way that solid food does, and can contain unexpected ingredients, so you can easily find yourself consuming more than you intended to. This doesn't mean you have to skip that little pick me up, but knowing what's in your drink from a nutritional standpoint can help you make informed decisions.

To effectively compare the Vanilla Creme Cold Brew from Dunkin' and the Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew, we first need to consider the drink sizes. Drink sizes are one of the key differences between Starbucks and Dunkin', and the chains' naming conventions make at-a-glance comparisons difficult. We'll take a look at the 16-ounce option, which is a Starbucks Grande and a small for Dunkin' iced coffees.

Now for the numbers. A Dunkin' Vanilla Creme Cold Brew contains 150 calories, along with 3 grams of fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 25 milligrams of sodium, and a hefty 29 grams of sugar. A Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew contains 110 calories, 5 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, and 14 grams of sugar.

While the Starbucks option does have more fat and cholesterol, the fact that it has just half the sugar of the Dunkin' drink, along with fewer calories and a lower sodium content ultimately makes it the healthier choice for most diets.

The difference in nutritional values between the two can be explained by how each chain prepares these similar drinks. Both beverages start with a base of cold brew coffee, which when taken on its own contains just 5 calories. It's the vanilla flavor and the creamy add-ins that make the difference here.

Dunkin' uses a combination of unsweetened vanilla and brown sugar syrup for the flavor and sweetness, then tops the drink with its sweet cold foam. Starbucks uses sweet cream rather than cold foam, which accounts for the higher fat content in the drink, and a vanilla syrup for the flavor and to sweeten the coffee. For a lower sugar option with the same vanilla taste, you could replace the brown sugar syrup in the Dunkin' drink with a sugar-free sweetener, or opt for sugar-free vanilla syrup in the Starbucks drink.

The calorie count alone doesn't make foods or drinks healthy or unhealthy – it's more about whether the calories represent beneficial nutrients or things that you want to avoid. Neither of these drinks are what you would consider nutrient dense, with no fiber and just a single gram of protein in each. So, in this case, the healthier choice is about reducing things that can be detrimental to your health, such as sodium, sugar, and cholesterol.