Calories in cough syrup

Hey everyone, just a silly question...

I'm trying to lose these last dreaded 10 pounds...and have just come down with a horrible cough. 

Do cough syrups have any calories, would you count them? I just want to make sure me being sick does not sabbotage my weight loss.

Thanks

No offense, but get some help if things like this concern you.

Most cough syrups DO have sugar, and therefore some calories - but it is negligible, especially when you take into account the energy you expend coughing!!

Don't worry about it - get well.

I count my 5 calorie daily multivitamin, so I understand.  And especially with the last 10 lbs, you really have to watch every bite.  My doctor even told me this.

But I agree with the above, just chalk it up to burning a few extra calories while your  immune system is fighting the sickness.  Or log 25 cals or something.

I'm sure it has something in it, but I wouldn't be too concerned.  When I'm sick, I down bottles of cough syrup and still lose weight.

It's a legit question. I ate a bunch of zinc lozenges yesterday and wasn't sure if they contained sugar or sugar alcohols (since neither would really stand out or mask the disgusting flavor of the zinc.) I wondered how many calories they had - since I am pretty inactive currently (broken arm + desk job) and am trying not to spike my blood sugar on sweet stuff right now. So yeah, yours is a good question. For some people, a few extra calories here or there may make a difference, depending on their circumstances. I don't know how many calories are in cough syrup, but I wanted to get it out there that I don't think it's a bad question and I hope you find the answer!

Thanks for the replies,

its not that I am obsessed with counting cals, I just wanted to make sure if they did have a significant amout of cals, that I account some cals for it. I find I am not as active when I am sick, so I don't want to be under estimating my intake.

I will count 50cals and move on with my day. 

Thanks

Candy - if it concerns you go look at the labels on the cough medicines - they do have sugar free versions.

I also believe that when your body is fighting an illness that it is spending a lot more energy - especially if you are dealing with a fever. I wouldn't be concerned about calories if you are sick in bed.

Original Post by mhastings25:

I wondered how many calories they had - since I am pretty inactive currently (broken arm + desk job) and am trying not to spike my blood sugar on sweet stuff right now.

Agree on avoiding spiking your blood sugar, but realise that, with a broken arm, you will be burning more calories than usual as your body heals.  So, while technically you may be "sedentary" at the moment, you're burning rather more calories than that (probably at least "lightly active" - it's just all concentrated in that one arm!).

I just found this doing a quick google search for calories in cough syrup. You might find a better link:

Approximately 15 calories per ml...so if there is 120ml in a standard bottle of cough syrup then that means there are 1800 calories in a bottle.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_calories_a re_in_a_120ml_bottle_of_cough_syrup

and sodium.  that is a sneaky one and will make you hold water.  a better choice might me pills rather then liquid (just guessing)

I wonder the same thing about my allergy meds not worried enough to stop taking them but I think of odd things all the time.  Like my son ate paper I though I wonder how many calories/fiber were in that.  I'm not going to eat paper but it was that random thought of HaHa. 

Original Post by chiefsfan4life:

No offense, but get some help if things like this concern you.

 This made my day, thanks!

I found this question elsewhere...here's the link!!! : - )

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-medici ne-ft104358

*sighs* I think you're serious, and this is troublesome.

Seriously. Do you really think that the amount of cough syrup you could take while ill could possibily derail your diet?

Finally, two normal people that agree with me about the ridiculousness of the topic

Original Post by terricontrary:

I just found this doing a quick google search for calories in cough syrup. You might find a better link:

Approximately 15 calories per ml...so if there is 120ml in a standard bottle of cough syrup then that means there are 1800 calories in a bottle.http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_calories_a re_in_a_120ml_bottle_of_cough_syrup

This can't be right.  1 mL of cough syrup will have a mass of about 1 g.  That 1 g will be a mixture of sugar and water.  Even if it were 100% sugar, it would only have 4 calories. 

15 calories per teaspoon sounds closer to me.  If you're really worried about the calories in cough syrup, log it as honey - which will be slightly more calorific but not enough to worry about.

(And, yes, I agree that a person should not be consuming enough cough syrup to worry about the calories in it.  Especially if they're not also eating extra to compensate for the calories their body is burning to get them healthy again.) 

Ugh, don't listen to the people who say it's a dumb question. I've wondered about it too. That stuff tastes so sweet, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had 100cals in a serving (though I'm glad to see it doesn't!), and why would counting that be stupid? Yeeeesh. 

Thanks, I wasn't sure. It was just a link I found.

*This was meant for the person who did the math.

This is definitely a justified question because you even have to watch calories in lozenges and things like gum. I personally can't stand the taste of cough syrup. I would often rather cough than take cough syrup, so I have been taking the mucinex pills instead. They work very well, they don't taste nasty, and for those of us worried about calories, they don't have those either. :) I think counting those calories can be very important to count though if you think about it. Most of those things only last 4-6 hours, and you take 2-3 teaspoons at a time. If you are sick for a week, you can go through a lot of that stuff and those calories do add up.

I suppose it's a legitimate question, i mean cough syrup is full of sugar it could very well be 20+ cals/tbsp

have a few tbsp a day and that's part of a meal!

you have to count everything

I gather if someone made a post about counting the calories of sugar they put in their coffee it wouldn't have gotten the same reaction