I’ve been keeping my eye out for the new 31 oz. Starbucks cold cup size, the “trenta”, ever since Starbucks announced the new cup size last year.

In January, I posted the following analysis of the trenta size on our previous blog site:

Starbucks recently announced that it would begin rolling out a new “Trenta” size for cold drinks on May 3, 2011. Gizmodo reports that the new 31 ounce cup can hold more than the average capacity of the human stomach. Considering that the 24 oz White Chocolate Creme Frappuccino with whipped cream already contains 760 calories, the new sizes will be even more gut busting! For about 1,000 calories, you can get the trenta size White Chocolate Creme Frappuccino with whipped cream, or you can get all this:
 

• 16 oz NY Strip Steak = 496 calories
• 1 cup roasted potatoes = 145 calories
• Salad with Blue Cheese = 240 calories

 
Total meal = 881 calories. Why not add a glass of wine too!
 
Which would you pick?

Well, yesterday, I was out for my regular afternoon unsweetened iced coffee with a splash of milk when I spotted a unicorn in the wild – a large stack of the Starbucks trenta cups. I excitedly ordered my usual drink, in a trenta size, as an experiment to prove why super sizes are so unnecessary.

Let me be clear, I am totally against the food industry offering consumers super sized options. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, US daily calorie intake grew by 716 calories (almost 25%) between 1973 and 1999. So I decided to pull a Morgan Spurlock for you guys to show just how drinking an entire trenta drink affects your stomach.

11:30 AM – Ordered a trenta iced coffee, unsweetened, with a splash of milk on an empty stomach.

 
Since the drink is the size of the human stomach capacity, I decided to drink this on an empty stomach so that I could accurately test this claim.

11:50 AM – I was feeling hungry and jittery due to taking in so much caffeine on an empty stomach.

 
I was getting too full to eat food to fuel my planned afternoon workout. So far, this experiment was seeming like a very bad idea.
 

12:10 – Back at the office, I drank the whole thing and I felt awful!

 
I arrived back at DailyBurn HQ and settled in for a serious inbox slaying session, when I started to feel unsettled. My stomach was physically full, yet I was still hungry for actual food. I knew that I couldn’t eat my pre-workout snack of quinoa salad, so I had to put off my planned workout and run in the evening instead. I also had to drink extra water during the day to make up for the diuretic quality of the megadose of caffeine that I blasted my body with.

Conclusion – just say no to the trenta.

 
I ordered the healthiest drink that you can possibly get in the trenta size, and I still experienced side effects. I can’t imagine how high my blood sugar would have skyrocketed if I ordered some of Starbucks’ more popular creations – sweetened iced lattes, iced teas, etc. The next time you are in Starbucks, ask yourself if a stomach ache, dehydration, and a case of the caffeine shakes is worth the “value” of a larger size.