According to legend, in the 9th century, an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi was amused to see his goats leaping around after eating a certain type of berry. Kaldi tried the berries and the caffeine buzz was born.

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Today Kaldi would be amused to see specialty coffee shops leaping up on every corner in America.

Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity -- second only to oil, according to justaboutcoffee.com. In the U.S., specialty coffee shops such as Starbucks, Caribou, Tim Horton's and Coffee Beanery are striking it rich satisfying our coffee culture's caffeine addiction.

A medium-size regular coffee has about 10 calories and 0 grams of sugar. But the average cup of Joe has gone through so many mutations, it no longer resembles its evolutionary counterpart. And if the java jolt isn't enough to leave you jittery for hours, lattes, espressos, café mochas and cappuccinos -- prepared with milk, cream, hydrogenated oils, fats, added sugars and syrups -- can jolt your body with enough calories and sugar to make a super-sized fast-food meal look like a light snack.

A study analyzing the gourmet coffee consumption of 165 women attending Simmons College in Boston, Mass., found that those who drank gourmet coffee daily had an average increase of 206 calorie and 32 grams sugar compared with non-gourmet coffee drinkers. An extra 206 calories a day can add up to 21 pounds per year!

Guts creeping over belts are the modern day fallout from the berries that made Kaldi's goats so perky.

In fact, specialty coffee drinks can make you fatter than a McDonald's Big Mac can. If you think that drinking Tazo Green Tea Frappuccino Blended Crème whip is a good idea because it contains green tea, think again. The Tazo green tea will set you back 550 calories and 76 grams of sugar, about 19 teaspoons. At only 540 calories, Mickey D's signature sandwich is the lower calorie choice.

To help you put this into perspective, let's try an experiment we'll call, "Would you like some coffee with your sugar?"

Spoon out 19 teaspoons of sugar into a measuring cup. Pour the sugar into your favorite cup and fill it with coffee. If done correctly, you'll end up with a 1/4 cup of coffee desperately losing the battle to soak up 3/4 cup of the sweet stuff.

Despite the fears of an expanding waistline, you shouldn't feel guilty about having an occasional, fully dressed, specialty coffee drink, as long as you treat it like you would any decadent indulgence, such as a slice of chocolate cake or hot fudge sundae. Specialty coffees are the new dessert, not something you should consume on a daily basis. So, give them the caloric respect they deserve.

But if you can't give up your daily gourmet guzzle altogether, here are a few changes you can make to satisfy your taste buds without packing on the pounds.

1. It's not the coffee that makes you fat, but all the extras that go with it. And if you control how much of those extras you put in, you have a better chance of fitting into your skinny jeans over your hips. So, order a black coffee, ask for the extras on the side and pour them in yourself.
   A tablespoon of chocolate syrup (50 calories), for example, tickles your taste buds as much as the ¼ cup -- or 16 tablespoons (800 calories) -- that some large specialty coffees contain. Better yet, a light version of chocolate syrup gives you about half the calories of regular.
2. If you must order specialty beverages, order ones made with milk, like cappuccino or latte (260 calories). They satisfy but have fewer extras and fewer calories than say a 400-calorie frappucino of the same size.
3. Use skim milk instead of cream or whole milk. This will cut around 50 calories, depending on the size of your drink.
   But beware of disclaimers such as the one found on Starbucks' Web site: "Items shown in italics are not milk based and/or not customizable by milk type. These items will not be affected by selecting a milk type." Translation: If you favorite brew is in italics, you'll get the same number of calories regardless of the milk you choose.
4. To save about 100 calories and 10 grams of fat, just say no to the whipped topping.
5. Less is more when it comes to preventing weight gain, so order a smaller size. For example, an 8-ounce cup of café mocha has 200 calories and 11 grams of fat. You don't have to be a mathematician to know that if you double the size of the serving, you also double the calories and fat. With the 20-ounce size, you guzzle 490 calories and 26 grams of fat. Hasta la vista, skinny jeans!
6. Educate yourself. While you can't read the label on your favorite gourmet coffee drink to find out what it contains, many specialty coffee shops now offer the nutritional content of their drinks on their Web sites.

Knowing what you're putting into your body is often motivation enough to cut back. Check KSAT.com all week for these great diet-related features:

Monday -- Weight-Loss Gadgets Go High Tech

Tuesday -- Can You Find A Healthy French Fry?

Wednesday -- Are Salads Sabotaging Your Diet?

Thursday -- Do Coffee Drinks Fit Into Your Diet?

Friday -- Which Cocktails Fit Into Your Diet?

More Extras:

• Caffeine Overdose Tips
• All About Caffeine
• Coffee Addiction Is Hard To Let Go