Drinking bubble tea: what’s in it, and how can you cut back on all the calories?
Can you really drink bubble tea without feeling guilty?
Taiwanese singer and actor Jay Chou, a big fan of boba tea and spokesman for milk tea brand You Le Mei, has quit the drink because he was gaining weight, and in order to prepare for his next film. But how fattening is bubble tea, and can you drink it without feeling guilty?
A typical 500ml milk tea with tapioca pearls consists of 325 calories. Most places now offer a larger 700ml as the regular size, which has 455 calories. A healthy snack has 150 to 300 calories.
So drinking one standard-sized milk tea already takes up the quota of one of your snacks for the day, and drinking the 700ml portion is equivalent to eating 1.5 snacks in a single sitting.
If you drink one 500ml or one 700ml milk tea with tapioca pearls once a day, without modifying your diet or exercise, you could gain 3lbs to 4.5lbs (1.3kg to 2kg) in weight, in one month.
Before you decide to skip your comfort drink entirely, this is where the calories come from.
Milk tea (without sugar being added) is healthy
Tea without any milk or other ingredients, is a zero-calorie beverage. It is hydrating and satisfying, especially when served over ice, on a hot and muggy day. It contains antioxidants that may help reduce the risk of heart issues or cancer.