Calories in bubble tea free#

LIFE Centre (Lifestyle Enhancement & Fitness Improvement) at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the “Drinking unsweetened black or green tea daily has health benefits, but drinking pearl milk tea regularly may not be a healthy choice if you are watching your weight or controlling your calorie and sugar intakes,” says Ms Wong Hui Xin, Dietitian,

Calories in bubble tea free#

They can help to protect the body against free radicals that cause cellular damage and inflammation in the body. Polyphenols have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. Fruit purees (natural or sweetened), flavoured syrups or fresh fruits are added to the base tea for the fruity taste.ĭrinking black tea or green tea every day is beneficial to health because it is a rich source of a group of antioxidants called polyphenols. Fruit-flavoured bubble tea is also available in an assortment of flavours such as mango, lychee, strawberry, honeydew and green apple.

The original bubble tea, also called pearl milk tea, is basically brewed black tea or green tea mixed with milk, sugar and chewy tapioca pearls, and usually served cold with ice. But how healthy, really, is drinking bubble tea? The more customers request these low-sugar or sugar-free options, the more they will become mainstays of the menu.Despite getting a bad press in the past, bubble tea remains a popular beverage in Singapore and judging from the long queues outside bubble tea outlets, it appears to be everybody’s favourite thirst quencher. Unlike for bottled drinks, many cafes can make drinks with no or very little sweetener upon request. Often, just one sugary drink will exceed these limits, and that doesn’t just include soda but also sweetened coffees and teas including boba, sports and energy drinks, and fruit-flavored drinks. Jennifer Falbe, who led an evaluation of the nation’s first soda tax in Berkeley, highlighted how customers can help shape the options in boba cafes: “The American Heart Association recommends a daily limit of 6 tablespoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men. Simply changing one’s purchasing behaviors, such as choosing less sugar or avoiding sugary toppings, can limit the sugar and calorie content in boba and allow one to still avoid the drink. A variety of affordable teas is also available in markets around Berkeley, and they contain antioxidants, zero fat, and zero sugar. Drinking water is available and free in many places, contains zero sugar, and contains zero fat. What are the possible factors that contribute to boba consumption? Juan Rosario, a junior majoring in Linguistics and a frequent boba consumer, reported his top three reasons why he drinks boba almost every day: “It is really sweet and has multiple flavors, social pressure, and has caffeine sometimes.” Rosario also reported that the number of boba shops on or near campus has influenced his boba consumption and that having fewer boba shops could make him less inclined to buy boba.īoba is not for everyone and there are many healthy alternatives to it. Relative to tapioca pearls and jelly, egg pudding was found to have a lower calorific value with about 54 Calories but had a higher total sugar content with about 18 grams of sugar. Tapioca pearls, which are usually made from starch, contained high levels of carbohydrates and was found to have about 78 Calories and 7 grams of sugar in total while jelly was found to have about 212 Calories and 12 grams of sugar in total.

The study also examined several toppings in a 16-fluid-ounce boba drink. But a further look into these ingredients will often reveal artificial fruit flavors, preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, and sugary fruit concentrates.Īccording to the study “Calories and Sugars in Boba Milk Tea: Implications for Obesity Risk in Asian Pacific Islanders” in the journal Food Science and Nutrition, a serving size of 16 fluid ounces of boba milk tea had about 263 Calories (kcal) and 38 grams of sugar in total. What’s in boba? Well, it may or may not contain, depending on the specific flavor, ingredients such as tea, fruit, coffee, dairy, and a variety of toppings from tapioca pearls to aloe vera.

No, it’s not coffee but a popular Taiwanese beverage that is known by several names around the world, including “boba milk tea,” “bubble milk tea,” “pearl milk tea,” or, most simply, “boba.” It is consumed at any time of the day, even for breakfast.