Bubble Tea – Unhealthy Beverage for You and Your Kids

Latest craze over brown sugar boba tea across Asia

The boba tea  (bubble tea) craze back again. From the popular bubble tea chain, to the little known shop strategically located a stone’s throw away from primary/secondary schools. This drink is practically found everywhere in Singapore. Sweet, cooling with chewy pearls, it is a favourite for many upper primary/secondary school children and adults alike.

We all known too much of bubble milk tea is not good. But let’s see what’s in it that is not desirable for our bodies.

The Bad Guys in Bubble Tea

What is so bad about a cup of milk tea? There is really nothing great in a cup of milk tea for the school going children. They generally contain sugar, non-dairy creamer, caffeine and carbohydrates.

Sugar. Sugar is not really the worst ingredient in our milk tea. Particularly now where we can choose the amount of sugar. Ask for less sugar or even no sugar. A 500ml cup of milk tea can contain more than 25g of sugar.

Non-dairy creamer. The real bad guy is the non-dairy creamer. Non-dairy creamer contains sugars and trans-fat in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, usually cheap palm oil. These creamer contains trans-fat, responsible for driving up our cholesterol and clogs our artery. This increases the chances of cardiovascular disease/ heart attack.

Caffeine. Tea contains more caffeine than coffee. On average, a cup of bubble milk tea contains 270mg/l of caffeine. In 2015 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published their Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine, advising that caffeine intakes from all sources up to 400 mg per day and single doses of 200mg do not raise safety concerns for adults in the general population. While this amount of caffeine is acceptable for adults, teenager’s recommended is definitely lower. Excessive intake of caffeine for children and teenagers will result in “side effects” such as palpitations, insomnia, and a lack of concentration.

Carbohydrates. A cup of bubble tea, with milk and pearls contains about 335 calories. The pearls represent about one third of the calories. Two cups of milk bubble tea with pearls are about a third of the average recommended intake of 1,800-2,000 calories for healthy individuals. These are additional calories which make weight control a challenge.

Moderation is Key

Judging by the long queues outside the bubble tea shops, it is not difficult to know that we love our bubble teas. However, for the benefit of our health, try to limit the intake to probably a couple of times a month. Ask for lesser or no sugar and omit the pearls to make the drink slightly more “healthier”.