How bad is sweet tea?

I was wondering. I'm from Virginia, so I grew up on it, and some times I have it up to 4 glasses a day. I have really tried  to cut back and limit the amount. I notice when I get it at the market, its about 100 calories a glass. But thats not quite as bad as cokes or something.

Does the extra sugar cause weight gain even if the calories are within the right amount? I still have 40 lbs to lose, and so far Im kinda stuck, so I'm thinking about cutting out the sweet tea. Or maybe limiting it to a few times a week.

What do y'all think?

The way I make sweet tea at my house...

Fill large microwave-safe measuring cup with water (about 4 cups). Microwave the water for 5 minutes with 2 family sz tea bags.  I like Lipton best. Pour tea water into pitcher and add 1 cup of sugar. Stir and fill to top of pitcher with water. This tea is delicious! I make it almost every day. This recipe yields 2qts sweet tea. Try it. This is super easy.

Ursula Akridge

I'm down to 2 glasses of sweet tea a day now. Its just like smoking. I cant quit cold turkey. Maybe I can think of sweet tea as dessert. Only on Sundays after church...

Calories are Calories, and sugar has no nutrutional value.  But maybe also try switching to Caffeine free prior to cutting out the sugar.  Sometimes when you cut back on both at once, you get a bigger craving.

That sounds like an excellent idea...to treat sweet tea as a dessert. That's sort of what I do. I only allow myself to have it maybe once or twice a week. Same with desserts. I try not to keep desserts around the house so I won't be tempted.

Refined sugar that is in sweet tea is bad for your insulin levels.  It is just as bad as drinking soda pop.  If you need to sweeten your tea use Splenda which is a no calorie sweetener made from sugar. It does not have an after taste, gives you the sweetness and no added calories.

Someone posted calories are calories.... NO they are not. The calories from refined sugars go right to the pancreas where insulin is made. When the body has an over abundence of sugar and too much insulin is produced, it is stored as fat....  

Kelly

I came in a little late, so I think the whole board may have said this: Go with sugarless tea, or if you're not fond of that try a sugar substitute.

I was raised on sugarless tea... so I anjoy the pure flavor without the enhancement.

I agree with Kelly.

Sugars cause your blood sugar levels to spike. Your pancreas then produces insulin to bring those levels down. What the insulin does is quickly remove all excess sugar and store it as fat. It will also cause your body to store fat for a set period of time afterwards.

Raising your blood sugar also causes you to feel hungry afterwards. Your body gets rid of all the insulin and then you feel tired and then you crave more sugar for isntant energy.

This could be the reason why your not losing anymore weight and stuck. While it is important to count the calories, it is also important to pay attention to the foods that raise your blood sugar.

You will find that if you cut back on the sugar, and spend those calories on more vitamin rich foods such as fruits and vegetables, you will lose weight and you will not feel hungry afterwards.

Good Luck

Sugar is only 8 calories per teaspoon and I add 3 teaspoons a  16 oz cup (only 24 calories) that is nothing   the evils of sugar are over rated! soda at 200 cal for 12 oz will kill you!

Sugar is 15 calories in a tsp...not 8...and that's a level teaspoon.  If you are using a heaped tsp you could be adding 100 calories in your 16 oz. cup...not far off from a soda...

I am also a sweet tea lover, however, I can substitute unsweet  tea with 2 sweet-n-lows. The flavor is not that much different, and fewer calories! Either way, it is still much better for you than drinking carbonated cokes which can have anywhere from 10-14 tablespoons of sugar, and are loaded with caffeine!

I'm a Mississippi girl and here we just add a little tea to our sugar.    I feel your pain.  I still drink sweet tea; I love it and tea does have some nutritional value.  However, I did cut down a little on the amount of sugar I use.  It used to be 1 1/2 c of sugar to make a gallon of tea.  Yikes, right?  Now it's more like 3/4 to 1 c of sugar per gallon.  It's still a lot and still sweet but better than the former way.  Baby steps and all that. 

As for the honey idea, I'm not sure that's going to work for you.  I love hot tea in the winter and I add honey and lemon to it but the honey isn't quite sweet enough.  I usually  have to add a tsp or so of sugar to it as well.  I don't think you're going to get that toothache sweet flavor with honey but your taste buds could be different from mine.

I suggest just trying to lower the amount of sugar you use (assuming you make the stuff yourself) little by little.  Make your tea with, say, 1/4 c less sugar and see how that does you.  If that's ok, maybe after awhile try to take out another 1/4 c.  Either way, as long as your within your calories, I don't see why that would make a substantial difference in your weight.

Original Post by cellophane_star:

Original Post by aislign:

Up here in Canada almost ALL of our cold tea is sweetened, and that bugs me typically, as I spent a year in Korea drinking yummy cold green jasmine tea.  Anyways, in terms of sweetening tea, may I recommend trying a 1/2 tbsp of maple syrup to 1 cup of tea?  I also would add lemon to that.  The beverage is then only 20 calories.  If it is not sweet enough for you, you could put a tbsp of maple syrup, which is 40Kcal.  Many people were mentioning honey, and yes, it is calorically the same, but because it is sweeter than sugar, you can put less of it for the same punch.  That makes it calorically different.  Take a look at the glycemic index.  Maple syrup and honey are both good alternatives, and both are sweeter than sugar, so less is required.  Oh, but I'm talking real maple syrup here, not that processed s---. 

 I love maple syrup and honey and I do agree with you when you say that eating them sparingly is the best idea but I just wanted to point out that they're both considered simple sugars so their GI is high. A good low-GI sweetener is agave nectar or stevia, which are sweet tasting but they don't raise blood sugar levels like simple sugars.

 Actually, Maple Syrup's GI is 54, anything lower than 55 is considered a low GI item.  Plus, maple syrup contains riboflavin, zinc, manganese, calcium and potassium.  It also has other minerals and amino acids.  For diabetics, it will certainly raise your blood sugar levels, but as far as 'healthy' sweetners go, in small quantities, it can be beneficial. Raw honey has a glycemic index of 55, which is still considered low, and is lower than white sugar.  Agave is lower, for sure (GI around 20-35, based on different sources), and would make a good choice for people watching their blood sugar levels more closely.