5 Healthy Alternatives When You Are Craving Bubble Tea

According to a survey conducted in July 2019, about 7% of the respondents state that they drink soft drinks daily while about 32 percent of their respondents state that they drink soft drinks monthly.

As of January 2021, LadyIronChef reported that there are 61 brands of bubble teas in Singapore. The bubble tea brand that has the highest number of branches in Singapore is Liho with 62 branches. Following close behind is Koi with 53 branches.

During circuit breaker last year when all bubble tea stores had to be closed, many people queued up for hours to buy their last cup of bubble tea. Coupled with the hot humid Singapore weather, it is no surprise that Singaporeans crave and drink bubble tea on a regular basis.

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How much sugar is there in a cup of bubble tea?

According to an experiment done by students at Temasek Polytechnic, bubble tea on average contains about 8.5 teaspoons (roughly 36g) of sugar. Some of the more sinful bubble tea, such as brown sugar milk tea, can have up to 16 teaspoons of sugar (roughly about 67g). Sugar that is contained in the pearls, toppings and fruits that are added to the bubble tea were not tested in the experiment.

A cup of bubble tea can easily exceed the Health Promotion Board’s recommended sugar per day, which is about 45-55g for adults.

What are the health risk of drinking too much sugary drinks?

Drinking too many sugary drinks can lead to a lot of health problems in the future. Here are some pertinent health problems that come with consuming too many sugary drinks in the long run.

1. Type 2 Diabetes

According to a study published in 2010, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 26 percent higher for people who consume more than one sugary drink every day. This is because drinking sugary drinks causes sugar spikes in our bloodstream. Overtime, our cells become used to these sugar spikes and do not respond well to insulin. This, in turn, causes the cells to not absorb glucose effectively from the bloodstream, resulting in type 2 diabetes.

Singapore is second to the United States in having the highest incidence of diabetes. An article published by The Straits Times reported that about 400,000 Singaporeans are diabetic and about one in three people have a risk of developing the disease. It is also found that Asian are more likely to develop diabetes as our bodies are unable to give out an appropriate insulin response to glucose load.

2. Cavities

Sugary drinks are known as one of the most common dietary causes of tooth decay. This is because the sugar in these drinks might be left on our teeth after consumption. Common bacteria that are found in our mouth will then feed on these sugars. This results in the production of acid, which will eat away the enamel of our teeth, making our teeth more susceptible to developing cavities in the future.

A quick and easy way to reduce the likelihood of this happening is to rinse our mouth after consuming our sugar beverages. This removes any sugar that might have been left on our teeth. However, the best method would be reducing our consumption of sugary drinks.

3. Obesity

It is a known fact that sugar contains a lot of calories. 1g of sugar contains about 4 calories. Drinking a cup of bubble tea can easily contain 36g of gram, which is about 144 calories. According to Singapore’s Health Promotion Board, a cup of bubble tea with milk and tapioca pearls contains about 335 calories. This is about ⅙ of calories needed by an average female (1800 calories) per day! With such a high amount of calories, it is no surprise that drinking more than one cup of bubble tea per day might lead to obesity.

Apart from bubble tea, there are many other drinks that you should cut down due to the high sugar content in these drinks. These sugary drinks include sofa, energy drinks, flavoured milk, smoothies and fruit juice. Although smoothies and fruit juice are advertised as healthier drinks, they, in fact, contain a lot of sugar in them.

5 healthier sweet-drink alternatives

1. Water

Good old plain water is the recommended thirst quencher by most medical professionals. It has no calories, no sugar added and hydrates the body sufficiently.

However, you might sometimes crave for other beverages other than water. Here are some healthier alternatives to water.

2. Unsweetened tea

Without the added sugar and toppings, unsweetened tea is a great alternative beverage.

3. Milk

Milk contains calcium, vitamin D and protein. These vitamins and minerals are essential in building healthy bones. If you are lactose intolerant, try drinking sugar free soy milk or lactose-free milk instead.

4. Plain sparkling water

If you crave for sodas but do not want the additional calories, sparkling water is your answer. It gives you the fizzy carbonation from soda without any sugar or calories.

5. Coconut water

Plain, unsweetened coconut water is another great choice. Coconut water is rich in electrolyte, such as iron, potassium, sodium and magnesium. Due to the presence of these electrolytes, it is a great thirst quencher after physical activity or rehydrating after sickness.

3 tips on how you can cut down on sugary drinks

1. Bring your water bottle with you everywhere

Carrying your water bottle wherever you go can help quench your thirst whenever you need it. This will decrease the likelihood of you buying soft drinks or bubble tea when you get thirsty.

Furthermore, you can refill your bottles at nearby water coolers or fountains in the mall. Not to mention the amount of money you can save without buying those drinks.

2. Create your own “infused” water

Most of us crave for other beverages because we are sick of the taste of water. By putting fruits, such as lemons, oranges and strawberries, or even adding mint leaves can switch up the flavour of water. This might result in you craving less for sugary drinks.

3. Reduce gradually

If you are someone who is obsessed with bubble tea and drinks it everyday, cutting it completely out of your diet may not be the best idea. Going cold turkey might result in you craving for these sugary drinks even more.

Instead, try cutting down on the number of beverages gradually, such as drinking bubble tea every other day to drinking it once a week. Let your body slowly adjust and get used to drinking less sugary drinks so that it leads to a more sustainable lifestyle for you.

I hope this article has helped you find other alternative thirst quenchers and how you can cut down on sugary drinks.

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