But if you love drinking bubble tea, you are actually addicted to its sugar. Did you know? Sugar is as addictive as cocaine! However, it is widely used as a 'legal drug' worldwide, as it causes addiction in the brain.
Its highly addictive nature coupled with its ease of availability makes drinking sweet beverages regularly dangerous to your health.
But there are a few reasons to enjoy this sweetened beverage in moderation. Drinking too much of it may increase your chances of developing diet-related diseases and leave you constipated. "One to two cups a day should be fine, but you shouldn't consume anything in excess," advised Dr. Kushnir.
In summary, one can overcome their unwanted habits (like drinking too much bubble tea) by creating a reasonable timeline for change, sharing it with the people around you, stick to it even though it means not being part of the group and to have a tagline/mantra to fall back on.
Unfortunately, boba itself provides very few health benefits, though its calories and carbohydrates can provide you with a boost in energy. In most cases, boba tea contains high levels of sugar, which is linked to long-term health conditions like diabetes and obesity.
Brown sugar milk tea with boba has been found as the unhealthiest option with 18.5 teaspoons of sugar. For an easy reference, a can of regular coke contains 7 teaspoons of sugar; a cup of brown sugar milk tea with pearl is equivalent to 2.6 cans of coke.
A 19-year-old girl has died after choking on her bubble tea in China, as a result of three pearls getting stuck in her windpipe. According to Malaysian media See Hua Daily News (SHDN), the incident happened on the morning of June 30, when the girl was on the way to visit her friend and decided to buy bubble tea.
They found that bubble tea consumption was associated with an increased risk of depression and anxiety in Chinese young adults.
But why is it so popular? While enjoying tea, many people are looking for a unique and different taste. Boba or bubble tea offers a different taste than what people are used to. It's sweet, but with the unique ingredient of tapioca balls at the bottom, it's also creamy, chewy, and tasty.
Bubble tea is served in see-through cups with a fat straw so that - as you sip - the tapioca balls (also known as “pearls” or “boba”) come shooting up and can be chewed as you swallow down the delicious liquid.
Tapioca pearls in bubble tea offer no benefits to skin and overall health. The “tapioca pearls” in bubble tea are starch extracts from the roots of cassava plant. These little black balls at the bottom of the bubble tea are as bad for your health as actual candy.
Lu and Syn suggested that, for some folks, boba pearls can be part of a healthy eating pattern. “While Boba pearls aren't considered a nutrient-dense food, they can be a part of a balanced diet as long as you are meeting your nutrient needs through other food sources as well,” Syn said.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, no amount of caffeine is proven safe for kids 12 and under.
Since tapioca comes from the starch-based cassava root, it's mainly filled with carbohydrates, according to Healthline. Starches like cassava function similarly to fiber in the body, and healthy people can digest them with no problems, Dr. de Latour said.
Technically, yes, tapioca pearls can build up in your stomach. If you don't give your body time to break down the tapioca starch, it can congeal. However, for this to happen, you would need to eat an excessive amount in a short period and have a weak digestive system.
Tea naturally produces a compound called tattin, which kills bacteria. When you drink tea on an empty stomach the body will produce more stomach acid, as a result. And the combo will cause you to feel sick.
The tapioca pearls in bubble tea, also known as bubbles or boba, have a jelly-like texture and are made with tapioca starch, making it completely safe for human consumption. On the other hand, popping bubbles are made from water, fruit juice, sugar, and plant-based Alginic acid, which also makes them safe to eat.
The pearls in bubble tea, also known as tapioca pearls, are made from tapioca starch, an extract of the South American cassava plant. To make the pearls, boiling water is added to the starch and kneaded to form a dough-like texture.
The Rhine-Westfalian Technical University's Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine stated that the chemicals detected are suspected of raising the risk of cancer and allergies. They discovered traces of styrene, acetophenone, and bromide in the beverages' chewy balls or 'bubbles.
Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies
A comparison showing the sugar level in seven types of bubble tea orders revealed that the unhealthiest option was brown sugar milk tea with pearls as it contained 18.5 teaspoons of sugar. Winter melon tea comes in at a close second with 16 teaspoons of sugar.
Note: The form bōbà is alleged to be Taiwanese colloquial or slang for "large breasts" or a "large-breasted woman." The character combination in this sense can easily be documented in World Wide Web documents, but it is uncertain if the source of the spoken word is Taiwanese Mandarin, Min Chinese, or something else ...
Boba are basically all carbs — they lack any minerals or vitamins and contain no fiber. One bubble tea can contain as much as 50 grams of sugar and close to 500 calories. While one bubble tea here and there is unlikely to have severe effects on your health, it should absolutely not be consumed on a daily basis.
Tea is often seen as a healthy drink option, packed with antioxidants and vitamins. However, boba is also high in sugar and calories, which can lead to weight gain if consumed in excess. Boba should be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.
The main reason why bubble tea is so bad for our teeth is due to its ginormous sugar content. As compared to a normal can of coke, one 500mL cup of bubble tea contains almost 3 times more sugar.