Drinking Unsweeteend Tea

iwantcupcakes

Hey,

I've just started using myfitnesspal and am struggling on finding matches in the databases. One of the things I'm most curious about is tea. Say I want a cup up hot tea or can't fully let go of my iced tea... but don't add the sugar or honey to it anymore. Is that really zero calories? Do I bother adding it to my diet tracker?

I am used to drinking sweet tea all of the time. I will make a gallon using Lipton's gallon sized tea bags and add 3/4 - 1 cup of sugar. I assumed I should just cut the sugar. But i'm wondering how many calories would be in that too.

NaomiJFoster

I use Splenda in my tea and coffee. Yeah, there are those who will say that I'm poisoning myself. I sometimes use sugar in my tea and coffee too. And there are people who will say that's a different way of poisoning myself. I don't believe either one is dangerous in moderate amounts. If you like it sweet, but want to be more mindful of your intake, cut back. And log it. If you use no sweetener, it pretty much isn't worth logging at all. It's as close to zero calories as you can get.

charming12u

I drink ice tea with stevia. I don't track my tea intake.

fireytiger

Unsweetened tea is literally just flavored water. It's an infusion of the flavoring of the tea leaves into the water. So yeah, it's pretty much zero calories. Also, I'm with Naomi, I know it's not good for you but I do use splenda in my iced tea. But I don't drink a TON of tea, and I've found 2 packets of splenda per 20-30oz iced tea is enough for my tastes. You may find three or more may better suit you. I would just say just like everything else, everything in moderation.

liftingandlipstick

I go through a TON of sweet tea in the warmer months. My preferred recipe is 5 regular tea bags and 2cups of sugar per gallon. Works out to about 160 calories per glass (about 1.5 cups for the glasses I use). Easily 600 calories per day when it's 100 degrees in July

I've found that I can use up to 75% Splenda without even noticing the difference in taste. Which brings the calories down to about 40 per glass. I can fit that in much more easily. I can even go with 100% Splenda if I'm feeling virtuous. I'll drink it, but it's not the same.

BTW, brewed black tea does have about 2 calories per cup. Whether you drink enough or are militant enough to count that is up to you.

FlexinHenrique94

Man I love unsweetened tea. Try getting used to it, like I did. I still can't go without my tea before bed lol. When you're on a strict diet like I was (I eat sweets now when I can fit them in), when I wouldn't have any sweets and/or any calorie dense food, for months, I actually started liking sugarless tea. My favourite one is a wild berry infusion from Tetley. It tastes amazing. But back to the topic. Try switching the sugar for a sweetener. You don't have to worry about tracking anything that way.

FlexinHenrique94

And one more thing... edlefevre... does that sweet tea really satisfy your thirst in hot days? It never did for me. In those really, really hot days the only thing I drink is water. Fresh water. I can drink like a gallon of Ice Tea from Lipton or any other kind and it just won't satiate me. But everyone's different, right?

ottermotorcycle

Tea has very few calories. There are USDA nutrition facts for it in the database. Try searching "tea brewed unsweetened." I think there are separate ones for black and herbal teas. They both have <5 calories per cup.

I know it's practically blasphemy to suggest artificial sweeteners around here, but I find a big batch of black tea with a packet of sweet n low works (or a large unsweetened from dunkin with the same) and I live on lipton diet iced tea mix... I also drink artificial sweeteners in my coffee and I drink diet soda.. I find the evidence against them rather inconclusive.

Myhaloslipped

I will never understand unsweetened tea. I guess it is something that non-Southerners enjoy for some reason.

NaomiJFoster

I will never understand unsweetened tea. I guess it is something that non-Southerners enjoy for some reason.

Not this non-Southerner! I can not tolerate unsweetened tea. Gimme my sugar or honey or Splenda!! Gotta have it.

liftingandlipstick

And one more thing... edlefevre... does that sweet tea really satisfy your thirst in hot days? It never did for me. In those really, really hot days the only thing I drink is water. Fresh water. I can drink like a gallon of Ice Tea from Lipton or any other kind and it just won't satiate me. But everyone's different, right?

Only if it's rediculously cold! I've only been here to two months so far, so I haven'thad to go through a summer yet. I wasn't a water drinker prior to joining, my beverage preference has always been milk. So yeah, when it's super hot, tea was a far better option!

ETA: I do drink at least 48 oz of water daily now, so I probably will drink mostly water this summer. But I still enjoy the tea!

maskedbelleza

I drink tea from David's tea, so while most of them have no nutritional value, some do. (5 calories and 1 g of carbs)
But, I also add unsweetened almond milk and sometimes truvia/honey. So I log everything.

At the end of the day though, it's up to you.

Mangopickle

Take a quart jar fill with cold water, throw in 2 herbal tea bags(like Celesetail seasonings red zinger) put in fridge for an hour. Take out and discard tea bags. Deliciously sweet herbal fruit tea, zero calories. Since you didn't boil the water it isn't bitter from the tea bags staying in there an hour. 4 bags in a pitcher for fruity tea all day.

fheppy

Yeah, there are those who will say that I'm poisoning myself. I sometimes use sugar in my tea and coffee too. And there are people who will say that's a different way of poisoning myself.

this was funny i am laughing big time :laugh:


I drink tea without sugar now and i log 1teabag+1glass of water thats it, 0kcals.

spoiledpuppies

Tea with pure stevia (NOT the kind with additives is what I prefer) has pretty much no calories and I've never logged it. I do log the Tbsp of soy milk I put in some cups.

zaellany

Unsweetened tea is my drink of choice at all times. I never put anything in it but lemon, so I never bother logging it.

FrankieFreaking5Kids

I use Truvia or Raw Agave nectar. It's really yummy. I measure out the sweetener and I do log my tea. Especially if I have been drinking it all day long. Enjoy your tea!

PJPrimrose

I drink cold, unsweetened tea with lots of ice. I drink my hot tea very sweet.

jennalennafur

I love unsweetened black tea. It's my favorite thing ever! Peppermint and Chamomile are my favorite hot teas because they taste nice enough to enjoy without sugar. I never count the calories for any of them though...I just don't see the point, I burn almost 100x more calories than they're worth just walking home from work.

PunkyRachel

I still log my iced tea, but I use stevia to sweeten it now instead of sugar.

cpdiminish

I wouldn't touch splenda with a ten-foot pole and wish that everyone else would skip it too. It doesn't biodegrade so it is quickly contaminating all of our water supplies. Though our bodies will flush most of it, a small percentage of splenda will get absorbed by fat cells - because one of fat's jobs is to absorb toxins. I'd much rather that the fat cells in my body were scraping by on unemployment.

Stevia hasn't been studied enough for us to know what harm it might do, but the powder form is still a processed sweetener. If you can get the liquid form, you'll be avoiding some carcinogens that form during processing.

Agave nectar is worse for you than sugar. It is still processed and it is really high in fructose. High fructose metabolism produces fat molecules as a byproduct so this is pretty much the last kind of sweetener anyone should be using.

justpeachy99

I am from TX and I am an odd ball that drinks unsweet tea. My grandma use to make her sweet tea so sweet you could use it as syrup lol. So growing up, my mom never made sweet tea because of my grandma. I rarely drink sweet tea. My best friend makes sweet tea but its not that sweet and i can drink it just fine. But at home, I drink ice cold unsweet tea and when i drink hot tea.. i drink fruit infused tea so I dont even sweeten that.

trip2fan

As far as I know, tea without sugar is zero in every category.

Dnarules

I drink unsweetened iced tea with lemon and no artificial sweetener. I do not log it. It helped me break my soda habit several years ago. In Florida, this was easy. In NC, not so much. I can get it, but I have to be careful.

amy8400

Guess I'm an oddball too. I live in the south and when it's hot,ice cold unsweetened tea is my drink of choice. Infusing tea and water with fruit is another nice option. I log all beverages so I can keep tabs on my water intake, zero calories or not.

iwantcupcakes

Thank you everyone for all of the information and input!!!!

Just like others noted, I LOVE sweet tea. My family had it with dinner every night. We use a cup of sugar and gallon tea bag. With just starting my diet, I'd rather spend my calories elsewhere! I still have it from time to time but have turned to enjoy unsweetened tea that isn't very strong. I still love sweet tea, don't get me wrong, and this hasn't replaced it, it's just another drink with flavor that isn't water!

lemon629

I will never understand unsweetened tea. I guess it is something that non-Southerners enjoy for some reason.

This Southerner (TN) loves unsweetened tea! (If it's good tea, that is. If not, I'd rather have water.)
I weaned myself off sweetened tea when I was in college and drank lots at work (restaurant). I was concerned about the calories. Plus we didn't have sweetened tea where I worked and adding sugar myself took too much time. Now I hate sweetened tea.

Steph_135

I drink ice tea with stevia. I don't track my tea intake.

Ditto. Stevia is natural.

Jewlz280

I like tea with Nectresse. I think that is the spelling. It's made from monk fruit. I pretty much ignore the people who say don't use fake sweeteners or 'processed' stuff. I think they are overly worried about everything. Unless you live out in the middle of no where and grow your own food and hunt and all of that, then you are going to ingest fake/processed items. Just try to find the least of the evils, if you know what I mean. So, maybe try doing just plain unsweetened tea or just try to reduce sugar. Or you could do half a cup of sugar and half something else -- and you may have to try several because sometimes different sweeteners are different for different people. Stevia is great... but tastes terrible in coffee to me. I tried several and the only thing I could tolerate was Sweet-n-low. In tea, I like the Stevia or Truvia. In baking I can use a couple of different ones. Just find what works for you or go plain. Another option that I see hasn't been mentioned is to use fruit. You can put it straight in or use an infuser and add berries, slices of citrus, etc. Just try a few things and see what works best for your taste buds. :drinker:

Steph_135

Another option that I see hasn't been mentioned is to use fruit. You can put it straight in or use an infuser and add berries, slices of citrus, etc.

That's a great idea! I'm totally borrowing that. My friend used to put berries in her tea, and I never really gave it a chance, but now that I am more consciously limiting sugar, I'm definitely going to try that out. I conveniently have frozen berries on hand, too. :bigsmile: Thanks!

liekewheeless

Some others posted to use stevia. That's what I do. I take it they use the plant. You can get it and use it mixed with the tea leafs.