Sugar in tea

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littlelauras
littlelauras Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I drink quite a lot of tea, probably between 2-6 cups a day, and I have always had two sugars in each cup. I do include the calories for each cup in my daily calories. I tend to have a cup of tea as opposed to a dessert in the evening, as it is quite sweet, but only 40 calories, so part of me thinks that it's okay, but another part of me realises that sometimes I'm consuming as much as 12 (sometimes more) teaspoons of sugar per day (and that is not including sugar/carbs in other food).

My concern is, if I cut this down to one teaspoon a cup, or even nothing, will I crave sugar elsewhere? Or is a calorie a calorie? Does it matter that it is coming from sugar? I don't tend to eat other sweet treats.

If I cut out the sugar from my tea and eat the calories (as solid food) will that make any difference to my weight loss?

Also, does sugar make any difference to fat storage/bloating/belly fat? I've read so many conflicting things and am really not sure.

I'm trying my best to educate myself, apologies if this is a stupid question/topic!

Thanks :)

Replies

  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
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    It's not stupid, learning and growing is part of life. For me, I don't even track sugar. Everything in moderation. A calorie is a calorie in weight loss terms, so unless you need the calories elsewhere, like for fat, fiber, or protein it's perfectly fine.

    In terms of stomach bloat, I don't really notice a difference myself and I can assure you I eat a lot more than a few tsp a day of sugar ;)
  • mendelmoose
    mendelmoose Posts: 3 Member
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    cut down slowly and see what happens.
    remove just 1/4 tsp in week one. get used to the taste.
    then remove another 1/4 tsp.
    over time you won't feel the difference.
    as you are doing this, see if you start craving that sugar elsewhere...
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
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    cut down slowly and see what happens.
    remove just 1/4 tsp in week one. get used to the taste.
    then remove another 1/4 tsp.
    over time you won't feel the difference.
    as you are doing this, see if you start craving that sugar elsewhere...

    This.

    As I understand it (admittedly from Supersize vs. Superskinny) Sugar in tea etc. goes straight to the blood stream, which makes you feel really energetic. So you peak and trough during the day according to how long it was since your last cup of tea. Cutting out this sugar is good a) because it cuts calories b) because it will help your teeth and c) because stabilising your blood sugar over the day will help you eat less and feel less tired (because you'll sleep better, apparently).

    I'm a fan of gradual changes though, as big changes can shock the body and leave you feeling crap or craving stuff.
  • LexiMelo
    LexiMelo Posts: 203 Member
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    Also may I suggest putting lemon in the tea? I drink it plain with lemon and it's really good! I do use a LOT of lemon though LOL. I won't drink artificial sweeteners but the lemon takes away the funky taste of plain tea.
    Also, this is strange, but sometimes I put milk in my tea. The dunkin donuts girls look at me like I've got horns coming out of my head, but it's quite tasty!

    My husband used to put in two sugars per cup of coffee and would drink a comparative amount of coffee that you do tea. Just be eliminating the sugar he lost 10 lbs. Now he has no interest in adding sugar to his coffee - he just uses milk.

    I don't think sugar is bad per se but in my experience if you eat/drink too much of it it's harder to taste other foods. I still enjoy ice cream/gelato/chocolate don't get me wrong. It's all about balance.
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
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    I was right there with you...drinking easily 2-4 pints of tea every day, with plenty of sugar and milk. As was my daughter (I mention this for a reason).

    Personally, I decided to cut back on my tea - I felt it had gotten out of hand and was more caffeine than I really need to consume in a day. But not eliminate it, because hey, quality of life! So I switched to a cup in the morning & a cup in the evening, with no sugar. I found reduced sugar to be more annoying than none at all.

    For ~3 days, I had an afternoon headache from the caffeine withdrawal, since it was a pretty big sudden cutback. But a couple of aspirin and it was done. No sugar cravings crept in anywhere else, and no other carb cravings either (bread is more my thing than sweets. Once every few months, I'll have tea w/sugar as a treat/dessert, with absolutely no angst.

    My daughter has not cut back on her tea consumption at all, yet she gradually reduced the amount of sugar she's putting in so that now she's down to ~1/4 of original sugar. She's really happy with that and hasn't had sugar cravings either - and she is a super sugar monster.

    All of which is to say YMMV - do what is going to make you happiest, which might take some experimenting. Any reduction in your calories is going to be helpful, and it's great to look at where you might make changes in your calorie count fairly painlessly.

    :drinker:
  • csumcs
    csumcs Posts: 6 Member
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    "Also, this is strange, but sometimes I put milk in my tea. The dunkin donuts girls look at me like I've got horns coming out of my head, but it's quite tasty! "

    I'm sorry if I'm being ridiculous here, but is this sarcasm?
  • Skarlet13
    Skarlet13 Posts: 146 Member
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    How many calories in a teaspoon of sugar? Or in a packet of sugar.
  • littlelauras
    littlelauras Posts: 14 Member
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    Thank you for your replies, I do feel ever so slightly better about it now! I think I will try to reduce to one teaspoon per cup and see how I get on with that. I guess the calories could be spent on something more nutritious and fulfilling, seeing as one cup with milk and two sugars = 40 calories, over a day it really adds up!

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