Drinking Unsweeteend Tea

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iwantcupcakes
iwantcupcakes Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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.
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Replies

  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
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    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
    charming12u Posts: 49 Member
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    I drink ice tea with stevia. I don't track my tea intake.
  • fireytiger
    fireytiger Posts: 236 Member
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    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
    liftingandlipstick Posts: 1,857 Member
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    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
    FlexinHenrique94 Posts: 48
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    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
    FlexinHenrique94 Posts: 48
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    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
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    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
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
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    I will never understand unsweetened tea. I guess it is something that non-Southerners enjoy for some reason. :smile:
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
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    I will never understand unsweetened tea. I guess it is something that non-Southerners enjoy for some reason. :smile:


    Not this non-Southerner! I can not tolerate unsweetened tea. Gimme my sugar or honey or Splenda!! Gotta have it.
  • liftingandlipstick
    liftingandlipstick Posts: 1,857 Member
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    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
    maskedbelleza Posts: 23 Member
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    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
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
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    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
    fheppy Posts: 64 Member
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    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
    spoiledpuppies Posts: 675 Member
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    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
    zaellany Posts: 57 Member
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    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
    FrankieFreaking5Kids Posts: 12
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    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
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    I drink cold, unsweetened tea with lots of ice. I drink my hot tea very sweet.
  • jennalennafur
    jennalennafur Posts: 80 Member
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    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
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
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    I still log my iced tea, but I use stevia to sweeten it now instead of sugar.
  • cpdiminish
    cpdiminish Posts: 84
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    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.

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