Drinking black tea

Ryhia

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,124
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Just a thought, could it be a reaction to tannin? I find if I drink black tea I become nauseous due to the tannin. Adding cream alleviates the symptoms for me. It would be interesting to know if you are ok drinking red wine or do you spike with that as red wine also contains tannin?
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Sorry if I misunderstood but are you saying that this sugar is in my bag standard tetly tea bags ?
Carol
Could be. Don't know the brand, being Dutch and all. I have one British tea brand, (Taylors of Harrowgate, the Earl Grey and Christmas Tea) and it's in there too, when I cut up the baggies.
 

Alexandra100

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,738
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Most tea that comes in bags has sugar added as a flavour enhancer. (And nope, it's not mentioned on the packaging. And yes, it's in the expensive brands too
Thanks @JoKalsbeek, I didn't know that, and I can see I shall have to go over to free range tea when I have finished my current supplies. I do resent that most packets of tea do not give nutritional info. Even a cup of loose leaf tea does contain carb(s) so I am motivated to switch to zero carb coffee, However, at least it appears that green tea is lower in carbs than black. (Btw bacon too usually has added sugar.)
https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/food/tea/carbohydrate
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks @JoKalsbeek, I didn't know that, and I can see I shall have to go over to free range tea when I have finished my current supplies. I do resent that most packets of tea do not give nutritional info. Even a cup of loose leaf tea does contain carb(s) so I am motivated to switch to zero carb coffee, However, at least it appears that green tea is lower in carbs than black. (Btw bacon too usually has added sugar.)
https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/food/tea/carbohydrate
In the Netherlands it's usually just smoked, (bacon, I mean) but it wholly depends on the brand... I know in the US and Canada they tend to marinate it in maple syrup. (Making my mouth water just typing it, even if maple syrup tastes way too sweet to me now.)
 

SueJB

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,316
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
cold weather
Is it always the same brand? Most tea that comes in bags has sugar added as a flavour enhancer. (And nope, it's not mentioned on the packaging. And yes, it's in the expensive brands too. You don't want to know how many different teabags I cut up one afternoon...). It's not a lot, but then I don't need insulin, so...? In the pics, the little white granules are sugar. You might want to open up your usual brand and check just how much of it is in there? Again, it's a tiny little bit, most of the time... The most I found was in the strawberry flavoured one.
Wow, I drink herbals but imagine there's sugar in them as well. Going to check shortly. Thanks @JoKalsbeek
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
@JoKalsbeek, have you tested any peppermint tea bags? When I have time, I might ring up a few of the tea brands and harrass them for nutritional info.
I couldn't remember, but I had a box of Lipton stashed in the back as it turnes out, and I just demolished a bag to check. Yup. More than in black tea, actually. Sorry. :(
 

Redshank

Well-Known Member
Messages
132
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
I am not convinced that most tea has sugar already added. Teas I have looked at contain "100%" tea.
Looking at Carbohydrate content on their website (made without milk, which is how I drink it)
Twinings Assam 0g Carbohydrate
Twinings Earl Grey 0g Carbohydrate
Twinings Strong English Breakfsat 0g Carbohydrate
Their Herbal teas have nutritional information on the packet - Carbohydrate
Pure Peppermint 0g, Lemon and Ginger 0g, Pure Camomile 0g

It is harder to find the nutritional information for Taylors of Harrogate, but the ingredients for example their Yorkshire Tea are listed as "Black Tea" If they were adding sugar then I think this would have to be listed on the ingredients.
Tetley give the ingedients as "Black Tea" and say on their website that there is 0.3g of carbohydrate per 100g. (0g sugar)

Christmas Tea will have other ingredients and I cannot find carbohydrate content of that.

I think that some websites list the nutritional information assuming that tea is made with milk, and if so, it is the milk that is providing the carbohydrate/sugar, not the tea itself. It is possible that some teas may add sugar, but I haven't found any and I am happy that the teas I drink do not.
 

Alexandra100

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,738
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I couldn't remember, but I had a box of Lipton stashed in the back as it turnes out, and I just demolished a bag to check. Yup. More than in black tea, actually. Sorry. :(
OMG!!! I feel like one of those poor geese being stuffed to make foie gras.

I see that for peppermint teabags, Twinings claims 0g carbs per 100ml, whereas Liptons say theirs have 0.5g per 100ml. Tesco count 200mls as a serving, and admit to 1.6g for 200ml. It would be more helpful if firms revealed the carbs in each teabag, as obviously adding extra mls of water will make no difference. Taylors of Harrogate offer promising organic teabags, but infuriatingly only reveal fat content, not carbs. Can there be anyone in the world who cares abut the fat content of their teabags (0.03mls fat per 100mls, just in case you do!)? Teapigs claim 0 sugar and a trace of carbs in 100mls. Asda claims 0 sugar and 0 carbs in 100mls. Interestingly, Sainsburys claim <0.5gc for both 100 and 200mls. Which goes to show how inexact these measurements are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoKalsbeek

Redshank

Well-Known Member
Messages
132
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
There is an official database for food nutrients (it is the one that can be used by food sellers to provide the information on packs
McCance and Widdowson Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (3)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid
It provides detailed information on many foodstuffs.
It gives the measure for carbohydrate in Black Tea as "trace"
In other EU information, "trace", "0g" or"<0.5g" can be used to describe that value. These recognise the level of accuracy of the measuring process, and the variability of natural product.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoKalsbeek

JoKalsbeek

Expert
Messages
5,937
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
It's not a whole lot, but it's not nothing either, you know? I drink a lot of tea every day, and with keto, those +/-3 grams I down in tea per day, do count.
OMG!!! I feel like one of those poor geese being stuffed to make foie gras.

I see that for peppermint teabags, Twinings claims 0g carbs per 100ml, whereas Liptons say theirs have 0.5g per 100ml. Tesco count 200mls as a serving, and admit to 1.6g for 200ml. It would be more helpful if firms revealed the carbs in each teabag, as obviously adding extra mls of water will make no difference. Taylors of Harrogate offer promising organic teabags, but infuriatingly only reveal fat content, not carbs. Can there be anyone in the world who cares abut the fat content of their teabags (0.03mls fat per 100mls, just in case you do!)? Teapigs claim 0 sugar and a trace of carbs in 100mls. Asda claims 0 sugar and 0 carbs in 100mls. Interestingly, Sainsburys claim <0.5gc for both 100 and 200mls. Which goes to show how inexact these measurements are.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Redshank

Alexandra100

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,738
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
There is an official database for food nutrients (it is the one that can be used by food sellers to provide the information on packs
McCance and Widdowson Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (3)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid
It provides detailed information on many foodstuffs.
It gives the measure for carbohydrate in Black Tea as "trace"
In other EU information, "trace", "0g" or"<0.5g" can be used to describe that value. These recognise the level of accuracy of the measuring process, and the variability of natural product.
Yes, but that doesn't cover the question of what individual brands may add to their tea bags.
 

Redshank

Well-Known Member
Messages
132
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
If the ingredients say 100% black tea, then they would be breaking the law (in the UK) if they added sugar and didn’t declare it. Most teas mentioned above state that the carbohydrate content is 0g or <0.5g. Again they would be breaking the law i(in the UK) if the knowingly added substances to their tea that made this inaccurate
However we will all make our own choices based on the information available