Mint milk tea with pearls.
That’s my sister’s favorite bubble tea. Twice a week, she’ll get her “perk me up” drink from one of her regular bubble tea stores. There’s no way she could have avoided it. Why? Because it’s like stalking her at every single hidden corner she turned. You can find at least 2 or 3 of them located within a 1km radius, at the train stations, shopping complex or even within the housing estates. It’s like the Bubble tea stores placed “Locate your friends” trackers into the drink concoction . It’s a serious addiction that is still hard for many, including my sister to fight off.
And when did Bubble tea gotten so popular? Its origin- Taiwan and was invented during the 1980s. Many may not know that tea is one of the largest industries among Taiwan’s food and beverage sector. In fact, high mountain tea leaf is one of their more famous item. However, purely drinking traditional tea wasn’t trendy anymore as some termed it as an “old people’s drink”. With creativity and innovation, turning it from hot tea to cold tea, experimenting with fruit infused tea and sweetened milk and complementing its texture by adding a typical Taiwanese dessert called “fen yuan”- sweetened tapioca ball; traditional tea was given a second chance of life. Not only did it became a trend, it also became a lifestyle in Taiwan. With 67% of the total tea earnings coming from the Bubble tea industry in 2016, tea business is definitely big and also a significant part of Taiwan’s economy. The Bubble tea caught the world by storm and grew like beansprouts. Ranging from brands like ChaTime which is listed on the Taiwanese stock exchange to Quickly with footprint of more than 2,000 stores in 4 continents, its international appeal and influence is not to be ignored. When I turn 50 and if it’s still trendy, guess it would be my potential retirement job to head back to Taiwan and open a bubble tea store.
But something so simple has its downside. Why does drinking a cup of Bubble tea make you feel happy? A cup of bubble tea has the following basic ingredients:
A 400g serving of bubble milk tea with pearls holds 231 calories as compared to a 330ml can of soft drink with 140 calories. A daily recommend sugar intake is about 10 per cent of our daily energy intake, an approximate of 40g to 55g (8 to 11 teaspoons) a day. The biggest calorie culprit is none other than the tapioca balls made from tapioca starch and brown sugar. Imagine a cup of bubble tea contains 6 teaspoons – that’s almost 55% of our recommended daily intake in one cup. Consuming that amount of sugar, one ought to have increased endorphins that boosted the mood and provided a moment of temporary chemical “high”.
If we don’t control our sugar intake, our insulin level will spike leading to a burst of inflammation throughout the body. Enzymes that break down collagen and elastin will result in sagging skin and wrinkles. The digested sugar will also attach permanently to the collagen in your skin through a process known as glycation which increases the aging effect and exacerbate skin conditions such as acne and rosacea.
Sounds scary doesn’t it? But it’s always good to enjoy our food and beverages. Or practice to consume in moderation or simply just pick and enjoy a healthy choice- add less sugar syrup, real milk no creamer etc when you purchase your next cup of Bubble tea!
To the next cup of healthier Bubble-tea time!You are what you eat.
Reference:
https://qz.com/581715/america-is-a-coffee-country-does-bubble-tea-stand-a-chance/
http://www.menshealth.com.sg/weight-loss-nutrition/bursting-bubble-tea-fad/
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/bubble-tea-inventor/index.html
http://worldteanews.com/insights/new-initiatives-aim-to-expand-taiwan-tea-business
http://www.asiaone.com/asia/what-you-should-know-about-taiwanese-teas
https://greatist.com/happiness/can-sugar-make-us-happy
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/10/sugar-bad-for-skin_n_4071548.html
TheQuietHappy 