Will milk tea be classified into nutritional levels? Which level of milk tea is healthy?

According to recent media reports, Shanghai has piloted the country's first "Nutritional Choice" beverage grading label, which has sparked heated discussions among netizens.

There are four levels of evaluation based on the content of four ingredients in the beverage, namely non-dairy sugar, saturated fat, trans fat and non-sugar sweetener. The nutritional quality and recommendation level gradually decrease from A, B, C to D. The relevant logo is hung on the bottle cap.

This is a very commendable policy.

What is more surprising is that this nutrition grading scheme includes milk tea made on site. In the past, various nutrition evaluations often only included "pre-packaged foods" and did not include food and beverages made on site. When making on site, there are no regulations that require the labeling of ingredient lists and nutrient data, so there is greater freedom of operation. It is difficult for consumers to accurately judge whether the store's statements are true, and it is more difficult to manage. This evaluation is based on extensive measurements of local on-site beverages, and it is also of great reference significance to market managers in other places.

However, many netizens said that they did not quite understand the nutritional classification of beverages this time and hoped that I could explain it to them.

Question 1: Why are drinks graded based on the 4 ingredients in them, rather than just how much sugar there is?

This grading system involves a comprehensive nutritional evaluation method for food, which is called "nutrient profiling" in academic terms. It is an evaluation method that comprehensively grades the nutritional value of food based on the composition of multiple nutrients.

Compared with simply comparing food energy or the content of a certain nutrient, this evaluation method focuses more on the nutrient density of food and the comprehensive effect of food on preventing multiple chronic diseases . It is conducive to selecting products with the highest nutrient density or those that are most beneficial for preventing and controlling chronic diseases in the same category.

The beverage nutrition classification implemented in Shanghai focuses on the ingredients in milk tea that are related to obesity and chronic disease prevention, including sugar, sweeteners, saturated fat and trans fat. When the content of these ingredients is low, it is beneficial to prevent obesity and chronic diseases, so they can get a higher rating.

Because it is a comprehensive evaluation of multiple indicators, different indicators have different scores, so the manager chose the simple method of determining the rating based on the lowest scoring item .

Many consumers only focus on one of the two, for example, some only focus on trans fats, and some only focus on sugar. In fact, even if there is no sugar or trans fat, if it contains a lot of saturated fat, and more fat means high calories, it is also not good for health.

That is to say, even if your trans fat and saturated fat score is A, but the sugar content score is C, then the overall score is C. Conversely, even if the sugar content score is B, but the saturated fat score is C, then the overall score is still C.

Question 2: Why do some milk teas contain non-dairy creamer as an ingredient, yet they claim that the product does not contain trans fat?

Non-dairy creamer is solidified fat, which can be produced by oil hydrogenation and transesterification. It has a high content of saturated fat and also contains emulsifiers and flavors.

More than a decade ago, non-dairy creamers with poor craftsmanship contained more trans fats . But since the country required trans fat content to be labeled, the oil industry's technology has been improved, and the trans fat content in non-dairy creamers can be very low. Theoretically, if vegetable oils are fully hydrogenated, unsaturated fatty acids will become saturated fatty acids, and there will be no "cis" or "trans" issues.

After milk tea is made with non-dairy creamer, the overall trans fat content of the milk tea is less than 0.3% and can be legally labeled as zero .

Question 3: Why can’t products with sweeteners be rated A?

This is because various sweeteners also have their health risks when consumed in large quantities.

For example, sugar alcohol sweeteners, although they do not have the risk of causing cancer or significantly increasing blood sugar, they may cause intestinal discomfort when consumed in large quantities . People with sensitive tastes may experience intestinal rumbling, bloating, and even abdominal pain and diarrhea. They are very unfriendly to people with irritable bowel, diarrhea, and indigestion. In addition, many studies in recent years have found that consuming large amounts of erythritol significantly increases the risk of blood clots .

The total amount of a cup of milk tea is relatively large, for example, 300 ml. If 10% sugar alcohol is added, that is 30 grams. The amount cannot be ignored. If you drink more than one cup a day, the risk of adverse reactions is still not small.

Studies have also shown that high-efficiency sweeteners (sugar substitutes) such as aspartame and sucralose may reduce insulin sensitivity or disrupt intestinal flora. Although the research results are not consistent enough, it is prudent to not encourage excessive intake of these ingredients.

Furthermore, consumers should be encouraged to avoid sweet tastes and stay away from dependence on sugar and sweeteners , rather than letting people think that as long as they use sugar substitutes and no real sugar, they can indulge in the pleasure of sweet food and beverages without worry.

Question 4: What is “non-dairy sugar”? Why should the source of sugar be considered when rating?

Because milk naturally contains 4% to 5% lactose. There is also lactose in milk powder. This is not considered added sugar. In addition to lactose, artificially added sweet ingredients such as sugar/syrup/jam/honey are considered "non-dairy sugars."

The World Health Organization and China's dietary guidelines both recommend that residents control added sugar, preferably no more than 25 grams per day, and no more than 50 grams at most. The "non-dairy sugar" in milk tea is actually added sugar, and the more it is, the worse it is for your health.

Question 5: Some milk tea products say that what they add is crystalline fructose instead of sucrose. Is this fructose healthier?

One of the reasons why sweet milk tea tastes good is that it uses crystalline fructose or fructose syrup to sweeten it. Sucrose (white sugar, rock sugar, brown sugar) also contains half fructose in its molecules.

At 8% fructose added, 300 grams of sweetened milk tea can contain 24 grams of fructose. Adding the fructose in fruit juice and other sweets, it is easy to consume more than 50 grams a day. This is not just a problem of sugar itself. What is more worrying is that a large amount of fructose not only promotes obesity and increases blood lipids, but also strongly promotes an increase in uric acid levels.

High uric acid levels may not seem scary at first. They don’t hurt or itch until your joints and kidneys are damaged. However, they are an indicator of poor metabolic capacity and are closely related to an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

If chronic diseases seem far away for young people, one thing that cannot be ignored is the relationship between hyperuricemia and fertility and sexual function. This negative association was discovered ten years ago, and more and more studies have confirmed this: men with hyperuricemia have a much higher risk of suffering from asthenospermia, impotence, infertility and other problems than men with normal uric acid levels .

Question 6: Many sweet milk teas also contain caffeine. Is it a good ingredient or a bad ingredient?

The current beverage rating does not include caffeine. Coffee and tea are sources of caffeine in beverages, but if they are not paired with sugar and non-dairy creamer, they have no adverse effects on obesity and chronic disease prevention.

However, adding extra caffeine is another matter. Besides, even tea and coffee are not suitable for everyone to drink in large quantities.

The caffeine content in some milk teas now exceeds that of a normal cup of coffee, black tea or green tea, which makes people feel excited and refreshed. However, everyone's ability to metabolize caffeine is different, which is due to both genetic differences and differences in physical constitution and health status, so it cannot be generalized.

In general, adding caffeine is not a good thing for people with poor caffeine metabolism, people who are prone to insomnia, people who are easily nervous, people with high heart rate, people with irregular heart rate, people with stomach problems, people with diarrhea, and people with calcium deficiency. So I think the caffeine content level in beverages should be graded and marked so that some people who are not suitable can actively avoid them and prevent adverse effects.

Drinks containing a lot of caffeine will cause dependence after drinking for a long time. After drinking, you don’t feel refreshed, but if you don’t drink, you will feel low energy, depressed, and even have headaches, frustration, and depression. This is the manifestation of withdrawal reaction.

It is good for beverage sellers and producers that consumers become dependent on products and consume them continuously; however, it is not a good thing for consumers because they cannot have a normal quality of life without consuming caffeinated beverages.

An independent person should try to avoid being controlled by some chemical substances . Simply put, all substances that bring "euphoria" should be treated with high vigilance to avoid addiction. Addictive drugs, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and sweeteners can all control us. If not eating or drinking something can affect your mood and even make it impossible for you to live a normal life, it means that you are addicted. You must be highly vigilant about that thing and get rid of it as soon as possible.

Question 7: Drinking sweet drinks makes me happy, and happiness is good for health, so shouldn’t the happiness value of drinks also be affirmed?

Since ancient times, until more than 40 years ago, before beverages were introduced into China, tens of millions of Chinese people had experienced depression, but at that time people never thought of solving this problem by drinking sweet drinks.

Linking sweet food and drinks with happiness is a brainwashing method used in commercial promotions since the 1990s.

In movies, TV series, videos, newspaper and magazine articles, and novels, some fixed routines are played out everywhere: smoking when it is difficult to make a decision, drinking when you are hit, women eat sweets when they are unhappy, drinking milk tea when you are tired from work, cake must be eaten on birthdays, and sweet drinks must be provided at banquets and gatherings... and most consumers, especially young people who grew up with sweet drinks, passively accept it and take it for granted.

All kinds of marketing are suggesting that buying sweet drinks is buying happiness, and you won’t care about how much money you have or whether you are healthy or not. The word happiness will dispel all your worries.

There are many kinds of happiness in life. Sweets and sweet drinks are easy to get, require the least IQ, and are the least worthwhile in the long run.

Because multiple studies have confirmed that in the long run, drinking sweetened drinks increases the risk of depression rather than making people happier.

Animal experiments have also confirmed that long-term consumption of sweetened milk tea in mice may cause behaviors similar to anxiety and depression, and even impaired cognitive function.

A newly published study conducted a questionnaire survey on 5,281 college students in my country, collecting data on the frequency of respondents drinking commercially available sweetened milk tea and their addiction status, and using a psychological scale to test data on anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, etc.

Researchers said that the so-called milk tea addiction can be measured by the frequency of milk tea drinking, tolerance to milk tea, dependence/craving, guilt after drinking, desire to quit but inability to quit, and the existence of withdrawal reactions.

Researchers found that severe milk tea addiction was associated with a higher risk of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.

Researchers found that younger women are more likely to become addicted to milk tea, and that milk tea has a greater emotional impact on them. In fact, young women are indeed the largest consumer group of sweet milk tea. Previous surveys have found that women are more likely to become dependent on sweets.

In fact, there have been many studies reporting that drinking sweetened drinks increases the risk of depression.

In my opinion, the relationship between milk tea and emotions may have the following mechanisms.

On the one hand, sugar is an ingredient that easily creates dependence . Animal experiments have long proven that sweet foods and sweet drinks are addictive. Once addictive sweet drinks are not available, people will become anxious and even depressed. Milk tea contains both sugar and often a large amount of caffeine. The combination of these two addictive ingredients may produce a stronger effect.

On the other hand, a large amount of sugar can cause drastic fluctuations in blood sugar . After a short-term rise in blood sugar, it will lead to a rapid drop in blood sugar, causing low mood and depression.

Thirdly, sugar consumes extra vitamin B1 , and the content of various B vitamins in sweet drinks is very low. Lack of vitamin B1 can lead to depression, and lack of vitamin B6 can cause neurotransmitter disorder, which can easily lead to depression. In comparison, if you drink multi-grain porridge and milk, you can supply more B vitamins, which is more beneficial to improving mood.

At the same time, a large amount of sweet food and drinks will increase the body's stress level and make people prone to anxiety . The discussion of this study also pointed out that a large amount of sugar will increase the level of the stress hormone cortisol, thereby affecting the emotions and behaviors of animals and humans.

Things that make us feel particularly happy, once in excess, will bring risks. Just like drugs, they bring euphoria, but also bring dependence, which will damage the body in the long run. The same is true for delicious food, wine, meat, sweets and sweet drinks. Once excessive, once indulged, they will bring negative effects.

The few minutes of happiness you get from drinking sweet drinks cannot make up for the long-term unhappiness that follows. People who rely too much on food to provide happiness are often not the ones who can actively eliminate the causes of depression.

Quitting sweet drinks may be a little difficult at first, but as long as you stick to it for two or three months, it will be easy later.

It is especially important to remind you that to get rid of sugar addiction, you should eat enough starchy staple foods and whole grains, and pay attention to maintaining stable blood sugar levels after meals . Once blood sugar levels are stable and B vitamins are adequately supplied, you will not be so likely to crave sweets and drinks.

Many girls eat very little, have low blood sugar and low mood, and rely on sweet drinks. Sweet drinks consume vitamin B1, which will lead to a lower mood and a more sluggish spirit, and make them want to eat more sweets and drinks. It can be said that drinking poison to quench thirst is a vicious cycle.

If you only like unsweetened milk tea with black tea + milk, or tea + lemon slices + two pieces of fruit, which are not within the scope of this article, I support you to continue drinking . The fat in milk should not be included in the restriction.

Simply put: in addition to drinks such as milk and soy milk that can supplement protein and a variety of micronutrients, drinks that are as lightly sweetened and have as little fat as possible are better choices for replenishing water.