Iced Tea
 

I've been working on giving up soda but instead of drinking soda I've been having iced tea. Is Iced Tea bad for you. I don't put tons of sugar in it..

Tea alone is fine as long as you keep the sugar to a minimum. Soda has way more sugar in it, not to mention phosphoric acid and sometimes preservatives.

Tea in general is really good for you. It is full of antioxidants, some say green tea may even help your metabolism. However, the only downside to tea is that it has some caffeine content in it. As your replacing soda with it, it is much more healthier and the side effects are considerably less when it comes to caffeine and diuretic properties. Try to use less and less sweetener each time, I prefer my tea plain.

As long as you don't add sugar, your fine. I like to have hot tea with a bit of splenda and FF milk...gets me through the day!

Funny, I just posted in the Maintainer's forum about tea. :lol:
I drink a little black/green tea and a LOT of herbal tea, and only plain.
It tastes really good to me now, but that MIGHT be because I quit sugary drinks cold turkey and started drinking only water in April. I know that before I thought unsweetened tea tasted like water and only found it palatable with spoonfuls of sugar in it. But now I can appreciate how good it tastes all on its own!
So maybe just think of it like drinking water with a kick to it... you don't really *need* the sugar, and it just adds calories. In fact, I just drank a cup of Celestial's True Blueberry herbal tea, and well, maybe it's just my imagination, but I thought it tasted sweet even though it was unsweetened! :)

Well, I actually started drinking tea full strength of caffeine but about once a week I replace one tea bag with decaf bag. Now I'm down to only 2 caf bags and 4 decaf bags. As far as the sugar goes I use 1/2 C for about 3 quarts of tea, so I don't think thats to bad. Maybe I'll try to cut that back a little at a time also.

Thanks for all your answers!!

I think the fruity teas taste sweetened even when they're not. Teavana has several fruit trees that are really good and flavorful.

Oh Celestial Seasoning's teas are almost like a dessert sometimes. My favorite is this Almond Rose Ceylon Tea.. it tastes completely sweet, but with no sweetener. :D

Do you make the fruit flavored tea the same way as regular tea? I've only had just plain black tea but may want to try something different for a change. How do they compare in price?

I made up my mind to cut out artificial sweeteners several months ago. This meant my diet coke habit had to go. I was drinking a two liter a day! I had been drinking soda all of my life. Artificial sweeteners are terrible for your body (go do a google search for more info) so I use a small amount of real sugar. The small amount of calories and sugar is a lot less harmful than the aspartame or splenda! Other options for safely sweetening your tea is agave or stevia, although now some are questioning the safety of stevia.

Tea is very good for you. It has been consumed for thousands of years so you know it is safe unlike a lot of modern beverages! It has antioxidents. It has less caffiene than soda or coffee. The small amount of caffiene will help make giving up soda a lot less painful.

You will be so glad you made the change. I do drink soda when I go out but now it tastes weird to me. Now I like iced tea or water so much more. You will too :)

1/2 cup of sugar for 3 quarts = 2 teaspoons per 8 oz. serving. That is a lot of sugar which is nothing but empty calories and can really mount up over a day.