Durian season is over now, but boba tea’s game is still going strong. Boba tea shops are springing like mushrooms in shopping malls and popular hangout places all over the country. People have no problems nor complaints lining up for their favourite boba tea.
榴莲季节已经结束了，但是珍珠奶茶仍然热着呢。在全国各地的商场和热门聚会场所，珍珠奶茶店不断涌现。可见人们对于珍珠奶茶的喜爱似乎没有减少。
This boba tea’s hype is vast and somehow quite worrying. Truth to be told – boba tea is not as healthy as normal tea. According to Malina Malkani, a spokesperson for Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, boba tea is a sweetened, high-calorie drink that isn’t a good source of protein or fiber. Basically, boba tea is just a high-sugar drink that contains tea, tapioca balls, milk, milk powder, or a non-dairy milk alternative.
珍珠奶茶的炒作令人担忧。真相告诉我们——珍珠奶茶不比普通茶健康。根据营养与饮食学院发言人，Malina Malkani的说法，珍珠奶茶是一种加糖的高热量饮料。它并不是蛋白质或纤维的良好来源。基本上，珍珠奶茶只是一种含有茶、木薯球、牛奶、奶粉或非乳制奶替代品的加糖饮料。
Past research has shown that a cup of boba tea with regular sweetness level contains 34g of sugar, which takes up 68% of the recommended daily intake of sugar by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Bear in mind that this is just a regular boba tea. Most consumers are more attracted to brown sugar milk tea, a sweeter choice of boba tea. It contains bubbles that are found at the bottom of the drink. These bubbles or also called as pearls are tapioca balls that have been cooked in brown sugar. Most of the shops are rivalling which has the tastiest and the sweetest pearls. As a consumer, it has become an honoured duty to taste all the different brands of these boba tea.
过去的研究显示，一杯含有常规甜度的珍珠奶茶含有34克的糖，占世界卫生组织（WHO）每日所建议摄入量的68％。切记，这只是一种普通的珍珠奶茶。大多数消费者更喜欢红糖奶茶，这是一种更甜的珍珠奶茶选择。它含有被称为珍珠的泡泡，而这些珍珠是用红糖烹制的木薯球。大多数商店都是以最美味和最甜的珍珠相媲美。作为消费者，品尝不同品牌的珍珠奶茶已成为一项荣幸的职责。
An experiment conducted by Applied Food Science and Nutrition students of Temasek Polytechnic found that sugar content of a boba tea is higher than a can of Coca-Cola. As a point of comparison, a bottle of Coca-Cola has only 53 grams of sugar − half the amount of boba.
淡马锡理工学院应用食品科学与营养学院的一项实验发现，珍珠奶茶的含糖量高于可口可乐的含糖量。作为比较，一瓶可口可乐只有53克糖——珍珠奶茶的一半。
Clearly, drinking a cup of boba tea will exceed the recommended daily sugar intake. A brown sugar milk tea contains 18.5 teaspoons of sugar, compared to the recommendation that is to take not more than 8 teaspoons of sugar daily. This unhealthy habit can lead to other serious issues such as obesity and increasing risk of diabetes. Its sugar content also poses a high risk of not only diabetes, but also low immunity, accelerated ageing and tooth decay. This boba tea craze also leads to sugar craving which is not normal at all. High amount of sugar intake may have a rollercoaster effect on your body. The blood sugar level in our body will go up and drastically go down thus making you tired, hungry and later search for other sweet things.
显然，喝一杯珍珠奶茶会超过所建议的每日糖摄入量。我们被建议每天摄入不超过8茶匙的糖，但是红糖奶茶含有18.5茶匙的糖。这种不健康的习惯可能导致其他严重问题，如肥胖和增加糖尿病风险。它的含糖量不仅会导致糖尿病，而且还会减低免疫力，加速衰老和蛀牙。这种珍珠奶茶的热潮也导致人们对糖的渴望，这是不正常的。大量的糖摄入可能会对您的身体产生过山车的影响。我们体内的血糖水平会上升并急剧下降，从而使您感到疲倦、饥饿，然后寻找其他甜食。
Although boba tea is very yummy, just like other sugared beverages, be moderate in consuming it. There are some tips to be considered when ordering your next boba tea.
虽然珍珠奶茶非常好喝，但就像其他含糖饮料一样，饮用量要适中。饮用下一份珍珠奶茶前，有一些提示需要考虑。
- Choose a smaller cup with lesser sugar – 30% and below / 选择小杯及少糖的——30%以下
- Order a lower calorie topping or no toppings at all / 选择低卡路里配料或没有配料的
- Ask for fresh milk (low fat or skimmed milk are better) / 要求新鲜牛奶（低脂或脱脂牛奶更佳）
- Limit yourself to 1 or 2 boba teas in a week / 限制自己一周内喝1至2杯珍珠奶茶
- Two is better than one: Share the same cup with your loved ones! Share the sweetness together / 两个比一个好：与您爱的人分享一杯，分享甜蜜！
Image courtesy of Channel News Asia
