Tea is frequently touted as one of the healthiest drinks you can have. And it is (if you're here trying to uncover conspiracy theories around tea, sorry, our tea blog is not the place). One of the questions you may have, however, is "does tea have calories?"
We get you. We too like to know how many calories and macronutrients we're putting in our bodies, so it's natural to ask yourself if tea has calories. Before we dive into the answer, though, let us elaborate a little -- just to help you better understand the relationship between health, calories...and tea.
Keep reading our tea blog to find out the answer.
What Are Calories?
Calories are units of energy. For your body to do anything, it needs energy. This includes everything from breathing and keeping your heart beating to running a marathon or surfing the Internet. Calories come from the food you eat and the drinks you drink.
Your body can use this energy in different ways. It can store some of it as glycogen in your liver and muscles, or it can turn it into body fat. If you regularly eat more calories than your body needs, then your body will store the extra energy as body fat. This is what causes people to become overweight or obese.
On the other hand, if you regularly eat fewer calories than your body needs, your body will start burning stored energy. This is what causes people to lose weight.
Do You Have to Calorie Count?
Well, technically, yes.
Calorie counting helps you limit your food servings and makes you more inclined to eat healthily (e.g. stay away from fast food and dessert).
However, calorie counting alone may not always be enough to build the body you want. We are all different, we like different foods, and to some extent at least, we burn through calories differently. As such, adding macronutrient counting to your diet might be just what you need (along with, of course, focusing on healthy, nutritious food, as opposed to junk).
Does Tea Have Calories?
Let's circle back to our main question here: does tea have calories?
In short, no, tea in itself doesn't have calories. However, if you add milk or sugar to your tea, the calories will add up. An 8-ounce cup of black tea with no additives has zero calories, but the same cup with 2 tablespoons of added sugar contains about 52 grams of sugar and has 165 calories.
Similarly, an 8-ounce cup of green tea with no additives has around 2 calories, while the same cup with 2 tablespoons of added honey has about 64 grams of sugar and has 204 calories.
Milk has about 9 calories per ounce, so if you add milk to your tea, that will add up quickly, too.
Likewise, honey might be a healthier alternative to sugar because it has other health benefits (such as antibacterial properties), but it still has calories, so if you're counting your calories, it's best to measure how much honey you're adding. One teaspoon of honey has about 64 calories.
The moral of the story: If you're trying to lose weight or stay healthy, be mindful of how much sugar or honey you add to your tea (or any other drink, for that matter). The simpler your tea is, the healthier and more diet-friendly it will be.
Does Tea Have Calories: FAQs
How many calories in a Twisted Tea?
There are about 148 calories in a Twisted Tea.
How many calories in green tea?
There are zero calories in green tea, provided that it's unsweetened. If you add a teaspoon of sugar to your cup of green tea, your entire drink will have about 16 calories.
