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Milk Tea Addiction

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

41–50 of 63 posts

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#41
post #33

This study is from China. The 'milk tea' being described here is the translated term for what we call bubble tea in the west. It's a sweet comfort drink, perhaps closer to a Starbucks order than the steeped tea which immediately comes to mind. It's not really good for you, but I'm quite sure Coke or beer are worse. I can only speak anecdotally here, but the bubble tea joints near my college were consistently packed,…

It doesn't necessary need to be sweet. Many bubble tea shops and chains in Taiwan gave the consumer the option to choose the sugar level. Most people probably choose some sugar but this was a nice surprise for me when I visited.

Just about every Bubble Tea place does this, including in North America. They will ask what sweetness level and what ice level you want.

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#42
post #37
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

per day, also very common in the Indian subcontinent. I sure think is addictive but symptoms attached to anxiety, suicidal etc - not so sure.

So you think tea itself is addicting? Milk tea is basically tea with some milk.

Black tea contains caffeine, so yeah.

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#43
post #38

Milk Tea has been consumed for a millennia in many countries with none of the harmful effects being mentioned in the study. I am not sure why this is suddenly an issue now among youngsters in China.

People have been burning coal for heat for millennia, and ingesting its carcinogenic particles. Does that mean we should continue doing it?

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#44
post #3

> Nearly 77 % of participants consumed milk tea at least 6-11 cups in the last year Is that per day or the entire year?

Per year, they used the following scale in the questions: "The frequency of milk tea consumption was measured by the item, “In the past year, what was the average frequency of your milk tea consumption? (Lee et al., 2022)”. Item was rated on a 10-point Likert scale, coded as 1 = 3 cups per day, 2 = 2 cups per day, 3 = 1 cup per day, 4 = 4–6 cups per week, 5 = 2–3 cups per week, 6 = 1 cup per week, 7 = 2–3 cups per month, 8 = 1 cup per month, 9 = 6–11 cups per year, 10 = Almost never drink milk tea." The distribution of drinkers is shown in the figure: https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S01650327230108...

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#45

This study is from China. The 'milk tea' being described here is the translated term for what we call bubble tea in the west. It's a sweet comfort drink, perhaps closer to a Starbucks order than the steeped tea which immediately comes to mind. It's not really good for you, but I'm quite sure Coke or beer are worse. I can only speak anecdotally here, but the bubble tea joints near my college were consistently packed,…

I'm not so sure about Coke or beer being worse. That sort of tea generally has just as much sugar as a can of coke (and the synthetic creamer is probably just as bad as the rest of what's in a coke). Both are quite unhealthy for you. Beer is a different beast altogether with both positive and negative properties.

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#46

It's worth noting that what passes for milk tea is really tea with some kind of synthetic chemical creamer. If you want real milk you need to get "fresh milk tea". I suspect the addiction could be mediated by whatever chemicals are in these creamers, which have never seemed healthy. In the same vein the food science that created "hyper-palatable" addictive junk foods: https://nypost.com/2023/09/26/big-tobacco-created…

Yikes! Is that why mixing earl grey and condensed milk never got me the same results? Is this true of all major chains? I could easily see myself becoming addicted to boba tea if it was available more widely, and for breakfast, which is when I actually want it.

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#47
post #8
post #3

> Nearly 77 % of participants consumed milk tea at least 6-11 cups in the last year Is that per day or the entire year?

per day, also very common in the Indian subcontinent. I sure think is addictive but symptoms attached to anxiety, suicidal etc - not so sure.

There are people who drink that much Diet Coke each day. I wonder if it's the same type of thing?

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#48
post #37
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

per day, also very common in the Indian subcontinent. I sure think is addictive but symptoms attached to anxiety, suicidal etc - not so sure.

So you think tea itself is addicting? Milk tea is basically tea with some milk.

and sugar - lots of it. Needs a control group that consumes equivalent quantities of sweet caffeinated soda.

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#49
post #4

I honestly can't tell if this is a parody? Is it an allegory for other addiction studies? Or are they genuinely worried about kids drinking tea with milk in it?

> tea with milk in it

"Milk tea" can be your typical british tea with a dash of milk, or a 750ml abomination that hits your weekly intake of sugar.

It's like saying starbucks atrocities are "coffee with milk"

Re: Milk Tea Addiction

#50
post #3

> Nearly 77 % of participants consumed milk tea at least 6-11 cups in the last year Is that per day or the entire year?

For the entire year, according to the full-text article. Only 0.5% reported having more than 1 cup per day. Further, don't discount the possibility that these people chose a high number to be funny or chose the wrong answer by accident.

You can find the full text article here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373353648_New_form_...

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