Are you looking for a thirst-quenching drink that not only cools you down but also offers incredible health benefits? Look no further than iced tea! This popular beverage has gained global recognition, and for good reason. Beyond its delicious taste and versatility, iced tea offers numerous advantages for your overall well-being. Americans consumed nearly 4 billion gallons of tea in 2023, and 75 to 80 percent of it was iced tea.
Hydration Hero
Contrary to popular belief, iced tea can be just as hydrating as water. While it contains caffeine, which has mild diuretic properties, the water content in iced tea more than makes up for any minimal fluid loss. Drinking a glass of fresh-brewed iced tea can replace some of the water in your diet. People assigned female at birth need around 11.5 cups of fluid per day while people assigned male at birth need 15.5 cups, according to the Mayo Clinic. While unsweetened iced tea can help you meet those goals, you'll also want to drink plain water along with it. A sensible way to gauge your own fluid needs is to drink when you feel thirsty, per the Mayo Clinic. The bottom line: Unsweetened iced tea is a great way to stay hydrated and can help you meet your daily hydration needs when you're bored of water, but don't make it your primary source of fluids throughout the day.
Weight Management Ally
Iced tea, especially the green variety, can be a valuable ally in your weight management journey. It contains compounds like EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which stimulate your metabolism, leading to increased calorie burning.
Heart Health Supporter
Indeed, iced tea can contribute to a healthier heart. Research suggests that the flavonoids found in tea, particularly black and green tea, possess cardioprotective properties. These antioxidants help reduce the risk of heart disease by improving blood vessel function, lowering blood pressure, and reducing LDL cholesterol levels. Freshly made iced tea can have many of the same health benefits as hot tea, namely the potential to improve heart health and lower the risk of conditions such as cognitive decline and diabetes. "In order to have these beneficial effects, the tea you’re drinking must be high in antioxidants," says Joe Vinson, PhD, professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Immune System Booster
Iced tea contains a wealth of antioxidants, such as polyphenols, which play a crucial role in supporting your immune system. These antioxidants help combat free radicals in the body, reduce inflammation, and enhance immune cell activity. Basically Sage, antioxidants are good. Or bad! Free radicals are bad… Vague much? I guess it's because anti-oxidants can help prevent cancer. Antioxidants resist the oxidation of molecular compounds. Oxidation means losing electrons. In the process of oxidizing a compound, you can create what’s called a free radical, which is an atom or molecule with an unpaired electron.
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Cognitive Enhancer
Iced tea, particularly green and black teas, contains L-theanine, an amino acid known for its calming and focus-enhancing effects. The combination of L-theanine and caffeine found in iced tea promotes a state of alert relaxation, improving cognitive performance, attention, and memory.
Making the Healthiest Choice
While iced tea offers numerous benefits, it's essential to be mindful of added sugars and other additives found in some commercially prepared versions.
Brewed vs. Bottled
Buying bottled or canned iced tea may not have the same benefits as the iced tea you brew from tea bags. Bottled teas provide the same amount of water that brewed tea does, but they can also contain hidden additives like sugars, artificial sweeteners, flavorings or dyes and extra sodium. Bottled sweet tea can have more than 20 grams of added sugar per cup - that's almost as much as the same amount of soda. Many bottled teas also contain artificial flavors and colors. If you want your iced tea on the go, check the label and try to avoid options with added sugars.
Your best bet is to brew tea at home and drink it without any sweeteners. Steep a tea bag in a cup of hot water for 5 minutes to get the most antioxidants - you'll get more than 600 milligrams of polyphenols, per Consumer Reports.
Navigating Claims on Bottled Teas
Claims on iced tea bottles can make you think that the product is healthier or better in other ways, but it pays not to take them at face value. Here’s what a few of the most common terms you see really mean.
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- Tad sweet or slightly sweet: These unregulated terms are open to the manufacturer’s interpretation. Usually, it means that the tea has less sugar than a similar product from the same brand, but the amounts vary from brand to brand. The teas with this claim that we looked at contained anywhere from 5 to 25 grams of added sugars per bottle.
- No artificial sweeteners: The tea may still contain sugar, stevia, sugar alcohols like erythritol, or a combo. For example, Pure Leaf Honey Green Iced Tea carries this claim and has 25 grams of sugar per 18.5-ounce bottle (from sugar and honey), as well as stevia extract. This sweetener is thought of as “natural”.
- No sugar, sugar free, or zero sugar: By law, the product must have less than 0.5 gram of sugars per serving.
- Fair Trade Certified: Farmers who grow crops (like tea or sugar) used in the product must pay workers at least the local minimum wage, provide safe working conditions, and more. This claim is verified, but it may apply to just a single ingredient, say, the tea and not the sugar.
The Sugar Factor
The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10 percent of your daily calories come from added sugars-that’s less than 50 grams if you’re following a 2,000-calorie diet. Drinking sweetened iced tea can push you close to or over those limits. The same goes for some iced tea/lemonade brands. Snapple Half ’n Half, for instance, has 51 grams of added sugars and 210 calories in 16 ounces. Some brands will tout that they contain real sugar, cane sugar, or honey. But such products aren’t necessarily better for you than those with sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Diet iced teas are low in sugar and calories, but they may contain sugar substitutes, such as aspartame or sucralose. "If you like, mix in a teaspoon of sugar or agave syrup," Keating says.
Brewing at Home: A Healthier Alternative
It will cost less, and you can control the amount of added sugars it contains. Or skip the sugar entirely and add a splash of fruit juice or a purée of fruit (like peaches or raspberries). Making iced tea is simple. You can pour boiling water over a tea bag or loose-leaf tea (black or green), allow it to steep for about 5 minutes, and let it cool in the refrigerator. (To make a pitcher, steep eight to 10 tea bags in 2 quarts of water, then refrigerate.) You can also add tea to cold water and let it steep for about 2 hours. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Food Science found little difference in the polyphenol content of black or green tea steeped in hot water for 5 minutes vs. cold water for 2 hours. However, using hot water may result in a stronger brew.
Antioxidant Levels
In his testing, black tea bags steeped for 5 minutes in hot water contained the highest amount of antioxidant polyphenols-600 mg per cup-compared with bottled black tea, which contained just 68 mg per cup. Vinson theorizes that the ratio of water to tea is higher in bottled teas than in tea you make at home, so the resulting beverage has a lower antioxidant level. It’s worth noting, though, that the antioxidants in tea will dissipate over time. "We found that once brewed, the antioxidant content went down about 10 percent a day," Vinson says.
A Note of Caution: Oxalic Acid
Tea contains beneficial antioxidants, but it also has oxalic acid, and an excess amount can contribute to kidney stones. Black tea is rich in oxalic acid, which occurs naturally in many foods. Too much oxalic acid can build up in your kidneys, leading to stones that prevent your kidneys from removing waste from your blood, per a September 2020 article in Nutrients. In one case, a man went to a health care center with weakness, fatigue and body aches. Turns out it was because he was drinking about a gallon of iced tea a day, according to the University of Utah Health. Drinking so much tea caused his kidneys to fail. Drinking iced tea in moderation is safe, but if you're prone to kidney stones, you may want to discuss a low-oxalate diet with your doctor.
Caffeine Content
Here is a comparison of the caffeine found in black tea, green tea and coffee. Caffeine is often blamed for dehydration as it causes you to pee more, but it hasn't actually been proven to cause dehydration, Andrews says. A study of 50 habitual coffee drinkers found that total body water (which is a sign of hydration) stayed consistent whether the participants had coffee or replaced their coffee with an equal amount of water, per January 2014 research in PLOS One.
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