Does Iced tea have the same benefits as regular tea?

[yoda313]

So I was kind of starting up on iced tea. I need to break off of pop for awhile (for nonmidwesterners I mean COKE, PEPSI, etc....).

Does iced tea have the same benefits of regular tea??? Is it brewed the same way???

I'm basically going for the flavored stuff. I just bought a 10 pack of rasberry Snapple and a box of powdered Lipton rasberry iced tea. I figure I'll drink this stuff on the weekend (tea has some caffine in it right? I can't really have caffine in the evening it keeps me up too much).

Any info would be appreciated though just general info - I'm not looking for a full blown stuff on it.

Like I said I'm trying to get away from pop in a little way at least. 3 cans at night isn't good even its diet. I'm also doing things like koolaid and crystal light occasionally. I just can't take water straight a lot of times - except in the middle of summer then that's all I really want.

[budz]

Coke has a no caffeine diet/reg coke. Those iced tea drinks have lots of sugar in it just like regular soda. Have you tried the Arizona brand iced tea drinks? They have a diet peach iced tea that's tastes pretty good. I don't know if those iced tea drinks are brewed like regular tea. I would assume so.

[yoda313]

I like Arizona. Good stuff.

[ZAPPER]

The History Channel just had a show about tea, I think it was under the name of Modern Marvels. Alot of interesting stuff about the history, manufacturing and the properties of the stuff. If you look for it in the TV listing I am sure they will play it againg soon.

Too much of anything is not good for you though, and I am guilty myself of over indulging in the caffine. The pisser is that I don't feel the need for the buzz of caffine, I actually don't consiously feel any effect of caffine at all, although I know it does mess with my sleep.

Average tea is supposed to only have half of the caffine of average coffee, according to the show. Iced tea, if brewed and then chilled should have the same make up and benefits of hot tea except for the dilution of added ice.

While I am sure that there are some chemical compounds in the stuff that may actually benefit your health or a certian condition, I suspect that the biggest effects are caused by just taking a break and relaxing long enough to drink a cup.

Not like I am an authority on health (as I light up a smoke and take a drink of my second quart of overly sweet iced tea for the day) but, I would maybe suggest some varity and cutting back. Try some real fruit juice or get one of them juicers that make all of the carrot juice concoctions. Anything has got to be better than preprocessed, cornsyrup, color added, unknown chemical added, unknown sweetener added stuff that we usually drink.

It's just that it is so easy to open a bottle of Coke at home or buy a large sweet iced tea while out. The kind of good news is that I just saw/heard/read somewhere, that America now drinks more bottles of water than beer. I know that it is kind of a waste of money, but we go through a case or more a week at my house. I can't figure it out, why is it easier to just open a plastic bottle as opposed to turning a knob at the sink?

[yoda313]

Hey thanks zapper. Nice to hear that it is probably just as effective.

Variety - that's what I'm trying. i'm not going on a full tea tilt I'm just trying to break my full on pop addiction. (at least somewhat).

Maybe I'll bump into that history channel show. Thanks.

[ZAPPER]

One other thing that I have heard. The problem with drinking cold drinks is that the cold numbs your stomach and you don't get the feeling of being full until you are over full. The legend has it, that people that try to diet and drink alot of water to fill themselves end up feeling hungry as hell after eating a small portion and then drinkin cold water.

Now I got a couple of amigos at work that lost a shitload of weight on some tea diet. I would bet maybe 50lbs each and they look good. I wish that I understood the lingo a little better so I could get a little more info about it. These guys carry a gallon jug of the stuff around with them wherever they go, skip break and lunch and just drink whenever they get thristy. I don't know if it is an off the shelf product or some ancient Aztec home brew but it seems to work.

[LSchafroth]

[quote="budz"]Those iced tea drinks have lots of sugar in it just like regular soda. quote]

Lipton Unsweetened is the best. No sugars at all.

I agree, the Arizona ones are good as well. I only drink unsweetened and no flavors so I cannot account for those.

LS

PS Haven't had a pop in 7 years.

[yoda313]

PS Haven't had a pop in 7 years

Not even a diet one?????

I couldn't do that - I don't think I could go 7 days (Cherry Pepsi is a personal favorite by the way - I try not to buy it very often because it doesn't last ).

[ZAPPER]

Now ya see, I will go without before I drink a diet soft drink. Yeach!

For awhile I was buying the caffine free Coke, it didn't taste bad but I didn't notice that it helped me get to sleep any easier. Hm, can you say sugar buzzzz?