Okay, you are sitting under the sun, relaxing on your lawn chair, and you feel parched in that summer heat. What would you sip on? What, did you say iced water with squeezed lemon? While that does sound nice, I was hoping you would have answered, ?Gold Peak Tea ? duh!? Well, let?s just completely ignore your answer and go with mine!
Gold Peak Tea is a brand that sells ready-to-drink tea that is offered in variety of flavors ? duh! See what I did there? Okay, sorry, I?ll move on.
Tea, if you don?t know, is a hugely common beverage that is consumed all around the world. It is a aromatic drink that is normally prepared by pouring hot or boiled water over cured leaves of camellia sinensis. Tea has many health benefits that is and not limited to-
? Tea reduces the risk of having a heart attack.
? Tea contains antioxidants.
? Tea boost the immune system.
? Tea is associated with a decreased risk of depression
Of course, these facts can depend on the type of teas, but I am not here to discuss all the different teas out there so let?s move back to the topic.
Gold Peak Tea was first introduced in 2006 and was manufactured by, you guessed it, The Coca-Cola Company. But, let?s not sway our opinion of the tea just because it is manufactured by the same company that makes a super sugary soda but instead let?s use facts!
Using the sweetened version of Gold Peak Tea, we shall look at the nutrition facts label that is on a 16.9 FL OZ bottle.
If you look to the picture above, you will see the content of the drink. It has 170 calories, which all that comes from the sugar it contains. Speaking of sugar, it has 44 grams of it. So, yeah, that?s not sprinkling sugar in your cup of tea. That is more like taking a teaspoon of sugar and dumping that in the tea about 11 times. Plus, don?t forget that this size bottle typical comes in a 6 pack. Well, using sample math, that comes up with 176 grams of sugar or 66 teaspoon of sugar. I am not a doctor, but I do believe that is not exactly good for you.
But, I can hear it now, ?but Conner, you?re talking about sweet tea. Of course it has sugar in it!? You know what, you guys are absolutely correct. How could I judge this sweet, highly addictive, drink. I mean, it is sweet tea. Let?s move on to the Unsweetened Gold Peak Tea, shall we?
Average people would look at this and think, ?look at all those zeros! This can?t be unhealthy.? Well, unfortunately, it can. Well, yes it does have no sugar, but it does have a few ingredients that you should take a look at.
The first one we will look at is caramel color. Caramel color is a water-soluble food coloring. You will find this in alot of manufactured foods and drinks, but it is especially known to be in cola products. While caramel color isn?t bad itself; however, the byproduct is what you should be questioning. This byproduct that I am referring to is 4-MEI or 4-methylimidazole. In a 2007 two year study, the National Toxicology Program conducted research on 4-MEI in rats and mouse, and discovered that a two-year mouse had an increase of certain lung tumors. Though, typically there isn?t enough 4-MEI presence in manufactured foods and drinks to cause any harm. It still cause some countries to look into this and put limits into having caramel color in their products.
The second and final one we will look into is phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid is a common food additive that is typically found in cola beverages. I could tell you everything about this food additive, but I am just going to say that this stuff isn?t good for your teeth, which it may greatly increase tooth decay. Plus, just in case you wondered, yes there is a study that shows that too much intake of phosphoric is linked with low bone density, which means increased chances of bone fractures.
Now, I can keep going and explain all the sizes and flavors Gold Peak Teas has, but I rather conclude this informative article. Gold Peak Tea is just overall not a very healthy choice if you are looking to drink tea. I would recommend just buying tea bags off of amazon. They are a much healthier choice and can save you money in the future. But, honestly, if you really like Gold Peak Tea then there is no harm in drinking some. Just like in everything else, do in moderation.
