By Ed Diokno
OH, NO! Boba drinks can lead to diabetes. The popular sweet drink, also known as Bubble Drinks, which has those tapioca balls floating around in them, can have up to 36 grams of sugar, or as much as a can of Coke.
Too much sugar in your diet can cause diabetes. Medical experts have already warned us about too much white rice can lead to Type 2 diabetes. Sugary drinks are the single biggest source of dietary calories and a major contributor to Type 2 diabetes.
“There’s a model minority myth for public health: If you’re skinny, you’re healthy,” says Scott Chan, program director of the Asian Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance, one of the groups behind a “Rethink Your Asian Drink” campaign.
While Asian Americans have a rate of diabetes at 10 percent (compared with 7 percent of whites) a recent study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) shared that more than half of Asian Americans with diabetes are undiagnosed.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are:
Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons)Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons)
Americans consume 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago, says the Alliance on its website. Nearly half of these extra calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks. More calories mean extra weight. One can of soda a day can add up to 10 pounds or more of weight gain in a year. But what happens when we look beyond just mainstream drinks like soda?
It’s not just boba drinks. All those fruity drinks sold at many of the Asian groceries are just as bad. Many people know drinking soda everyday is not good for your health, but Asian drinks can be just as bad. For example, boba milk tea can have as many calories as a McDonalds double cheeseburger.
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