What a Dietitian Would Order at a Boba Store

[ad_1] <img width="800" height="534" src="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/what-a-dietitian-would-order-at-a-boba-tea-shop-1024x683.jpg" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" alt="What a Dietitian Would Order at a Boba Shop | MyFitnessPal" decoding="async" srcset="https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/what-a-dietitian-would-order-at-a-boba-tea-shop-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/what-a-dietitian-would-order-at-a-boba-tea-shop-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/what-a-dietitian-would-order-at-a-boba-tea-shop-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/what-a-dietitian-would-order-at-a-boba-tea-shop.jpg 1350w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /> Once you consider refreshing drinks for a noon pick-me-up, a number of choices could come to thoughts: smoothies, juice, and extra lately—boba tea. Additionally known as bubble tea, boba originated from Taiwan within the Nineteen Eighties. Since then, it’s grow to be a staple deal with all around the world, particularly in Asian American communities.

However whereas boba is beloved for its chewy tapioca pearls and limitless taste mixtures, it’s not at all times thought-about essentially the most nutritious alternative. The excellent news? With a number of sensible swaps and slightly know-how, you possibly can construct a more healthy boba tea order that satisfies your cravings with out compromising your wellness objectives.

The Milk Tea vs. Fruit Tea Debate

Once you enter a boba store, the 2 predominant kinds of drink choices are milk tea and fruit tea. Milk tea consists normally of brewed tea blended with milk or milk powder. Fruit tea is a combination of brewed tea and juice or flavored syrup.

MyFitnessPal registered dietitian Brookell White says fruit tea is commonly a more healthy and decrease calorie possibility. On the identical time, fruit tea should still be excessive in sugar relying on the quantity of sugar or syrups used (1).

Evaluating Tea Bases

Milk teas and fruit teas use numerous tea bases, every together with a singular taste profile to cater to the kind of boba you like. These base teas embody:

Black tea

Inexperienced tea

Oolong tea

Totally different varieties of those teas could have various quantities of caffeine and different vitamins, however White says that basically, the bottom tea you choose doesn’t matter an excessive amount of. “All brewed tea could be very low or void of energy and has many dietary advantages together with various ranges of antioxidants and polyphenols,” she says (2).

In regards to the Knowledgeable

Brookell White, MS, RD is a Meals Information Curator at MyFitnessPal. She earned her bachelors and masters at San Diego State College and accomplished her dietetic internship at Sodexo. Her expertise extends to facilitating diet programs at San Diego State College, attending to sufferers as a Weight loss plan Technician, and dealing as an Assistant Lead Investigator. Her areas of focus embody metabolism, intestine well being, weight problems and weight administration.

What to Know About Drink Toppings

Whereas typical black tapioca boba normally involves thoughts with regards to boba tea, there are such a lot of totally different drink toppings to select from. However what do you have to decide to make a wholesome boba tea order?

Tapioca Boba

Tapioca boba is the chewy, sticky add-in that everyone knows and love. It’s typically made up of tapioca starch (from cassava root flour) and water, with a sugary syrup coating to make sure the pearls don’t stick (3, 4). In keeping with the USDA meals database, one serving incorporates 90 energy and 1 g of sugar when there isn't any syrup coating (5). Remember the fact that nearly all boba outlets do use syrup, although.

Agar Boba

Have you ever ever heard of panda milk tea? Nicely, agar boba is the white counterpart to black tapioca. Agar boba is the clear, extra crunchy sibling of typical tapioca boba. Usually known as crystal boba, it’s comprised of agar, a jelly-like substance extracted from seaweed. Agar boba is sweetened and incorporates 57 energy and 9 g of sugar per serving (6).

Popping Boba

In keeping with White, popping boba is made by thickening a sugar-added beverage right into a pearl by utilizing a chemical response between sodium alginate and calcium chloride. The liquid that “pops” in your mouth normally incorporates a considerable quantity of sugar. One serving of popping boba incorporates 85 energy and 18 g of sugar (7).

Sago

Sago is a mini, clear kind of boba that’s typically present in thicker mango-flavored drinks. It’s extracted from sure tropical palm tree stems and made by mixing sago starch with water. Sago supplies an abundance of resistant starch.

Jelly

The jelly boba is available in many flavors: natural grass jelly, coconut jelly, lychee jelly, and occasional jelly, to call a number of. Jelly incorporates nearly no dietary worth—containing about 65 energy and 15 g of sugar per serving (9, 10). The calorie and sugar content material of jellies can fluctuate by kind and model, although, as one research notes nata de coco (coconut jelly) as having 212 energy and 12 g of sugar per serving (3).

Crimson Bean

White says that purple bean is a greater possibility as a result of it’s made by boiling adzuki beans and including sugar. It’s excessive in fiber, however may be excessive in sugar. Two tablespoons of purple bean incorporates 90 energy and 13 g of sugar (11).

Taro Boba

Taro boba is made equally to tapioca boba, with the addition of mashed taro root. “That is an alternative choice that introduces extra dietary worth than others as taro root incorporates fiber and potassium,” White says. She says that taro is comparatively nutrient dense basically (12).

Egg Pudding

Egg pudding tends to be decrease in energy, however incorporates extra sugar than different toppings. It incorporates 54 energy and 18 g of sugar per serving (3, 13).

Chia Seeds

White says chia seeds are a good way so as to add extra vitamins to your boba tea—as they're wealthy in fiber, protein, omega-3 fat, and calcium (14).

Salted Cream Cheese Foam

Salted cream cheese foam is a thick, creamy topping that floats atop a plain tea base. Consider it as a boba-fied model of chilly foam, however with a salty-sweet taste. Salted cream cheese foam is made by mixing milk, a stabilizer, sugar, and salt. “This can probably enhance the sodium and energy of the beverage,” White says.

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The best way to Construct Your Boba Order

So, we’ve checked out totally different drink varieties and topping varieties—however what do you have to really order at a boba store to construct a more healthy boba tea?

The Easier, the Higher

On the subject of boba, White recommends preserving issues easy.

Go for a primary milk or fruit tea. Topping choices at boba outlets are likely to have added sugar, so attempt limiting your self to at least one topping.

At most boba outlets, you possibly can customise the extent of sugar syrup and ice in your drink. For a wholesome boba tea, go for much less sugar and extra ice. “Do not forget that sugar is integrated in most or all elements of bubble tea,” White says. Most toppings have added sugar, so it can most likely sweeten a base tea with much less sugar in it. Moreover, having a better quantity of ice will scale back the liquid and sugar in your cup.

Strive These Toppings

For much less sugar and extra vitamins, think about entire meals toppings equivalent to:

Recent fruit

Chia seeds

Different good choices embody:

Crimson bean

Taro boba

Tapioca boba

The Backside Line

On the finish of the day, boba tea is a deal with. Order what appeals most to you, however you can also make slight tweaks to your order for a more healthy possibility.

By preserving issues easy, selecting extra nutritious toppings, and choosing much less sugar and extra ice—you possibly can construct a wholesome boba tea order that’s not solely extra health-conscious, however scrumptious. Oh, and ensure to essentially commit when poking a straw into your cup (a stronger jab means much less mess).