Is Chai Tea Bad?

[mallory]

Does anyone know what the potassium and/or phosphate levels are for chai tea?  I drink it all day long at work to stay warm.  I drink Pacific Chai, the decaffeinated vanilla flavor.  It's a dry mix and you mix it with hot water.

I've searched all over the internet and read a lot of labels, but I can't find anything about chai.  I hope it's okay, I sure do love it.  If it's not good, I'll have to find something else hot to drink to keep me warm.

[goofynina]

I love a hot cup of "canela"  i am not too sure on what it's called in English though, all it is is cinnamon sticks boiled in water and a little sugar added,  Hopefully that isnt too bad for me, but then again,  i think Tequila Shots arent that good for me (but i still do them)   BAD GOOFYNINA, 

[Sara]

There isn't a label on the dry mix?   

[mallory]

Yes, there is a label on the mix, but it doesn't list any potassium or phosphorus.  But, down in the ingredients, it lists "dipotassium phosphate".  That sounds like potassium or phosphate to me, but it isn't listed in the nutritional content. 

These labels are not very kidney disease friendly.  I wish they'd list potassium and phosphate, even if it's to say there isn't any!

[BigSky]

Try emailing the company.

 Most tea mixes have around 40-50 mg of potassium.  It could vary quite a bit though depending on what type of tea leave they use to make the mix and what else they put into it.

[sandman]

Most tea mixes have around 40-50 mg of potassium.

Is that per container or per serving?

[BigSky]

It would be per serving.  Suggested serving size are 6 ozs. of made tea.

[mallory]

That was a good idea, BigSky, I should have thought of that.  I looked on the can and there was a number to call for the company.  They said they don't know how much potassium or phosphorus are in their tea.  They even put me on hold and checked around, no one knows.  I explained to them that this is important information for people with kidney disease, they really didn't seem too concerned.

Maybe I should just switch to Tequila Shots, like Goofynina!

[Ohio Buckeye]

I sometimes drink green tea and wonder about that,
It is supposed to have antioxidants in it and I've hard
it is good for you.  Before I went on dialysis I asked my neph
about it and he said it was ok, but I've never asked since I've
been on dialysis. 

[Panda_9]

I would definitely check with the dietition. I know we all are sick of seeing them, but they would be the best person to ask. I have never been told to watch my tea intake, only coffee (of course it counts as fluid as well). Take the packet to the dietition and if they dont know they can at least go and look up what the ingredients are.
If you for example had 2 cups of normal tea in a day, I wouldnt bother counting that.

[carson]

I work in a restaurant so I will check our Chai to see if it has any labelling but in the meantime...
why don't you buy chai tea bags and make it that way, or make it from scratch at home like my husband has done long before he met me:

cinnamon sticks
cloves
ginger
black tea bags (orange pekoe, english breakfast, etc)
I think he might even add a cardomom pod or 2 as well

heat the milk slowly in a saucepan, add the above ingredients, stir around for about 5 or so minutes (depends how strong you like it)and be careful not to scorch it. Remove bags if you don't want it too strong and let the spices get into the "tea". You can add sugar or sweetener to your cup if you like it sweet (as the mixes are mostly sugar and that's what people like about it).

In Indian restaurants they call it Indian tea or Masala tea as well and this is how they make it.
It's really good, especially if you live in a place with cold or damp seasons!!

[carson]

Yep, just checked with hubby and he said to add a cardomom pod or 2!

[leafsunbear]

Personally I would avoid any powdered chai tea or tea of any kind.   Chai especially because of the milk factor.  Most powdered milks are loaded with phosphates.  A easy way to get that chai fix that works for me is.  Buy a good chai tea, bag style,  make the tea & instead of adding regular milk I add canned sweetened condensed milk.  Just a touch will do you and it really has a good flavor.  The big problem with Chai tea is that Chai tea is basically saying the same thing twice  chai is tea so chai tea is tea tea.  Masala Chai is the spicy Indian tea that we all love.  It can be made so many ways that it would take days to go over the different recipes.  I have had it with the spices steeped with the tea,  With the spices put in a strainer and the hot tea poured over them as it is served, with milk, with soy milk,  without milk, all kinds of ways.  Maybe get a good recipe and make it yourself in large amounts and keep it cold.  Then you can just take a thermo to work with you and heat it up as you like.  Adding what ever milk product you like after you heat the tea back up.  Unless you plan on drinking it right away I would leave milk products out of it.  Hope this helps. 
LSB
ps;  if you ever want to try a high caffeine tea( not as much as coffee though)  try Yerba Mate'.  It has a very green earthy taste,  but with a touch of mint it's a real eye opener....

[twirl]

yes, it is bad
have you ever tasted it?

[glitter]

yes, it is bad
have you ever tasted it?

 

[pelagia]

The USDA has a database that has pretty complete nutrient information for many different types of food:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=15869

but, it's pretty hard to use unless you are a numbers geek.

There are software programs that provide a user friendly interface to the data.  I found one on the web for my mac and it's working pretty well.  I looked up the main ingredients of chai - besides tea it's things like cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, anise, ginger and other spices depending on what brand you buy (I have made my own mix in the past).

It looks to me like most of the spices are reasonably low in phosphorus and potassium especially considering that the actual amount used for a cup is on the order of a less than a 1/4 teaspoon relative to the tea itself:

Cinnamon, ground, 1 tbsp - 4.1 mg phosphorus, 34.0 mg potassium
Cardamon, ground, 1 tbsp - 10.3 mg phosphorus, 64.9 mg potassium
Anise, seed, 1 tbsp - 29.5 phosphorus, 96.5 mg potassium
ginger, ground, 1 tbsp - 8.0 phosphorus, 72.5 potassium

As someone mentioned above, the milk would be very high in phosphorus.  Some of the soymilks, rice milks and even almond milks have much less phosphorus and potassium than milk (not to push a brand, but unsweetened almond breeze is the lowest overall that I have found at the local supermarket).  You could also use the liquid non-dairy creamer to get the milk flavor of chai.

cheers!