A cup of chai comes with a host of health benefits, but many versions are also packed with sugar. How can you avoid getting spoonsful of sweetener in your chosen brew? The trick is in knowing how it’s made.
BEWARE THE COFFEE SHOP "CHAI LATTE"
The amount of sugar you’ll find in your chai entirely depends on how it’s made. Coffee shops are particularly well known for delivering what they call a "chai latte" that packs a heavy sugary punch. In fact, in the UK, a study revealed that many coffee shop chai drinkscontained up to 25 teaspoons of sugar in just one serving.
You can mostly thank chai powder mixes for this sugar spike. They’re crammed with sugar, so that a single small "chai latte" may contain 20 grams or four teaspoons of sugar. Add in extra syrups famous in some coffee stores and you can see how you might get yourself into a sweet mess.
If you want to avoid excessive sugar in your chai, find out whether your coffee shop’s chai is made with a spice blend or comes in powdered form. Powders always have more sugar packed into them.
WHY PRANA CHAI ADDS HONEY
At Prana Chai, we add a small amount of honey to our Original Masala Blend. In a two-teaspoon serving of masala chai, you’re getting four grams of sugar.
We find honey gives the blend a more balanced flavour and adds a touch of natural sweetness to the mix that’s just right. It’s also a natural preservative that will ensure your chai blend lasts longer.
But our final reason is our favourite - honey helps prevent “de-blending”, so every spoonful of chai you put into your pot contains all the different spices and ingredients. The heavier stuff isn’t going to sink to the bottom of the mix.
For those who don’t do honey (diabetics and vegans, we’re looking at you), our Vegan Blend swaps out honey for agave syrup, which has low GI.
Want to know more about the ingredients in your chai? Find out more about chai and the impacts on your health at Prana Chai today.
