Bubble tea, the Taiwanese drink that blends black tea, milk, sugar, and chewy tapioca pearls, has become a fixture on high streets worldwide. New research suggests the drink carries a range of health risks that go well beyond its sugar content.
An investigation by Consumer Reports found elevated lead levels in bubble tea products sold in the United States. The source is likely the tapioca pearls themselves. Cassava plants, from which the pearls are derived, absorb lead and other heavy metals from soil during growth, and that contamination can carry through to the finished product.
Digestive and Physical Risks
The dense, starchy nature of tapioca pearls creates another set of problems. Eating large quantities can slow gastric emptying, a condition called gastroparesis, and in rare cases cause complete digestive blockages. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. People with already sluggish digestion face more severe consequences.
Guar gum, a thickener commonly used in bubble tea, is generally considered safe in small amounts but may contribute to constipation when consumed regularly.
For children, the pearls present a choking hazard that pediatricians have flagged for years. Adults are not exempt. Media reports in Singapore described a 19-year-old woman who died after inhaling three pearls through a partially blocked straw.
Kidney Stones and Long-Term Concerns
In 2023, doctors in Taiwan removed more than 300 kidney stones from a 20-year-old woman who had reportedly been substituting bubble tea for water. Certain ingredients in the drink, including oxalates and high phosphate levels, promote kidney stone formation. The case likely reflects extreme consumption, but the underlying chemistry is not unique to that patient.
Sugar Levels That Rival Soda
A standard serving of bubble tea contains between 20 and 50 grams of sugar. A can of Coca-Cola contains 35 grams. That comparison matters because research in Taiwan found that children who drank bubble tea regularly were 1.7 times more likely to develop cavities in their permanent teeth by age nine.
Public health experts in California have identified the drink as one contributor to rising obesity rates among young people, many of whom do not recognize the caloric load they are consuming. The combination of high sugar and fat raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic disease, and fatty liver disease, a condition driven by the same blood sugar spikes and fat storage patterns seen with other sugary products.
Mental Health Associations
Perhaps the least expected findings involve mental health. Studies of children in China who drink bubble tea frequently recorded higher rates of anxiety and depression. Separate research involving Chinese nurses found similar patterns in adults, linking regular consumption to anxiety, depression, fatigue, job burnout, and lower overall well-being, even after researchers controlled for other variables.
The mechanisms behind these associations are not yet fully established, and the research does not confirm causation. But the consistency of the findings across different populations adds weight to the concern.
Bubble tea is not uniquely dangerous as an occasional treat. Consumed frequently, however, the cumulative exposure to heavy metals, excess sugar, and other compounds presents risks that the drink’s colorful branding does little to advertise.
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
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