Iced Tea-A Great Summer Beverage

Iced Tea – A Great Summer Beverage

While Northeast Wisconsin has enjoyed temperatures in the upper 80’s for the past week, other parts of the country have experience warmer temperatures.  To trying to keep cool, it is important to stay hydrated.  In the United States, 85 percent of tea that is drunk is iced, making it a great beverage to enjoy on these hot summer days.

Drinking tea may reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and gastrointestinal cancers.   Whether you drink hot tea or cold tea the health benefits are the same.

If you enjoy sweetened tea, remember that the added sugar will result in an increase of calories.  Sweetened tea would best be drunk as a treat rather than a daily beverage. 
   
When shopping for tea, remember that a serving is eight ounces. Many of the bottled teas contain more than eight ounces.  Since people usually finish the bottle by themselves, it leads to multiple servings being consumer at one time. 

Read the ingredient listing to make sure genuine tea is listed as one of the first ingredients.  Otherwise you may end up with a tea-flavored drink.

It is easy to make your own iced tea.  Add one bag of your favorite tea to a cup of hot water, steep for five minutes then pour over ice.