They put WHAT in herbal tea?!?!

[StephKSwain]

Am feeling absolutely GUTTED right now. Finishing up Day 11 of a Whole30 with my husband and we are both doing great and feeling great. We were eating this way about 80% of the time for the past 3 months, but we never imagined just how much better we would feel when we committed 100%. Well....maybe 99.99999%

 

Tonight, we are staying at a friend's house to watch their 3 year old because they're at the hospital giving birth to a new baby. We brought our own food and talked about our plan to avoid the urges in their house full of culinary wonders (the husband is a chef and sommelier...the temptations are rampant). After our dinner, I decided to have a cup of herbal tea, something we've been doing most nights. They didn't have any of the usuals we drink, so I chose a Hibiscus tea (organic, free trade, herbal, heart-healthy, hippy dippy, etc....) and then, on a whim, decided to read the ingredients list. It had stevia leaf in it. I was so annoyed. Something disguised as health food with a sweetener most people wouldn't think to look for. So we passed and I moved on to the next choice, peach herbal something. Since I was disappointed by the Hibiscus label, I read this one too and it had SOY LECITHIN in it. Gross! 

 

I went back for another look at teas and decided to go with the Peppermint Green Tea from Trader Joe's. It's a holiday special and we have it at home. I casually glanced at the ingredients, sure I wasn't going to be disappointed. But it has....SUGAR. (The below Amazon posting for the tea shows images of the ingredients list.)

http://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Decaffeinated-Favorite-Peppermint/dp/B006131UYK

 

So here's my issue - we have not broken the rules AT ALL. We take the supplements. We exercise. We get the sleep. We drink the water. I'm even eating kimchi, and I DESPISE fermented foods. Most days, I drink a cup or two of herbal tea throughout the day. I've checked the ingredient list online for my usuals and they're safe, but I have had this Peppermint Green Tea at home on two occasions. It never even occurred to me to check the ingredients list for green tea. Do I really have to start completely over? The dietary info is still listed as 0g of sugar, so there can't be much. But still, I feel like I've cheated.

 

Advice?

[annabel]

I think that sort of thing happens to nearly everyone, so don't get too stressed out by it.

 

Don't drink anymore of the tea, but you've been doing your best to follow the plan and you haven't intentionally had sugar.  Other people have asked this same sort of question and I'm about 99.9% sure that the moderators have said that this sort of situation doesn't constitute a re-start.

[Tom Denham]

Take it as a lesson learned and just move on. Sugar in a situation like this does not push the reset button and you can safely move on. But let's get real here. The name of the tea is CANDY CANE green tea! You didn't read the label on CANDY CANE green tea before drinking it? CANDY CANE!

[justmary]

You might find this article interesting, too. I know I did! 

 

http://foodbabe.com/2013/08/21/do-you-know-whats-really-in-your-tea/

[StephKSwain]

Take it as a lesson learned and just move on. Sugar in a situation like this does not push the reset button and you can safely move on. But let's get real here. The name of the tea is CANDY CANE green tea! You didn't read the label on CANDY CANE green tea before drinking it? CANDY CANE!

 

I really thought they were just dressing up "peppermint" for the holidays. It certainly doesn't taste like candy canes....not even sweet. Just minty and fresh! But yes, I should have known better. 

 

Thanks everyone!