guide
Mint tea and oriental pastries: cutting down on sugar without giving up the table
Less than 10% of energy from free sugars according to the WHO, and ideally 5%. What that means in teaspoons, how to lighten the glass of tea, and how to serve festive pastries.
Short answer
How do you cut sugar in mint tea? In small steps: one spoon less, sugar served on the side, and festive pastries in small portions at tea time rather than all day. The WHO recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy intake, and says that going down to 5% or less could bring additional health benefits (WHO, 2015). For someone eating about 2,000 kcal a day, 10% is about 50 g, roughly 12 teaspoons, and 5% is about 25 g, roughly 6 teaspoons. The sugar in the tea and the sugar in the pastries go into the same total, honey included. The aim is neither to cancel the festive table nor to treat sugar as an enemy, only to see where it goes.
What the WHO says, in teaspoons
"Free sugars" are the sugars added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, the cook or the consumer, plus those naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices (WHO, 2015). The sugar in the teapot, the honey on chebakia and the syrup on baklava all count. The sugars in whole fresh fruit and in milk are not covered by the recommendation. Two reference points for 2,000 kcal a day: less than 10% of energy, about 50 g or 12 level teaspoons; and, to go further, 5% or less, about 25 g or 6 teaspoons. These are general benchmarks, not personal prescriptions: a person with diabetes or under medical follow-up asks the doctor who follows them which benchmark suits them. The WHO's own equivalence (25 g for six teaspoons) gives about 4 g per teaspoon. That is enough to do the sum without scales.
Your glass of tea: do the sum
No recognised source gives a typical amount of sugar for a glass of mint tea: it depends on the household, the teapot and the size of the glass. The fairest approach is to work it out at home. Count the sugar that goes into the teapot (in cubes or spoons), divide by the number of glasses served, then multiply by the number of glasses you drink in a day. A sugar cube does not weigh the same everywhere: weigh one, once, on kitchen scales. A teaspoon is about 4 g according to the WHO. An example of a sum, not an average: if each glass holds the equivalent of three teaspoons, about 12 g, two glasses already make 24 g, which is the 5% benchmark, before any pastry. And honey? It does not leave the count: the WHO places it among free sugars. As for the glycaemic index, the international tables (Atkinson, Foster-Powell and Brand-Miller, 2008) give 65 for sucrose, table sugar, and 61 for honey, on the scale where glucose is 100. The two values are close, and the index says nothing about how much you pour into the glass. To understand the notion, read the glycaemic index explained simply.
Cutting down in steps, without deprivation
Does the palate adapt? There are signs, but they remain modest. In a pilot trial run by University College London and the University of Leeds (2019), 64 men who sweetened their tea were split into three groups for four weeks. At the end, 42% of those who had cut sugar gradually no longer sweetened their tea at all, against 36% of those who stopped at once and 6% of the control group, with no drop in how much they enjoyed tea. The authors call for a larger trial to confirm it. Another study (Wise et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2016) adds nuance: after three months of reducing their sugars, participants found some foods sweeter, but the level of sugar they preferred had not changed, and they went back to their earlier intake once they resumed their own habits. So it is neither automatic nor guaranteed: it is better to go slowly and keep what matters to you. The table below offers simple gestures, to be taken one at a time.
| Habit | Gentler version | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Two or three spoons of sugar per glass | One spoon less, then another a few weeks later | Less free sugar overall, the mint is tasted more |
| Sugar poured into the teapot at the start | Lightly sweetened pot, sugar served on the side in a bowl | Everyone sets their own glass, and those who want none take none |
| Several sweet glasses through the afternoon | One sweet glass, the next ones lightly sweetened or mint only | The day's total goes down, the tea moment stays |
| Honey instead of sugar, "because it is natural" | The same number of spoons less, whatever the kind of sugar | Honey counts as a free sugar for the WHO: the amount is what counts |
| A whole pastry with very sweet tea | A small piece or half a piece with lightly sweetened tea | You keep the pastry without adding two sweet things together |
| A tray of pastries on the table all evening | A small plate at tea time, the tray put away afterwards | You eat what you chose, not what comes to hand |
| Festive pastries around all week | Kept for feasts and visits, fresh fruit the other days | Sugar on ordinary days goes down, festive sugar stays |
Festive pastries: portions and moments
Gazelle horns, chebakia, baklava, makrout: these pastries are made with sugar, honey or syrup, and we found no recognised source that gives the sugar content of each. So we give no figure per piece. The lever is elsewhere: the portion, the moment, the frequency. The portion: one small piece, or half a piece of makrout or baklava, on a small plate rather than a tray in the middle of the table. The moment: with the afternoon tea or at the end of the festive meal, not continuously from the nap to dinner. The frequency: the big pastries for feasts, visits and weddings, and fresh fruit on ordinary days. If you are hosting, serve the sugar on the side and let everyone choose their glass; the tea that goes with the pastries can be the least sweet on the table. For anything about the diet of a person with diabetes or a treatment, it is the doctor who follows them who says what place pastries can have. You can also read foods and blood sugar day to day. Sehtin is preparing a complete guide on the low glycaemic index in Maghreb and Eastern cooking: you can ask to be told when it comes out, just below the article.
Frequently asked questions
How much sugar can you have a day according to the WHO? Free sugars, honey and syrups included, should stay below 10% of daily energy, and 5% or less could be better still (WHO, 2015). For 2,000 kcal, that is about 50 g, roughly 12 teaspoons, or about 25 g, roughly 6 teaspoons. Is honey in tea preferable to sugar? The WHO places honey among free sugars, and the international tables give 61 for honey and 65 for table sugar (Atkinson et al., 2008). The gap is slim: what changes the total is the number of spoons. Do you have to give up festive pastries? No. You can keep them in small portions, at tea time and for occasions, without leaving them on the table all week. If you have diabetes or a treatment, ask the doctor who follows you what place to give them.
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This article relays the public teachings of Dr. Diaa Al-Awadi for educational and informative purposes. It is not medical advice. Consult your physician before any dietary change. Legal notice.