Drinking tea is intricately intertwined into the fabric of our daily lives to such an extent that it’s difficult to imagine a day go by without a hot cup of tea and a tray of biscuits. Oh that moment of sheer happiness and relaxation!

Speaking of tea, everyone has his or her favourites. Some prefer ginger tea over green tea while others fawn over lemon tea. Not only there are numerous health benefits of green tea , also its a healthy drink for boosting up the metabolism.

Similarly, biscuit fans have their favourites too. Children enjoy cream-filled biscuits, whereas those meant for tea dipping are usually Parle-G and Marie. No harm there really until we start counting calories consumed during these happy hours.Read more about Milk in Tea-Reduces Health benefits!

Tea and biscuits is not the biggest culprit for calories but if you generally like to keep a tab on your daily calorie intake then read on.

Given below is a nutrition breakdown of various types of teas and their variations:

Now after the beverage analysis we come to the calorie-heavy part – the biscuits. To make this more relatable, we have provided nutritional values of the most common and popular biscuits in the market.

Type of BiscuitsCalories per biscuitsFatsCarbohydratesProteinsBritannia Marie Gold250.58g4.16g0.5gSunfeast Marie Light220.6g3.81g0.42gBritannia Nutri choice813.5g11g1.4gMcVities Digestive713.1g10.3g1.1gHide n Seek301.1g4.5g0.4gMilano Choco-chip cookies874.3g11g0.8gCream filled- bourbon673.1g9.2g0.7gWheat Rusk431g8g1gCake rusk1205g16g2gMilk rusk431g7g1gSooji Rusk431g8g1gGlucose- ParleG, Tiger220.6g3.6g1.25gCream Crackers391.2g6.07g0.75gMonaco salted150.68g1.95g0.21g

Please bear in mind that most biscuits are made from similar ingredients are not exactly a source of high nutrition. Wheat rusks are healthier than wheat biscuits, which in turn are healthier than the other biscuits. So, it simply boils down to the biscuit that is least loaded with calories.

What makes a biscuit healthy or unhealthy?

1.Wheat Flour: The term wheat flour mentioned in ingredients list is the refined wheat flour a.k.a. maida. These refined forms of flour barely contain any fibre. They also lose all vitamins during the processing. Due to the lack of fibre it can cause many digestive issues like constipation and irregular bowel movement leading to weight gain.

2. Hydrogenated fat: It is a type of trans fat, which is used during the processing of biscuits to increase their shelf life. Trans fat is known to increase bad cholesterol and decrease good cholesterol levels in the body. They also increase chances of diabetes and cardiovascular disorders.

3.Sugar: Biscuits contain moderate to high amounts of sugar and act as empty calories. If taken in higher amounts it can cause various disorders such as obesity, diabetes, etc. It also gives sudden spike to the blood sugar levels.

In a nutshell:

  • Biscuits cannot be low on calories, because two out of three major ingredients are extremely calorific with little to no nutritional benefits.
  • Biscuits are not a good source of fibre. In fact, one serving of fruit provides as much fibre as a biscuit, but with negligible calories.
  • Biscuits that are high in sugar and low on nutrition can harm your body when taken in excess and at wee hours of the day.
  • Avoid eating biscuits after a heavy workout session because muscles of the body are usually tired after exercising and need something nutritious.

Interesting Fact: Britannia Marie Gold says, 1 pack of Marie Gold contains the same amount of protein as a glass of milk. But one pack of Marie Gold contains 616 calories, whereas 1 glass of low fat milk is about 60-80 calorie with added health benefits. Now you can decide your own source of protein.