#1701 Bolus 4 - Boba Tea
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Jenny and Scott talk about how to bolus for Boba tea.
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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.
Scott Benner (0:00) Hello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Juicebox Podcast. (0:14) In every episode of Bolus 4, Jenny Smith and I are gonna take a few minutes to talk through how to bolus for a single item of food. (0:21) Jenny and I are gonna follow a little bit of a roadmap called MEALBOLT. (0:26) Measure the meal, Evaluate yourself, Add the base units, Layer a correction, Build the bolus shape, Offset the timing, Look at the CGM, Tweak for next time. (0:37) Having said that, these episodes are gonna be very conversational and not incredibly technical.
Scott Benner (0:43) We want you to hear how we think about it, but we also would like you to know that this is kind of the pathway we're considering while we're talking about it. (0:51) So while you might not hear us say every letter of MEALBOLT in every episode, we will be thinking about it while we're talking. (0:58) If you wanna learn more, go to JuiceboxPodcast.com/meal-bolt. (1:04) But for now, we'll find out how to bolus for today's subject. (1:10) While you're listening, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise.
Scott Benner (1:18) Always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. (1:29) Jenny, we're gonna do boba or bubble tea. (1:33) I think those are the same things. (1:35) Right? (1:35) Now how do I find—
Jenny Smith (1:37) Are they the same thing? (1:38) I wanna make sure they're the same thing.
Scott Benner (1:39) You see if they're the same thing, and I'll look for a popular boba tea brand.
Jenny Smith (1:44) Boba and bubble tea? (1:45) Yeah. (1:46) Our bubble—oh, it even comes up in my search. (1:48) I know that I've never searched for this before, so clearly, the internet is listening to us. (1:53) Yes.
Jenny Smith (1:53) Boba and bubble tea refer to the same drink, which is a tea-based beverage typically includes chewy tapioca pearls. (1:58) See, like, I like tapioca. (2:00) Why am I drinking it in tea? (2:02) That does— (2:03) I don't understand.
Jenny Smith (2:05) Can you make this—is this should be one of those "I don't understand," Scott. (2:08) Can you make me understand?
Scott Benner (2:09) Well, I don't understand. (2:10) Actually, I could get Arden back on. (2:11) I think "I don't understand boba tea" would be a pretty good conversation because she'll talk about it very lovingly. (2:18) Okay. (2:19) So I have one here.
Scott Benner (2:21) I mean, I don't know. (2:22) ShareTea, S-H-A-R-E-T-E-A, menu. (2:26) They have nutritional facts, so we're gonna go with it. (2:31) Oh, holy hell. (2:32) Hold on.
Scott Benner (2:33) Just start—just snorting.
Jenny Smith (2:35) At the nutrition?
Scott Benner (2:36) Think I've ever snorted before on the podcast. (2:39) Yeah. (2:39) I've seen the nutritional facts.
Jenny Smith (2:40) Are they pretty ridiculous? (2:42) I've never even looked. (2:43) I guess, you know, that's kind of one of the other things. (2:46) When I see drinks—as you saw on that woman that you were talking about, right, carrying the drink—
Scott Benner (2:52) Oh, that's something we were talking about when we weren't recording, but go ahead. (2:54) Right. (2:54) Yeah. (2:55) Right.
Jenny Smith (2:55) Right. (2:55) But when you're talking about that, like, in my mind, I can—I'm a very visual person. (3:00) So when people talk, I can, like, visually see it in my head. (3:03) And all of those cups of something that contain a liquid, in my—my brain right away is like, oh my god. (3:10) You're drinking so many calories.
Scott Benner (3:11) Yeah.
Jenny Smith (3:12) Like, it's not a judgment of the—it's just a judgment of the actual beverage. (3:16) And I'm like, just get a cup of water or get some sparkling water. (3:20) Get—
Scott Benner (3:20) See, it's funny. (3:21) I think about, like, if you're gonna have those calories, like—I mean, I guess they must love them, but, like, you know, the drinks. (3:26) But I—I think, like, go have some ice cream or something like—
Jenny Smith (3:30) Right.
Scott Benner (3:31) Awesome. (3:31) Like, you know what I mean?
Jenny Smith (3:32) Like—And I think what you—what you said there is actually interesting because I—I don't think a lot of people outside of those with diabetes that knew—know bolusing and insulin need and that kind of thing, and they're looking at the facts label. (3:44) In general, people do not consider beverages calories. (3:49) They don't.
Scott Benner (3:50) See, I think that's where I'm at too and why I'm trying to include some of these in here. (3:55) I don't think that it's not even maybe considered half the time, like, that it has an impact at all. (4:00) And I'm not talking about something weird like coffee really hits me hard. (4:03) I hear people say that sometimes.
Jenny Smith (4:05) Right.
Scott Benner (4:05) But I'm talking about, like, there's a lot in those drinks, and I don't—I don't think you know. (4:10) So this website has a milky series, a fresh brew, a fruity beverage, non-caffeinated matcha. (4:16) I definitely don't know what matcha is. (4:18) Ice—ice blend.
Jenny Smith (4:19) I don't—
Scott Benner (4:19) know what matcha—
Jenny Smith (4:20) Oh, matcha is like a green tea powder.
Scott Benner (4:22) Okay.
Jenny Smith (4:22) I love matcha. (4:23) I have a cup of matcha every day, but I guarantee it's not full of sugar.
Scott Benner (4:27) This ain't your matcha then. (4:29) Okay?
Jenny Smith (4:29) It's not my matcha.
Scott Benner (4:30) Okay. (4:30) Because I'll just give you this one from—let's see. (4:33) Strawberry Matcha with Fresh Milk. (4:35) Does that sound good?
Jenny Smith (4:36) Sure. (4:37) That sounds great.
Scott Benner (4:38) 532 calories, four grams of saturated fat, 126 milligrams of sodium, 111 carbs, 100 grams of sugar.
Jenny Smith (4:47) What's the ounces of this?
Scott Benner (4:49) I don't know if it says here. (4:51) No. (4:52) It doesn't say there. (4:52) Sorry on the size. (4:54) They don't have sizes.
Scott Benner (4:55) They just have the breakdown.
Jenny Smith (4:56) So our estimate would be maybe 16 ounces.
Scott Benner (5:00) Oh, you think?
Jenny Smith (5:02) Right?
Scott Benner (5:02) I don't know how to tell. (5:03) Hold on. (5:04) Let me see. (5:04) Drink menu. (5:06) Let me go to the menu.
Scott Benner (5:07) Okay. (5:08) Let see if I can figure it out. (5:09) What do I say?
Jenny Smith (5:10) That many grams of carb, my estimate is that's gotta be at least two cups or 16 ounces of the beverage.
Scott Benner (5:18) I know. (5:18) I'm clicking matcha series, strawberry matcha, fresh milk. (5:24) Fresh milk, Jenny. (5:25) It's got fresh milk in it.
Jenny Smith (5:26) Fresh. (5:26) They must have a cow out back.
Scott Benner (5:28) Well, you know, it occurs to me for the marketing people, really can't drink milk if it's not—if it's not fresh. (5:35) True.
Jenny Smith (5:36) I'm gonna want curdled milk along with your tapioca pearl.
Scott Benner (5:39) Does not tell me what size they are. (5:42) I'm so sorry.
Jenny Smith (5:43) Okay.
Scott Benner (5:44) Yeah. (5:44) I wish it did. (5:45) Actually, that might be more fun. (5:46) Anyway, let's go back to milky series boba, I guess. (5:52) I mean, there's a tons of different—would you like to look at the Thai Pearl Milk Tea?
Scott Benner (5:56) How about the Mango Green Milk Tea, Classic Pearl Green Milk Tea, Classic Pearl Black? (6:01) Just pick one, Jenny. (6:02) Coffee Milk Tea with coffee.
Jenny Smith (6:04) How about we just pick—pick one that has—if we're looking at the milky ones, I—I mean, that's strawberry milky whatever you were talking about.
Scott Benner (6:13) That was the matcha. (6:14) Now we're gonna—Oh,
Jenny Smith (6:15) that was the matcha.
Scott Benner (6:16) There's a Mango Green Milk Tea.
Jenny Smith (6:18) Great. (6:19) Let's do that one.
Scott Benner (6:21) Okay. (6:22) There's 14 grams of fat in it, 83 milligrams of sodium, 114 carbs, 92 grams of sugar.
Jenny Smith (6:31) And we've talked about that before. (6:33) Right? (6:33) The breakdown of grams of sugar versus total carbohydrates?
Scott Benner (6:36) Mhmm.
Jenny Smith (6:37) This is mostly sugar.
Scott Benner (6:40) Yeah. (6:40) You're gonna be mainlining this.
Jenny Smith (6:42) You are, like—Yeah. (6:43) Bolus strategy, man. (6:45) You better hope that your blood sugar's, like, falling off a cliff with this before you start drinking it because, man—
Scott Benner (6:51) So—so you're not joking, though. (6:53) Right? (6:53) Like, if this was accessible to you while you were about to have a low blood sugar, that might be the level of pre—
Jenny Smith (7:02) Bolus fix it.
Scott Benner (7:03) Making in—in quotes, a "pre-bolus" that you might need. (7:06) And you're depending on what's making your blood sugar low, you might need to bolus for this pretty quickly afterwards.
Jenny Smith (7:12) Yes.
Scott Benner (7:12) Yeah. (7:13) That's how hard it's—I don't know how to tell people to bolus for this stuff.
Jenny Smith (7:17) Yeah. (7:17) This is a 100% a—you need a pre-bolus for this.
Scott Benner (7:21) Mhmm.
Jenny Smith (7:21) In fact, it might be along the same lines as the idea of a Super Bolus, right, where you may actually take the bolus recommendation. (7:30) I mean, we're using a one to 10 ratio. (7:32) This was what? (7:33) 114 grams of total carbohydrate?
Scott Benner (7:35) This one. (7:36) Yeah.
Jenny Smith (7:36) Right? (7:37) So what's eleven units of insulin? (7:39) That's a lot of insulin.
Scott Benner (7:41) My gosh.
Jenny Smith (7:41) For a drink?
Scott Benner (7:42) And that's if you're at a one to 10.
Jenny Smith (7:45) Right.
Scott Benner (7:45) Can you imagine if you're, like, you have insulin resistance or yeah. (7:48) Yeah. (7:48) Yeah. (7:49) Jeez.
Jenny Smith (7:49) That's—Right.
Scott Benner (7:50) That's a lot. (7:51) Like, I mean, listen. (7:53) I'm not telling anybody how to eat. (7:55) For me, this would be a, like, it's better to skip it situation. (7:59) Or, you know, because I don't know how—
Jenny Smith (8:02) Or can you—can I have the espresso shot size, please? (8:05) It's only 15 grams of carb.
Scott Benner (8:08) I'm looking at this. (8:09) You randomly picked one with a lower carb on this list.
Jenny Smith (8:14) Than most of the other ones?
Scott Benner (8:15) Yeah. (8:15) There's, like, eight—one, two, three, four, five. (8:18) There's maybe 15 different drinks on this list. (8:22) The carb—I'll go down the carbs for you. (8:25) Okay.
Scott Benner (8:25) One of them has 153 carbs, 42 sugars. (8:28) One has a 154, 45, 154, 45. (8:32) 175, 64. (8:36) 99, 52, 92, 59, 150, 46, 202, 202, 85. (8:44) Thai Pearl Milk Tea, large.
Scott Benner (8:47) 182 to 52, 114, 144, 160, 160. (8:52) The—there's a 150 carbs, 200 carbs in some of these things.
Jenny Smith (8:56) And I wonder if many of the carbs—like the typical name brand or nationwide coffee shops, let's say, have sweetening syrups that you would add to this for many of these flavors. (9:09) Like, is it real—the one that I picked, right, was mango something. (9:13) Is it real mango that's mashed up and pureed within this, or is it a mango syrup that's added just for flavoring? (9:20) Because that—that can make a choice difference. (9:24) You know?
Jenny Smith (9:25) I don't—again, like you, I don't want people thinking, well, gosh, this is like a—no, not ever.
Scott Benner (9:30) Right.
Jenny Smith (9:31) However, would be a very important situation of pre-bolusing. (9:36) But could you make it easier on your blood sugar management? (9:41) Are there options—if there are syrups that are added for flavor? (9:45) Could you ask if there are sugar-free syrup options?
Scott Benner (9:49) Yeah. (9:50) I mean—
Jenny Smith (9:50) Right?
Scott Benner (9:51) Yeah. (9:52) I mean, I—I guess we gotta get past our—my even my, like, I'm nowhere near astonished. (9:58) I'm nowhere near Jenny on—
Jenny Smith (9:59) You were like, what?
Scott Benner (10:00) Yeah. (10:00) I'm—listen. (10:01) I don't even come close to Jenny's, you know, idea of nutrition, like, for my—my own personal life, and I'm stunned by this. (10:08) Like, that's really crazy. (10:10) I'm looking to see is there some national chain that has boba that we could—because I have to tell you, like, Arden, like, slinks off to, like, some—I think it's, a Chinese food place that has boba.
Scott Benner (10:24) Like, that's where she gets it from. (10:25) Starbucks drops its version of bubble tea for the first time, 2024. (10:30) Boba milk tea at Starbucks, but then I googled it, and it seems like they don't have it anymore maybe. (10:37) Yeah. (10:37) Starbucks discontinued selling boba.
Jenny Smith (10:40) Oh, interesting. (10:41) Yeah. (10:42) There's—I looked up a list. (10:44) There are 11 bubble tea franchise businesses that are at the top in the US. (10:50) There are B&T is one.
Jenny Smith (10:54) Bubbleology.
Scott Benner (10:56) People who love it are probably, like, yelling their favorite ones at the thing. (10:59) Right, Nate? (11:00) Bubbleology? (11:00) Is that what you just said?
Jenny Smith (11:01) Is one. (11:03) It's interesting. (11:04) Kung Fu Tea is one, and we actually have a Kung Fu Tea here.
Scott Benner (11:08) Live Bubbleology website. (11:12) Very exciting website. (11:13) Look at that. (11:14) Drinks. (11:15) They have waffles too.
Scott Benner (11:16) Can you imagine? (11:18) How am I bolusing for waffles and bubble tea at the same time? (11:22) Milk, fruit, coffee, specials, bubble fizz. (11:26) I mean—
Jenny Smith (11:27) Happy Lemon looks like is one of them.
Scott Benner (11:31) Well, here's one that just says fruit, strawberry. (11:34) Yeah. (11:34) There—this is a very—
Jenny Smith (11:36) Bamboo Desserts and Drinks is another one.
Scott Benner (11:40) Way they're gonna list the nutritional facts on this website? (11:42) Let's see.
Jenny Smith (11:43) Probably not.
Scott Benner (11:44) I wouldn't if I was them. (11:46) What is bubble tea? (11:48) Let's see what bubble tea is real quick. (11:49) Sorry, everybody. (11:50) This might have gotten sideways on me.
Scott Benner (11:52) "A name given to a wide variety of refreshing flavored fruit teas and milk teas served ice-cold or piping hot with chewy tapioca balls that you suck up through a big fat straw. (12:04) Yum. (12:05) It's like a quirky snack and drink in one. (12:08) The tapioca balls are sometimes referred to as pearls or boba, which some people say over time has evolved into the word bubble." (12:15) Isn't it interesting how language can do that?
Scott Benner (12:17) Who wrote this? (12:18) You should be ashamed of yourself. (12:21) "However, the true origins of the name come from the small floating bubbles that are created by the vigorous shaking involved in making bubble tea." (12:28) There's gonna be vigorous shaking at some point.
Jenny Smith (12:31) Like a martini? (12:33) Shake it, not—
Scott Benner (12:34) I was thinking when you take all that insulin and end up having a seizure. (12:38) I don't know how to do this. (12:39) Like, there's—they don't—
Jenny Smith (12:42) They don't really have the nutrition facts.
Scott Benner (12:44) Ain't looking allergic—allergen information?
Jenny Smith (12:49) And most of the places that I'm looking at also don't have nutrition facts, so it is really—Yeah. (12:56) It is really your best probably honest guess would be to use, like, ChatGPT and ask for this size with the—see these ingredients. (13:06) I mean, most of these places will list or at least will tell you if you ask what are the ingredients that go into this drink. (13:12) Right?
Scott Benner (13:12) Right.
Jenny Smith (13:13) And if so, you could feed it into something that could technically give you some way to estimate. (13:20) Or like you did, you just looked up some drinks, and it gave you at least a nutrition breakdown.
Scott Benner (13:26) Well, for Arden, like, there was a lot of trial and error on trying to figure out how to bolus for this.
Jenny Smith (13:32) And what does she do? (13:33) I mean, that's probably the best—
Scott Benner (13:35) The first time she tried 45 carbs, I was like, I don't think that's gonna work. (13:39) So—and and it didn't, by the—Yeah. (13:43) Yeah. (13:43) This one, maybe boba falls under the, GFL, which stands for—
Jenny Smith (13:49) We know what that stands for.
Scott Benner (13:51) Good Luck. (13:51) Yeah. (13:52) Like, I don't know. (13:53) Jesus Christ. (13:55) Yeah.
Scott Benner (13:56) I mean, guys, do your best to find out how many carbs are really in it. (13:59) I would listen. (14:00) If I—I this one, I would talk about again from, like, a safety perspective. (14:05) I think start aggressive but slowly and try to figure it out, you know, because—
Jenny Smith (14:11) Another option would be to start small.
Scott Benner (14:15) Yeah.
Jenny Smith (14:15) Right? (14:16) Don't get the largest one on the menu. (14:18) If you've never done this before, an—an option would really be get their smallest size, bolus for it, expect you're going to need a pretty good pre-bolus, almost seeing blood sugar actually coming down before you start to drink it, and then evaluate. (14:35) Right? (14:35) And if you can figure out something small, my professional recommendation would be stick with the small because you're not getting a 120 grams of carbohydrate at one time.
Scott Benner (14:46) Yeah.
Jenny Smith (14:47) But if you choose to go bigger, then know that your strategy is probably going to have to be just as strong, if not a bit stronger.
Scott Benner (14:55) Jenny, if you'd like to open up a ShareTea franchise, you're gonna need a minimum investment of $300,000 and a 100,000—that's gonna need to be liquid capital.
Jenny Smith (15:04) I probably won't be doing that.
Scott Benner (15:05) No. (15:05) But then you can just jump right in and start mainlining sugar into the people, and I'm assuming you'll be incredibly successful at it. (15:12) There are 400 stores worldwide.
Jenny Smith (15:15) Wow. (15:15) That's a lot.
Scott Benner (15:16) It is a lot. (15:17) 400 is a a lot. (15:19) Okay, guys. (15:20) Please don't drink sugar. (15:21) Thank you.
Scott Benner (15:21) That's all. (15:22) Jeez. (15:22) Anyway—
Jenny Smith (15:23) Good luck.
Scott Benner (15:24) Yeah. (15:24) Thanks so much. (15:25) To all of you, God bless. (15:34) In each episode of the Bolus 4 series, Jenny Smith and I are gonna pick one food and talk through the bolusing for that food. (15:43) We hope you find it valuable.
Scott Benner (15:45) Generally speaking, we're gonna follow a bit of a formula, the MEALBOLT formula, M-E-A-L-B-O-L-T. (15:53) You can learn more about it at JuiceboxPodcast.com/meal-bolt. (15:59) But here's what it is. (16:00) Step one, M, Measure the meal. (16:05) E, Evaluate yourself, A, Add the base units, L, Layer a correction, B, Build the bolus shape, O, Offset the timing, L, Look at the CGM, and T, Tweak for next time.
Scott Benner (16:23) In a nutshell, we Measure our meal, total carbohydrates, protein, fat, consider the glycemic index and the glycemic load, and then we Evaluate yourself. (16:34) What's your current blood sugar? (16:35) How much insulin's on board? (16:36) And what kind of activity are you gonna be involved in or not involved in? (16:40) Do have any stress, hormones, illness?
Scott Benner (16:43) What's going on with you? (16:45) Then A, we Add the base units. (16:47) Your carbs divided by insulin to carb ratio, just a simple bolus. (16:52) L, Layer a correction. (16:54) Right?
Scott Benner (16:54) Do you have to add or subtract insulin based on your current blood sugar? (16:58) Build the bolus shape. (17:00) Are we gonna give it all upfront, a 100%, a fast digesting meal, or is there gonna be like a combo or a square wave bolus? (17:07) Does it have to be extended? (17:09) Offset the timing.
Scott Benner (17:11) This is about pre-bolusing. (17:12) Does it take a couple of minutes this meal or maybe twenty minutes? (17:16) Are we gonna have to again consider combo square wave boluses and meals? (17:21) Figure out the timing of that meal. (17:23) And then L, Look at the CGM.
Scott Benner (17:26) An hour later, was there a fast spike? (17:28) Three hours later, was there a delayed rise? (17:30) Five hours later, is there any lingering effect from fat and protein? (17:34) Tweak. (17:36) Tweak for next time, T.
Scott Benner (17:38) What did you eat? (17:39) How much insulin and when? (17:41) What did your blood sugar curve look like? (17:44) What would you do next time? (17:46) This is what we're gonna talk about in every episode of Bolus 4.
Scott Benner (17:51) Measure the meal, Evaluate yourself, Add the base units, Layer a correction, Build the bolus shape, Offset the timing, Look at the CGM, Tweak for next time. (18:00) But it's not gonna be that confusing, and we're not gonna ask you to remember all of that stuff. (18:05) But that's the pathway that Jenny and I are gonna use to speak about each bolus. (18:13) The Juicebox Podcast is edited by Wrong Way Recording. (18:18) Wrongwayrecording.com.
Scott Benner (18:21) If you'd like your podcast to sound as good as mine, check out Rob at Wrongwayrecording.com.
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