Is AriZona Green Tea Healthy?

Sipping on green tea might seem like a healthy choice, but if your go-to beverage is AriZona, you might want to re-think that. After all, have you ever actually taken the time to read an AriZona Green Tea nutrition label? It might be tasty, but it certainly isn't healthy.

According to the AriZona website, 8 ounces of the company's classic green tea with honey has 70 calories, comprising 18 grams of carbohydrates (17 of which are sugars). The beverage features zero fat and zero cholesterol and just 10 milligrams of sodium. Additionally, it accounts for 25 percent of your recommended daily dose of vitamin C.

Keep in mind that the classic 99-cent cans of the best-selling green tea aren't 8 ounces; they're 23 ounces. If you opt for a plastic bottle, or what the brand refers to as either the Short Boy or Tall Boy, you're looking at either 16 or 20 ounces.

This is worth noting, because most people consume an entire can or bottle when sipping on AriZona, which means that your calorie, carbohydrate and sugar intake is actually double or triple what is listed on the label.

According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, adults ages 19 and over should be consuming no more than 130 grams of carbohydrates per day to maintain optimal health. So drinking just one 23-ounce can of AriZona green tea means consuming 54 grams of carbohydrates, which is just over one-third of the total daily allotment. That's for just one beverage, not even a filling meal.

What's more, when you eagle-eye the AriZona Green Tea nutrition label, you might notice something a little off-putting. Despite touting itself as a 100 percent natural green tea, the beverage features high fructose corn syrup as the second most abundant ingredient.

According to the Mayo Clinic, added sugars are sugars and syrups that are often included in food processing — and high fructose corn syrup is one of them. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines recommends dedicating no more than 10 percent of your daily calories to added sugars (or 50 grams for a standard 2,000 calorie diet).

Given that not everyone eats 2,000 calories a day and the fact that 50 grams of added sugars is still pretty high, the American Heart Association takes it a step further and recommends that adult women should consume 100 calories or less of added sugar per day (or 25 grams of sugar) and men should eat no more than 150 (or 38 grams).

Read more: 6 Teas to Stock Up On and Their Health Benefits

If you can't imagine living without AriZona Green Tea in your life, consider switching from the carbohydrate-laden honey-sweetened version to AriZona Green Tea Zero. The zero calorie green tea has 0 calories and delivers less than 1 gram of carbohydrates per 8-ounce serving.

While the lack of calories and significantly reduced carbohydrates might seem like a godsend, keep in mind that the beverage still contains sucralose, an added sugar. However, given that it's less than 1 gram per serving and less than 3 per can, it's definitely a healthier choice than traditional AriZona Green Tea.

Then there's the AriZona Green Tea Energy Shot. This 2-ounce shot contains 5 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates and an abundance of vitamins B12, B6, niacin and folic acid.

It also contains considerable caffeine. The small bottle (which tastes just like the fan-favorite honey green tea) has a whopping 230 milligrams of caffeine sourced from green tea leaf extract. This beverage, too, has sucralose listed on its nutrition label.

Read more: 5 Unexpected Benefits of Drinking Matcha Tea