Is drinking a cup of tea with milk (or whatever it is called) considered a proper snack?

No, it’s not a snack, it’s just a cup of tea. And it does not have a lot of calories. A tablespoon of whole milk is 49 calories; if it is skim milk it’s only 5.

@zenvelo – probably just a typo, but whole milk has ~9 calories per tablespoon.

Only if you’re British.

I consider food to be a snack, tea is not food, therefore; tea is not a snack.

Tea with milk is not a snack . It is a beverage drink.

No, it is a drink. That contains a few categories (not a lot).

^^ (Too much caffeine?)

It depends on whether you are talking about raw calorie intake as well as exactly what you mean by a cup of tea with milk.

While it is true that a tea cup of tea and a tablespoon of skimmed milk don’t really amount to much. However, in contrast, if you go to your local coffee shop and order something like a chi latte with whole milk you are looking at a whipping 320 calories, which from a calorie perspective pretty much blows an entire snacking budget for the day.

I don’t think of tea as a snack. It sounds to me like your friend was being alarmist.

It depends on whether you’re having a little tea with your milk or a little milk with your tea.

The first is a snack. The latter is a warm beverage.

Tea is a wonderful beverage. I take it black usually. It can fill me up and prevent me from consuming empty calories I truly do not need. It is not a snack and for those who don’t really need one, it may be an excellent substitute for a snack.

If you truly require supplemental nutrition between meals, you should carefully select the size and content of the portion you consume.

@Dr_Lawrence : I select, with great care, a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch.

@cprevite Brits only consider tea to be a snack if it’s accompanied by chocolate biscuits, smoked salmon sandwiches or a tub of ice-cream. :-D We call a light early-evening meal “tea” even if the beverage tea is not included. This might be where confusion has arisen.

I was asked about this about 3 years ago. The decision was that consistency is the key. Would you consider a milkshake a snack? Calories aren’t a determining factor since some drinks can have tons of calories (Fruit juices for one). Tea is as thin as water, so your body would easily metabolize it. The point of a snack is to give your body something to tide it over until a meal. All solid foods can be considered snack-worthy, but if a liquid is as thin as water it can’t be considered a snack. I know I’m jumping all over the place here but since being a diabetic I’ve been learning almost everything you possibly can about food.