The Flavoured Milk Wagon

Flavoured milk may bring the image of chocolate, spearmint and strawberry to mind but flavoured milk can also include many beverages in this somewhat crowded space.

Take a Break

Before we start talking about flavoured milk let’s establish that it is more important than ever to renew our energy throughout the day, particularly if we spend a lot of time sitting. One way of doing this is to take regular breaks to refuel or physically move to get our circulation flowing to brains and bodies and therefore increasing our well-being and productivity.

When we take a break, one of our most common habits is to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. Depending on where you are, the array of choices can be extremely limited or overwhelmingly diverse. They could range from a decaf skinny latte to a rich hot chocolate. It is very easy to dismiss our favourite beverage as a comforting pick me up without registering how much they are contributing to your daily diet. Not necessarily in a positive way either.

Which to Choose?

On the plus side, many cafes and roadhouses do use reduced fat milk when they are making beverages, due to the superior frothing ability of low fat milk. When considering the large amount of fat, sugar and calories in various types of full cream coffee, it can be advisable to request reduced fat milk, especially if you are consuming a few during the day.  To be sure you are choosing a regular or skinny coffee, just ask your barista.

Enjoying a coffee is one of the beautiful things in life from my perspective. However, I am aware that my best personal choice is a small without added sugar. Do you know what yours is?

Flavoured Milk of The Day

Flavoured milks are also a popular choice for many but can be equivalent to eating a meal as shown by a 600ml carton of ice coffee or choc milk. When choosing flavoured milk it is best to select the reduced fat 300ml variety, which provides a smaller number of calories while contributing a serve of calcium.

Just remember that taking regular breaks from behind the desk or wheel is vital to your health and well being but consider your choices when a break beckons and choose wisely.

The Sporty Advantage

As a kid I loved choc-milk, so it’s pretty exciting that it is championed by science. Sports nutrition research has shown that choc-milk, other favoured milk and just plain milk supplies the nutrition your body needs after exercise.  Studies have shown that women who drink 500ml of skim milk after training gain more muscle and lose more fat compared to women who drink carbohydrate drinks. There is good news for the men too.  Men who drink the same amount of skim milk after a resistance workout have been shown to gain 63% more muscle mass than those who drink carbohydrate-based beverages.

Milk and its flavoured counterparts provide you with:

• Carbohydrates to help refuel muscles and energy stores
• High quality protein to promote muscle recovery and growth
• Fluid and electrolytes to help replenish what is lost in sweat

We know that a combination of protein and carbohydrate is best for recovery after exercise and with the exception of cheese, dairy products are a winning combination of both. For some super delicious recipes based on dairy products go check out Legendairy where you will find something for everyone.