Milk Straws

Growing up in Wisconsin, we had milk served at every meal. I had milk on my cereal for breakfast and a glass of milk with lunch and dinner daily. Our family of four went through 3 gallons of milk each week. Every once in a while my Dad would sneak one of those gallons as chocolate milk past my mother. My dad and brother and I would have the chocolate milk gone in no time!

I saw a really cool new product that I just had to tell you about. Milk consumption has been declining for years, especially in the diets of children and adolescents. Surveys have found the children will drink more milk if it is flavored. The concern is that the flavoring adds more sugar and calories and is less nutritious.

MyPyramid recommends 2-3 cups of milk or other dairy on a daily basis. It is well documented that milk is a nutritional powerhouse of nutrients, including an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D, protein, riboflavin, potassium, phosphorus, and others.

At my conference last week I saw these new "Sipahh" straws that are only 15 calories with 2 grams of sugar. You basically put the straw into an 8-ounce glass of milk and as you drink the milk it tastes sweet and has the flavor of the straw. The straws come in chocolate, strawberry, banana, and cookies and cream.

I could not believe that they were only 15 calories. They use a blend of sugar and splenda to keep the calories down. If your kids aren't drinking enough milk or ask for chocolate milk all the time instead of regular milk, give these straws a try. Hopefully the end result will be your kids drinking more milk (and they work for adults, too!) without all of the added sugar.

For more information on Sipahh, visit www.sipahh.com
Logo courtesy of www.sipahh.com