No Sugar Added Chocolate Milk

Hi, All! Since Hood has reformulated their Carb Countdown milks, I've been looking at alternatives to my morning glass of their chocolate milk. It used to have 12 grams of protein in 8 ounces, but now it only has 8 grams, the same as a glass of regular skim milk. Not that I would drink plain milk...always hated the taste (except with some form of sweetener and another flavor like coffee, chocolate or cereal) and still do (in fact, as a baby, I hated the taste of formula and my doctor asked my mother if she liked milk and she replied that she never did, so he asked her why I should be different ), but I mentioned that for comparison purposes. Hershey's makes a no-sugar-added chocolate milk which is calcium fortified (with calcium carbonate). It's made from a mix of whole and skim milk and has 11 grams of protein in 8 ounces, 3 more than Hood now does. However, Hershey's has 15 grams of carbs while Hood has only 5 grams, including sugar grams of 13 and 3, respectively. So it comes down to which is more important...reducing carbs or increasing protein? Here's the rest of the nutritional info., for Hershey's and Hood: 120 calories vs. 90 and 2 1/2 grams of fat vs. 5. Both have 1 gram of fiber. I also found another alternative at Shaw's called Slim Slammers. They're sold in a pint bottle and come in chocolate fudge and french vanilla. They have 110 calories, 3 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs (including 1 of fiber and 12 of sugars) and have 9 grams of protein. So nutritionally they're between Hershey's and Hood. I bought one of each flavor, but haven't tasted them yet. I'll let you know more after I do. For comparison purposes, here's the rest of the nutritional info. for skim milk: 83 calories and 12 grams of carbs of which all 12 are sugar grams. Debby

I like the Hershey's and buy it a lot for my kids. I used to drink milk by the gallon but now it makes me nauseous. I can drink an iced latte which is just expresso and milk, and I feel fine, but a plain old glass of milk and I feel like I never do, but it just feels like it.

Hey Debbie, Thanks for the information, I was always afraid to drink the chocolate milk and getting sick. I am going to try that. I have been drinking some of the other types of high protein skim milks. But I love chocolate milk. Thanks again, your always so resourseful with your information, its greatly appreciated by us all. Hugs KimC

The Hershey's is awesome! I had it about a week ago!! For a chick that struggles to get in every bite, I will happily drink this a couple times a week! Kristin

Hi, Kristin! Since you're "struggling to get in every bite" and like chocolate, you might want to try the Stallone high-protein pudding. A 5.82-oz. container has 100 calories, 2 grams of fat, 1 gram of carbs (which is fiber, so the net carbs are zero) and 20 grams of protein. See you tonight at the meeting? Debby

Hi, All! This morning I tried the chocolate fudge flavor of the Slim Slammers. It's thicker than the Hood or Hershey's milks...more like a milk shake. It was nice and chocolatey. Debby

Interesting comparisons. I think it bears noting tho that there are more nutritionally satisfying (read- filling) ways of getting in your protein that are less caloric, less sugar wise and less calorie wise than Hood Chocolate milk. I certainly understand this as a treat now and again, however, caloried beverages of this sort aren't a good habit to get into. Caloried beverages are kind of OUT of MY book for life. I won't touch a protein shake or supplement unless it HIGHER in protein than anything I can take in solid food wise, OR it's a food/protein emergency. But, that's just MHO! I certainly can't imagine regularly drinking only 8 ounces of something that contains 12 or 13 grams of sugar!! Yikes- no way. That's way too much for my system to handle. Again, MHO, but just thought I'd share as a flip side of the coin kind of thing. Thanks again for an interesting comparison.

Hi, Lisa! You make a good point about not regularly drinking high-calorie beverages. What I probably should have mentioned in the 1st place is that 1st thing in the morning my pouch isn't ready to handle solid food (I've never been a morning person so why should I expect my pouch to be one? ) and also I'm rather thirsty after a whole night of not drinking while sleeping. So rather than drinking a non-caloric beverage which has no protein, I start my day by drinking something with protein. And those grams of sugar are lactose (milk sugar)...I know...to our bodies they're all carbs...but at least it's a "healthier" form of sugar. Once my pouch is "awake", I get the rest of my day's protein in from solid foods. Hugs, Debby

Hi again Debby! You certainly don't need to justify your choices to me, and I don't mean to make you feel defensive at all about what you choose to do. We ALL have to do what's right for us, right? I can certainly UNDERSTAND morning grumpy pouch! Just wanted to give a flip side opinion. If I had to have liquid in the morning (thank goodness my pouch is better at mornings now) I would choose a straight protein shake, which would give me higher protein with a lower carb/protein/calorie ratio. BUT- that's ME. Your choice is valid for your reasons and it's a decent alternative for those that need one! I hope I didn't cause any offense. Best, Lisa

Hi, Lisa! You didn't cause any offense. And I'm glad you provided the flip side opinion. We don't always think about that when we post something and certainly it's a good idea to present both (or all) sides of a situation so that others reading our posts (especially pre-ops) can learn more. You make a good point about the protein shake providing higher protein with a lower carb/protein/calorie ratio, but since I'm getting plenty of protein in during the rest of the day, I don't worry about that 1st thing in the morning. But someone who's having problems getting all their protein in would probably be better off choosing the protein shake over the no-sugar-added chocolate milk. Hugs, Debby