When You Drink A Milkshake Every Day, This Is What Happens To Your Body

While milkshakes, even in their more grown-up, sophisticated, frozen coffee drink form (often ending in "ccino"), are undeniably delicious, nobody would ever try to claim that they are even remotely good for you. Nevertheless, in order to do a little myth-busting, you've also got to do a lot of myth-confirming, so we spoke to a registered dietician nutritionist about what happens if you drink milkshakes on the regular.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Kristen Carli, owner of Camelback Nutrition & Wellness, told us that a milkshake a day won't keep the doctor away. Instead, she says, developing a daily milkshake habit is likely to have "negative consequences for your health."

What, exactly, is a milkshake? According to Carli, "Milkshakes almost always contain milk, ice, and cream, but can also include ingredients like butterscotch, chocolate syrup, and fruit syrups." With such ingredients, particularly the sweet flavorings as well as the fatty dairy products, Carli says that even a single milkshake may put you over your recommended daily allowance of sugar, fat, and/or calories. If you drink milkshakes on a regular basis, this is something she warns "could result in weight gain, dyslipidemia [high level of fatty substances in the blood], and elevated blood glucose levels."

If you want your milkshake to be just a trifle healthier, Carli advises making it at home. That way, you can use less sugar and more nutritious ingredients — such as sorbet in place of ice cream and nuts and fruits instead of high-calorie mix-ins like candies and cookies. Carli says these healthier ingredient swaps can not only keep the calorie count down and prevent sugar-induced blood glucose spikes, but also add "more fiber from the real fruits as well as healthy fats from the nuts." 

Perhaps the best advice regarding your milkshake habit, however, is the sage counsel that was given to that most infamous of sugar addicts, Cookie Monster. To paraphrase the hit song that taught him to mend his poor eating habits, "A Milkshake Is a Sometime Food (via YouTube)." And, yes, that goes for those sugary blended coffee drinks ending in "ccino" as well.