My Autobiography: Why not ‘milk shakes/juices’ instead of ‘health drinks’?

On Off Mug

Photo:Damianosullivan. Photo published under this creative commons license.

When I was young, health drinks like horlicks, nutramul, complan, etc. had gained a strong foot-hold in every house due to excessive marketing. Parents were promised instant geniuses, instant height-gain and instant everything. Parents too religiously believed in those exaggerated claims and made (read: forced) children to drink them daily.

I didn’t have anything against health drinks, per se. I mean, they are definitely healthier than things like aerated soft-drinks that we used to drink those days, or alcohol that many elders drink these days.

But for some reason, I hated the taste of these beverages. As a result, I never drank them hot. I used to wait until they became lukewarm and then after a few scoldings, drunk it unwillingly.  More over, a semi-solid layer forms on the top of the liquid (due to my delay) and it tasted even worser. Aaaaaaaahhhhh! I remember that yucky taste even now.

What I think now is, why not give something that is more acceptable (and more tasty) for kids, so that they would willingly drink? It’s not that all the strength in the world is contained only in health-drinks, right?

Why not give things like fresh fruit juices, milk shakes, badam/rose milk, tender coconut, soup, etc. that are healthy, more tasty & acceptable for kids? It makes me think – Are elders equally vulnerable (as kids) to ‘advertisements’ and ‘marketing campaigns’?

Destination Infinity

13 thoughts on “My Autobiography: Why not ‘milk shakes/juices’ instead of ‘health drinks’?

  1. Shilpa Garg

    It depends on the taste buds I guess. My son simply loves his Bournvita. And I remember drinking Horlicks as a kid and loving that too!

  2. Jeevan

    I think health drinks aren’t healthy really but I drink (Complan) mainly for taste and I also used to change in flavor after sometime I get bored tasting the same. But my all-time favorite is coffee.

    I also relish on fresh juice and tender coconut sometime.

  3. KP

    You are very right.The power of advertisements with celebrity endorsements is great and gullible fall readily for it.

  4. Sandhya Kumar

    I am guilty of making my sons drink bournvita most of the time! You know why? I was collecting the bottles! After collecting enough bottles I shifted to Badam milk and horlicks! Again MTR badam milk container was attractive and Horlicks bottles are always my favourite.

    Later on, after they grew up (!) they shifted to Drinking chocolate…not my choice, though!

    Yes, fresh juice and tender coconut are the best. But we have to stock it. Tinned health drinks are easy to use! Everybody drank it, we can say! Maybe I was not that good a mother in those days!

  5. Priya

    You have been awarded. Check my blog…

  6. kismitoffeebar

    Well, tasty is a subjective parameter. You may not like Boost but someone may love it!
    And actually enjoy the hot drink. Not all health drinks are that bad. Having said that, getting nutrition from from something natural like fruits is a great idea as well. The key word is balance and ofcourse choosing wisely. But I have friends who dislike fuits immensely as well and are extremely choosy !

  7. Ashwini C N

    Me too. Me too. I used to hate the taste of all those health drinks when it was served Hot. After a while Mom started giving me all chocolate flavoured drinks, coz i drank without complaining, much. What you said is true. It would be a good and a wise move to give stuff like milks shakes in the healthier proportion.

  8. Nancy

    I used to hate them too…especially complan;-S. And yeah my kids cant stand the taste of any too and I dont force them :-). I do the juices, milkshakes routine but they dont like any. So I rotate them and then add plenty of cheese and curd in their diet. One has to improvise to survive.

    Ofcourse adults are as susceptible….the only difference between us and kids is they run behind everything colorful and attractive and we choose our products carefully and then run behind them :-D.

  9. Jas

    I think it is more about personal taste… I was a complan girl but my son enjoyes Bournvita 🙂

  10. rahul aggarwal

    am very sure that claims made by stuff like complan etc are true to its name and value..the only thing is one should have then consistently to see its effects !

    also it makes everyone have milk in a way!

  11. Avada Kedavra

    I preferred drinks with chocolate flavour like Maltova, Bournvita etc.. so my parents only gave me those drinks. I never touched Horlicks in my life.. yuck! taste is so bad..
    But I loooove drinking milk so my mom never had any issues 🙂

  12. sm

    nice topic
    what about the milk quality which contains Uria or other substances which is not good for the health.
    few months back one survey found milk in packs does not have quality.

  13. Reema

    Not only elders but teenagers are also drinking alcohol nowadays

Leave a Reply to Shilpa Garg Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *