Where things stand after three flavours
Three More shakes are done. Time for an interim summary — and for a distinction that matters to me: taste score and blood sugar behaviour are two separate things. The best flavour of the series is at the same time the one where my reading rose most clearly. Anyone looking only at the score draws the wrong conclusions.
| Flavour | Score | Texture | Caffeine | Glucose response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iced Coffee Dark Cookie Crumble | 9/10 | very good | 81 mg/portion | +30 mg/dl, peak 149 |
| Iced Coffee Brownie Marshmallow | 9/10 | very good | yes | flat (123 → 124), but with training |
| Milkshake Strawberry Yoghurt Split | 6/10 | very good | no | +22 mg/dl (111 → 133), then 102 after a 15-min walk |
What the scores say — and what they do not
The score rates flavour, texture and tolerability. It says nothing about how a product affects my metabolism.
The Dark Cookie Crumble is my favourite in taste and still triggered the clearest rise: from 119 to 149 mg/dl, and that with the bike session already running for twenty minutes. Everything stayed in the target range, but it was visible. For me that does not mean “do not drink it” but rather plan it deliberately.
The Brownie Marshmallow showed a flat curve — though also combined with training. That measurement had only two points across twelve minutes and may simply have missed a peak. It is therefore not comparable with the Dark Cookie course, which was recorded over 65 minutes with nine points.
The Yoghurt Split falls behind on taste but delivers the methodologically cleanest measurement: it is the only one measured without training — from 111 to 133 mg/dL, a rise of around 22 mg/dL on just about 2 g of carbohydrates. Here too, the carbohydrate quantity alone does not explain it; the high protein content of around 24 g per portion comes into question as an explanation . After a 15-minute walk the value fell to 102 mg/dL — below the starting value. That makes the second time the same pattern appears as with the Dark Cookie: movement pulls the rise back . Pale, in the direction of a yoghurt bar, without your being able to say precisely what you are tasting. Texture and strawberry pieces are good, the aroma does not carry.
The practical difference: caffeine
Something the scores do not capture but everyday life does: the iced coffee flavours sit at around 27 mg of caffeine per 100 ml of prepared drink — for the Dark Cookie that comes to 81 mg per portion. This rules them out for late evenings.
Poor sleep measurably worsens glucose tolerance . A caffeinated shake after a late training session or after a night call-out therefore works against exactly what I am trying to achieve. The caffeine-free milkshake has the advantage here, even if it lags on flavour.
That is an argument via the detour of sleep — not a statement about a direct effect on blood sugar.
The question of pieces
A detail that only shows up when you test several flavours: the marshmallow pieces in the iced coffee dissolve quickly. If you want the bite, you have to drink up fast. The strawberry pieces in the Yoghurt Split hold together considerably longer, because they are real fruit pieces. The shake can be left standing without the texture collapsing.
For anyone drinking a shake alongside training or during work, that matters more than half a scoring point.
What remains open
- Yoghurt Split: repeat on a second evening and comparison with water instead of almond drink.
- Marshmallow: repeat under the protocol established since then — fasted, without training, at least three hours. Only then is the comparison with the Dark Cookie sound.
- Dark Cookie: comparison run without the bike, to isolate the pure product effect.
As long as these measurements are missing, the “glucose response” column above is a snapshot under differing conditions — not a clean comparison .
Sources
- Label information More Nutrition Protein Iced Coffee Dark Cookie Crumble: 158 kcal, 19 g protein, 4.1 g carbohydrates, 81 mg caffeine per portion.
- Label information More Nutrition Protein Iced Coffee Brownie Marshmallow: 3.0 g carbohydrates per portion, around 27 mg caffeine per 100 ml.
- Product information from More Nutrition on the Milkshake Style line: whey protein concentrate and calcium caseinate, 30 g to 300 ml, no added sugar.
- Reviews on the link between sleep quality and glucose tolerance.
- Own CGM recordings with FreeStyle Libre 3, July 2026 — single-case observations.