Sip on a Lower Calorie Slurpee at 7-Eleven

DietsInReview

By Descygna Webb for DietsInReview.com

Those who are fans of the sugary frozen drinks called Slurpees will be pleased to know that 7-Eleven will soon be offering a low-calorie version. The Slurpee is an iconic flavored frozen drink that has been a staple at 7-Eleven for many years. 7-Eleven is launching an entire campaign to introduce their new Slurpee Lite, a low-calorie and sugar-free version in a variety of flavors.



With so many people trying to cut calories or watch their sugar intake, this new line of Slurpees boasts 50 percent fewer calories than the regular Slurpee.

The first flavor available will be the Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-Free Mango. This particular Slurpee was created by Fanta and uses Splenda to sweeten it instead of the high fructose corn syrup you find in the regular Slurpee. Not a total nutritional win though; Splenda is still a chemically derived artificial sweetener that most recently was linked with altering the microflora in our gut.

One eight-ounce serving of the Slurpee Lite drink has only 20 calories. While Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-Free Mango is the first flavor to be available this summer, debuting with free samples on May 23, others will be introduced periodically. Through August, different flavors including Fanta Watermelon Lime, Strawberry Banana, Lemon Crème, Cherry Limeade and Orange Xplosion will be rotated through participating stores. While not all of the new Slurpee flavors will be sugar-free, they will be lower in calories than the regular line of Slurpees.

While we are glad that 7-Eleven has taken the steps to offer a lower calorie Slurpee option that eliminates the high fructose corn syrup, this is still something that should only be consumed occasionally, if at all. There are still some controversial ingredients involved like artificial flavorings, sodium benzoate, various dyes, and the Splenda. Our vote for a healthy frozen treat would be to make your own fruit and yogurt smoothie, like our Chobani Blood Orange Smoothie, at home and add ice for that frozen blended effect. Or, try our kid-friendly Watermelon Freezies recipe. This allows you to control the calories and all of the ingredients while still having something filled with natural foods that are good for you.

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