CAMDEN—Health seems to be on the minds of many businesses moving into downtown Camden this spring. The Mill Nutrition, at 25 Mechanic Street, is an herbal tea /shake shop that offers sugar-free Herbalife products with vitamins, protein boosters, and other nutritional add-on enhancements in custom drinks.

Owned by Marlene and Zac Cohn, the take-out shop opened in early April.

While the menu might be a lot to digest at first, especially for people not familiar with all of the Herbalife products and enhancements, it consists of energizing teas, shakes, and natural flavor-enhanced drinks. Their sister store, Breakwater Nutrition, at 1 Payne Avenue in Rockland, also carries many of the same products.

“All of our products are flavored naturally with Stevia with no sugar,” said Felt. “Our shakes are made with sugar-free puddings and dry syrups to give them a nice flavor on top of the protein mix and Formula One meal replacements,” said Felt.

Whatever the Midcoast community is seeking, The Mill Nutrition offers dozens of flavors and products to build custom drinks, including for health, weight loss, rebuilding muscle strength, pre-and post-workout hydration, immunity boosters, mid-afternoon energy boosters, to combat gastric issues, and more. Many of The Mill Nutrition’s flavor combinations have been made in-house by staff, who tailor offerings to specific customers.

“Some use our shakes to gain weight and some use them as a meal replacement,” said Felt. “We have a couple of older ladies who come in, who don’t eat a lot, and need the protein. They’ll buy several to go, so they can have them for meals later.”

As for Felt, she is a fan of the products. “I make one in the morning, because I’m on the go with 20–300 calories and 12-16 net carbs,” she said.

There are a half dozen natural enhancements that can be additionally customized to each drink, including specific vitamins and minerals, probiotics, electrolytes, and fat burners. Herbalife offers an enhancement called New Mom Booster, which adds specific vitamins and minerals that new mothers need. “I’m a new mom myself and I honestly was getting ready to give up nursing, so I just add this New Mom combination to my teas, which keep me hydrated and now my milk production has increased like crazy,” said Felt.

The energy drinks are becoming a draw for the working guys who try to get through their afternoons with a Red Bull and a Whoopie Pie.

“We switched our Fed Ex guy to our teas and weaned him off his Monster daily drink,” said Felt. “They’re way better, make you feel better; cuts out all of that sugar and coffee.”

There’s even a flavor called Prison Break, which is not, at first glance, a flavor named after a jail escape, but rather, a natural energy drink “break” from the three p.m. job slump.

“A lot of our clientele are first responders and my significant other works at the prison, so Breakwater Nutrition, our sister shop in Rockland, created that flavor for them,” said Felt.

For more information visit The Mill Nutrition on Facebook.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com