Drinking Chocolate Milk After A Workout Offers Advantages For Post-Exercise Performance And Muscle Repair
Editor's ChoiceMain Category: Nutrition / Diet
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 04 Jun 2010 - 0:00 PDT
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One of the best post-exercise recovery drinks could already be in your refrigerator, according to new research presented at the American College of Sports Medicine conference this week. In a series of four studies, researchers found that chocolate milk offered a recovery advantage to help repair and rebuild muscles, compared to specially designed carbohydrate sports drinks.
Experts agree that the two-hour window after exercise is an important, yet often neglected, part of a fitness routine. After strenuous exercise, this post-workout recovery period is critical for active people at all fitness levels - to help make the most of a workout and stay in top shape for the next workout.
The new research suggests that drinking fat free chocolate milk after exercise can help the body retain, replenish and rebuild muscle to help your body recover. Drinking lowfat chocolate milk after a strenuous workout could even help prep muscles to perform better in a subsequent bout of exercise. Specifically, the researchers found a chocolate milk advantage for:
- Building Muscle - Post-exercise muscle biopsies in eight moderately trained male runners showed that after drinking 16 ounces of fat free chocolate milk, the runners had enhanced skeletal muscle protein synthesis - a sign that muscles were better able to repair and rebuild - compared to when they drank a carbohydrate only sports beverage with the same amount of calories. The researchers suggest that "athletes can consider fat-free chocolate milk as an economic nutritional alternative to other sports nutrition beverages to support post-endurance exercise skeletal muscle repair."1
- Replenishing Muscle "Fuel" - Replacing muscle fuel (glycogen) after exercise is essential to an athlete's future performance and muscle recovery. Researchers found that drinking 16 ounces of fat free chocolate milk with its mix of carbohydrates and protein (compared to a carbohydrate-only sports drink with the same amount of calories) led to greater concentration of glycogen in muscles at 30 and 60 minutes post exercise.2
- Maintaining Lean Muscle - Athletes risk muscle breakdown following exercise when the body's demands are at their peak. Researchers found that drinking fat free chocolate milk after exercise helped decrease markers of muscle breakdown compared to drinking a carbohydrate sports drink.3
- Subsequent Exercise Performance - Ten trained men and women cyclists rode for an hour and a half, followed by 10 minutes of intervals. They rested for four hours and were provided with one of three drinks immediately and two hours into recovery: lowfat chocolate milk, a carbohydrate drink with the same amount of calories or a control drink. When the cyclists then performed a subsequent 40 kilometer ride, their trial time was significantly shorter after drinking the chocolate milk compared to the carbohydrate drink and the control drink.4
Chocolate milk's combination of carbohydrates and high-quality protein first made researchers take notice of a potential exercise benefit. The combination of carbs and protein already in chocolate milk matched the ratio found to be most beneficial for recovery. In fact, studies suggest that chocolate milk has the right mix of carbs and protein to help refuel exhausted muscles, and the protein in milk helps build lean muscle. This new research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting milk can be just as effective as some commercial sports drinks in helping athletes refuel and recover.
Milk also provides fluids for rehydration and electrolytes, including potassium, calcium and magnesium lost in sweat, that both recreational exercisers and elite athletes need to replace after strenuous activity. Plus, chocolate milk is naturally nutrient-rich with the advantage of additional nutrients not found in most traditional sports drinks. Penny-for-penny, no other post-exercise drink contains the full range of vitamins and minerals found in chocolate milk.
Notes:
- Lunn WR, Colletto MR, Karfonta KE, Anderson JM, Pasiakos SM, Ferrando AA, Wolfe RR, Rodriguez NR. Chocolate milk consumption following endurance exercise affects skeletal muscle protein fractional synthetic rate and intracellular signaling. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. 2010;42:S48.
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Karfonta KE, Lunn WR, Colletto MR, Anderson JM, Rodriguez NR. Chocolate milk enhances glycogen replenishment after endurance exercise in moderately trained males. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. 2010;42:S64.
- Colletto MR, Lunn W, Karfonta K, Anderson J, Rogriguez N. Effects of chocolate milk consumption on leucine kinetics during recovery from endurance exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. 2010;42:S126.
- Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave E, Doerner PG, Ding Z, Dessard B, Kammer L, Wang B, Liu Y, Ivy J. Effects of chocolate milk supplementation on recovery from cycling exercise and subsequent time trial performance. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. 2010;42:S536.
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (8)
Chocolate Soy Milk
posted by Tony on 9 Jun 2010 at 10:42 amNot so much of an opinion as it is a question, Would "Silk" Soy Chocolate have the same benefits?
Chocolate Silk
posted by jen on 11 Jun 2010 at 5:09 amI was wondering the same thing!?
Milk a real food
posted by Gladys Hitchen on 26 Jun 2010 at 8:22 amExcellent study. The implications or consequences of high energy high sugar sports drinks in the market are very serious especially when are the children and adolescents the greatest number of consumers. The negative contribution to obesity from these type of beverages is alrmingly high. Milk, on the other hand is a food, highly nutritious food which should be encouraged to drink by these parts of the population. We need more studies to demosntrate that natural foods should be promoted. If lactose intolerance is a problem, food industry has already solved the problem, by providings us consumers with lactose free milk. Go for milk before trade mark high sugar and colour drinks.
milk yes but why fat-free or chocolate?
posted by anon on 28 Jun 2010 at 9:45 amBenefits of milk vs "sports drinks" seem clear, but nothing said that shows benefit of chocolate to post-exercise recovery. Also no comparison of fat-free vs whole milk. From the repeated mention of fat-free chocolate milk with no evidence of its benefit over regular milk, it sounds like an infomercial. Who funded this study? Nestle's?
In all these articles the benefits of chocolate is never mentioned.
posted by Steve on 23 Oct 2010 at 10:55 pmTo second the issues brought up by the poster above. There don't to seem to be ANY articles that advocate chocolate milk as to why chocolate is beneficial. Which does make it seem like a commercial ploy. Would there be as much of a splash if the dairy industry was just saying plain milk is better than any sports drink? More kids and adults like anything would more likely go for anything with more sugar in it I suppose but please someone include some solid science or facts behind it.
Authenticity?
posted by Shawn on 22 Dec 2010 at 4:48 pmI did a literature search on the specific journal and issue cited in the references for this article and I don't the research study or the authors.
Common Sense
posted by Alisha on 8 Oct 2011 at 3:14 pmWell, it's common sense to drink fat-free milk after a workout. It's a great drink for muscle recovery because of the protein. Fat-free so you don't undo what you just did in the gym with 8+ grams of fat.
Chocolate milk because chocolate has magnesium which helps relax muscles. There may not be an exact study, but if you look up both of these you'll find these anywhere. Besides, you should always do your own research because the problem with media is they can make you believe anything. They can try to convince you the sky is green, and some will not even argue!
Logical enough
posted by Med student on 25 Oct 2011 at 4:39 amIn the post-workout body, the muscle glycogen storage is depleted, ATP levels are low and the broken muscle fibres need to be repaired. To correct these, significant amount of protein and carbohydrate is needed.
Sports drink provides sufficient carbohydrate but not enough protein. Plain milk may give enough protein, but the carbohydrate may be lacking.
As of chocolate milk, it blends both protein and carbohydrate (chocolate) together in sufficient amounts, thus functioning as a good post-workout drink.
Yes it is true that this article lacks the explanation why chocolate flavour is preferred, not strawberry or any other. Well it's just a summary article by the way and meant to inform the general public. Do read the original papers instead to satisfy the curiosity.
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