Chocolate milk wins the Battle of the Sports Drinks

[Fanny Adams 7]

Wow, this is interesting! Who'd have thought that the humble chocmilk was better than all those fancy sports drinks - not to mention the same in calories! By the way, don't get fooled by the "low fat" versions of choc milk - they just replace the fat content with extra sugar and end up with the same calorie value!

chocolate milk wins battle of the sports drinks

20 Apr 2009

Whether you're kicking off the new footy season, or sweating it out at the gym – chocolate milk could be your new best friend. In a post-exercise energy recovery trial that pitted chocolate milk against commercial sports drinks, childhood favourite – chocolate milk – has taken first place

Researchers from England's Northumbria University recently compared the effects of three beverages on performance in a cycling endurance test.1 The three beverages were chocolate milk, a commercially available sports drink, and a commercially available Fluid replacement drink.

On three occasions, nine trained male cyclists completed a glycogen depletion workout, drank one of the three test beverages during a four-hour recovery period, and then cycled in an endurance capacity trial.

When the cyclists were given chocolate milk, they were able to cycle 51 percent longer in the endurance test before exhaustion than they did when they were given the sports drink and 43 percent longer than when they were given the fluid replacement drink.

The researchers noted that participants cycled longer after drinking chocolate milk than after sports drink, despite the beverages having very similar calorie (or energy) contents. They said the difference could be due to differences in carbohydrate type and (or) fat content between the beverages.

These latest results support a growing body of research into the potential benefits of milk in post exercise hydration and recovery, compared to other sports nutrition products.2,3

Dairy Australia dietitian Glenys Kerrins said: "Milk is a sports drink plus a whole lot more. Being about 90% Water, it is ideal for re-hydration and contains an ideal natural mix of carbohydrate and Protein to help refuel tired bodies. Plus it packs a nutritional bonus of Calcium and seven other essential nutrients (including potassium, phosphorus, Vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin and niacin)."

Ms Kerrins says that the study demonstrates that expensive supplements are not necessarily better than great tasting whole foods when it comes to athletic performance.

"Milk is something most people have in their fridge. It's easy, doesn't cost a lot and it's got everything you need after a workout," Ms Kerrins said.

References

1. Thomas K, et al. (2009) Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks Appl Physiol Nutr Metab;34:78-82.
   
2. Karp JR et al. (2006) Chocolate milk as a post-exercise recovery aid. Int J Sports Nutr and Exercise Metabol 16, 78-91.
   
3. Roy, B. (2008) Milk: the new sports drink? A Review Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 5:15.
   

[Jachut 487]

I often drink milk after a tough run, I tend to crave it - and at most other times, I really dont like milk as a drink.

I dont really see any need to spend big money on Protein drinks or sports drinks, Water to rehydrate and milk to recover work just fine for me. And again I think its a case of taking what's maybe appropriate for an Olympic athlete and trying to apply it to the layman going on his daily run - a bit of overkill. You dont in general deplete your body so much during an hour long jog or your average gym workout that you need serious scientifically formulated recovery drinks.

[kagoscuba 0]

chocolate milk is the choice drink for many triathletes after a long day of swim, bike, run. I know I enjoy it!

[gamyj 0]

hey if i can drink chocolate milk every day without feeling guilty, i'll exercise!! LOL yummm

[MacMadame 81]

chocolate milk is the choice drink for many triathletes after a long day of swim, bike, run. I know I enjoy it! :thumbup:

But it's not something I'd want to be keeping in my transition area. It would spoil in the sun!

[Jachut 487]

Erk. Yes, when you see some of the special drinks the half marathoners and marathoners leave out rather than take the Water at the stations, you wonder how they drink them! Milky stuff just sitting tables!

[MacMadame 81]

I have my own special brew that I make and am constantly tinkering with. It's safe in the sun, thank goodness.

But I was quite surprised today when I came back to my transition area and all my Protein bars had melted. I was going to eat them afterwards. But they were shite.

[poodles.me 0]

Just another point of view of milk. Milk has been made very popular by the meat and Dairy industry b/c of their lobbyists in Washington. In truth there is a lot of controversy over milk and just how healthy it is. We have been conditioned to believe its a good food but I think otherwise as do millions of others. You just cant hear our voices over the piles of cash thrown at DC yearly.

Milk is meant to feed baby cows not humans. We would never consider drinking dog's milk right? YUK!

Just food for thought.

http://www.notmilk.com/

[MacMadame 81]

Millions of others think milk is unhealthy? I think that's quite the exaggeration.

Plus, of course we'd think of drinking dog's milk. If it was worth milking a dog. (It's generally not.) People drink goat's milk as well. People drink all sorts of milks from all sorts of animals.

Personally, I don't get the need to demonize certain foods. Milk is a food like any other. It has it's good points and it's bad points. It may not be the best food to feed a human baby when they are little and getting nothing else, but that doesn't make it BAD for you.

[poodles.me 0]

Yep, not trying to start anythig with anyone. Just the facts. Research needs to be done....thats all.

Best

Poodles

[chocolate_snaps 3]

I am open to try this, I tend not to want to eat after a workout. So chocolate milk as an alternative to a Protein Shake is interesting.

I wonder if it would work the same with skim milk. Fatted milk makes me gag.

[heartfire 4]

DH told me about this last summer. He's a fireman and the info had come thru on the e-mail system.

I know it worked for me last week! I got stuck Easter Sunday AM and had an emergency unfill the next evening (Monday). I was SO thirsty! I drank a 20oz bottle of Water in about 15 minutes as we headed to Wendy's after leaving my doc, b/c of course we'd missed dinner and DH and DD were hungry. I got a bottle of chocolate milk and another bottle of Water and couldn't believe how much better I felt after drinking the milk! The bottle of water hadn't even touched my thirst but after the milk, I wasn't as thirsty. Helped a whole bunch! Plus it had some nutrition which I'd desperately needed after 36hrs with nothing.

I totally believe in it.

[Jachut 487]

Just another point of view of milk. Milk has been made very popular by the meat and Dairy industry b/c of their lobbyists in Washington. In truth there is a lot of controversy over milk and just how healthy it is. We have been conditioned to believe its a good food but I think otherwise as do millions of others. You just cant hear our voices over the piles of cash thrown at DC yearly.

Milk is meant to feed baby cows not humans. We would never consider drinking dog's milk right? YUK!

Just food for thought.

Hmmm, somehow I dont think soybeans are a freak of nature that occurred simply so that whizz bang Protein drinks could be manufactured for perfect human nutrition either.

Everything we eat is just there by chance. If we didnt have supermarkets we would be eating things we found in our environment, killing and catching what we could, and if we were lucky enough to stumble upon a nest full of eggs (which are baby birds, not food) or a cow with a full udder, I think we can be fairly certain we'd take advantage of it, especially if we'd had to chase it ten miles.

And I dont think we'd be pissfarting round working out how many grams of carbs or Protein were in it either. Humans can pretty much eat anything and are evolved to do so. We're omnivores - animal, plant etc it doesnt matter, we can eat it.

Unfortunately what we're NOT evolved to handle well yet are the loads of additives that occur with manufacturing and the mega gigantic calorie load that comes with such abundance. Milk is the least of our worries I'd suspect.

[Fanny Adams 7]

Go Jachut! :crying:

[bambam31 168]

Well you know they say what opinions are like... a$$holes... We all have them and most stink... But WTH, I'll opine anyway...

There are some things you may wish to consider before running out and stocking up on a supply of chocolate milk...

Before jumping on the bandwagon of the study, we should know more about the study... Who financially sponsored it and why? What about the participants? Were they obese people trying to lose weight - or competitive athletes? Was the nutritional content of the chocolate milk consistant across the study group (and what was the nutritional content anyway). You can go to the grocery store and find all sorts of different brands of chocolate milk - with nutritional content all across the spectrum.

The people in the study may be very different from us - with very different goals than us. It appears they were simply looking at this from the perspective of endurance and muscle recovery. Very few of us are competitive athletes burning 4000+ calories a day In fact, most of us are trying to LOSE fat, are people prone to weight gain, and likely a bit more sensitive to carbohydrates than most - especially simple carbs.

The chocolate milk controversy isn't new - it's been around awhile. I tried it as a post workout drink for awhile back in Nov. and it adversely effected my weight loss. I attributed that likely to the high sugar content. So I began mixing a commercial Protein mix with skim milk - and that did the trick. Tasted just like chocolate milk - and still had the milk - but not the simple carbs.

Protein intake is a whole other debate. Personally, I'm of the opinion that people who exercise significantly can benefit from a higher protein intake. It just depends on how you want to achieve that intake. I think whole foods is best, but I supplement with commercial products as well. Even though it is a buyer-beware market. The fitness supplement industry is one of the most deceptive and cut-throat markets there is!

Thats my two cents and a whole lot more....

Brad