There’s been a lot of news lately about low-fat chocolate milk being a great choice for athletes post work-out. The nutritious drink has been shown to re-hydrate and re-fuel the body.
The US Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) has drawn on a number of studies to show that the unique mix of key nutrients in chocolate low fat milk make it “an ideal post-exercise choice.”
In a statement the MilkPEP said that scientists have evaluated chocolate milk as a post-exercise drink and have highlighted several reasons why it might help the body recover.
According to MilkPEP, chocolate milk contains carbohydrates and protein to help replenish exhausted muscles and it provides fluids and electrolytes such as potassium to help with re-hydration. Also, chocolate milk has protein that builds lean muscle when combined with exercise.
The MilkPEP draws on research published in the study Chocolate milk as a post exercise recovery aid published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism in February 2006.
Another relevant study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August 2007. The researchers concluded that “chronic post-exercise consumption of milk promotes greater hypertrophy during the early stages of resistance training in novice weightlifters when compared with isoenergetic soy or carbohydrate consumption “