Forget about that fancy sport drink!

[HenryA]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/chocolate-milk-may-better-sports-drinks-exercise-recovery-210222009--spt.html

Drink chocolate milk instead.

[Mark McM]

That's old news. I have a friend who was an ultra-marathon racer back in the 1990's (he did solo RAAM several times, in addition to shorter events) regularly drank chocolate milk during his races.

[FlashUNC]

Did they test scotch? They should test scotch.

[benb]

Unless you've got lactose/dairy issues...

Yes I could drink Lactaid (which I do anyway) but after a hard ride it seems even harder to digest dairy. And getting sick after a ride hurts recovery a lot IMO.

I don't buy any fancy recovery drinks though.

[redir]

Been doing chocolate milk for many many years now. There is a local dairy that makes some of the best chocolate milk I've ever had, it's like liquid ice cream, good God it's delicious.

[Alan]

Most of these studies were funded by the dairy industry. Not too hard to figure this out. I prefer a good recovery drink. I like the new GU recovery drink but there are a lot of good options to use

Alan

[ptourkin]

Most of these studies were funded by the dairy industry. Not too hard to figure this out. I prefer a good recovery drink. I like the new GU recovery drink but there are a lot of good options to use

Alan

Exactly. The one cited in the article was done in Iran and doesn't list that in the bias report but the ones they cited were. Chocolate milk is a sugary treat that's okay once in a while (I guess) but serving it at school and hyping it as something good for sports nutrition is pure BS - the Bill Hicks quote on marketing is applicable here.

https://bitemywords.com/2012/04/17/the-chocolate-milk-and-exercise-myth/

[cinema]

lies

[cachagua]

"Even if this was a great study (which it’s not based on the aforementioned red flags) it still only shows that chocolate milk is nearly as good as Gatorade"...


Now that I'd believe.

The ratio of marketing to actual usefulness for Gatorade is probably about the same as for chocolate milk.

Hey: watch any NFL game. What do the players do with MOST of the Gatorade? Do they drink it, h'mm? They do not. They pour it out on the ground!

The coach always seems to get in the way, dunno why that is.

[PQJ]

Haven't read the posted article and can't say I have much interest in chocolate milk on the bike but I long ago stopped buying Recoverite and replaced it with chocolate milk post-ride. Great way to end a hard ride.

[el cheapo]

Do they still sell YooHoo? Once read where that was the ultimate replacement beverage.

[Mikej]

Have you ever used Ultragen?

[redir]

Fine. More chocolate milk for me then :p

There is NO WAY that chocolate milk and Gatorade can even be compared. Totally different.

[bigreen505]

Have you ever used Ultragen?

Tastes awful, works well.

[classtimesailer]

When you know that milk has a lot of cow mucus in it...

[madsciencenow]

interestingly,

Gatorade has quite a bit of sugar as well, a similar quantity of sodium (20 oz of gatorade to 8 oz of chocolate milk) and no protein. Comparing white milk to chocolate milk it's interesting to note that while white milk has 2 g more of protein it has only half of the sodium (110 mg/8 oz versus 210 mg/8 oz).

It's also interesting to consider that if you look up chocolate milk and recovery in pubmed there are quite a few articles that come up (I found 49). On a quick scan they are not all applicable and the results seem to be scattered but if protein, sodium, and water are important for recovery/performance then it at least stands to reason that you could do worse than chocolate milk.

I don't deny that there is bias and some marketing in much of this research but I don't see how chocolate milk is any different than gatorade, gu, or any of the other products that we use?

Please note, my commentary is not directed towards encouraging kids to drink this on a regular basis although I do think that trying to remove chocolate milk from schools was/is mostly a political issue. 8 oz of chocolate milk a day at school is probably not why we have an obesity epidemic in this country. ok... i digress...

my only real point is that I don't personally think chocolate milk is the devil and it's reasonable to think it might be helpful during and after athletic activity.

[2metalhips]

Milk is for baby cows, don't drink it.

[berserk87]

interestingly,

Gatorade has quite a bit of sugar as well, a similar quantity of sodium (20 oz of gatorade to 8 oz of chocolate milk) and no protein. Comparing white milk to chocolate milk it's interesting to note that while white milk has 2 g more of protein it has only half of the sodium (110 mg/8 oz versus 210 mg/8 oz).

It's also interesting to consider that if you look up chocolate milk and recovery in pubmed there are quite a few articles that come up (I found 49). On a quick scan they are not all applicable and the results seem to be scattered but if protein, sodium, and water are important for recovery/performance then it at least stands to reason that you could do worse than chocolate milk.

I don't deny that there is bias and some marketing in much of this research but I don't see how chocolate milk is any different than gatorade, gu, or any of the other products that we use?

Please note, my commentary is not directed towards encouraging kids to drink this on a regular basis although I do think that trying to remove chocolate milk from schools was/is mostly a political issue. 8 oz of chocolate milk a day at school is probably not why we have an obesity epidemic in this country. ok... i digress...

my only real point is that I don't personally think chocolate milk is the devil and it's reasonable to think it might be helpful during and after athletic activity.

This is why I drink water. I'm not smart enough to postulate these facts. It makes me even more dehydrated thinking about it.

[ebaker205]

Pickle Juice.

It also cures hangovers.

[beeatnik]

Did they test scotch? They should test scotch.

Beer is pretty hydrating. Well, better than not drinking anything at all.

Exactly. The one cited in the article was done in Iran and doesn't list that in the bias report but the ones they cited were. Chocolate milk is a sugary treat that's okay once in a while (I guess) but serving it at school and hyping it as something good for sports nutrition is pure BS - the Bill Hicks quote on marketing is applicable here.

https://bitemywords.com/2012/04/17/the-chocolate-milk-and-exercise-myth/

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/milk-and-other-surprising-ways-to-stay-hydrated/

The results showed that four beverages — oral rehydration solution, like Pedialyte; fat-free milk; whole milk and orange juice — had a significantly higher hydration index than water. The first three had hydration index scores around 1.5, with orange juice doing slightly better than water at 1.1. Oral rehydration solutions are specifically formulated to combat serious dehydration such as that resulting from chronic diarrhea.

[Seramount]

choc milk with a shot of cold brew coffee is pretty delish.

[HenryA]

choc milk with a shot of cold brew coffee is pretty delish.

Hmmmmm...

Sounds not bad!

[RFC]

Guys, I've been trying to tell you. There is no rocket science associated with sports drinks. There are basically 4 components:

Sodium Chloride (salt)

Potassium Chloride (found in grocery Lite Salt along with sodium chloride)

Glucose

Water

You can create this combination from a variety of fluids including juice and Coke.

Riding foods should include the above, but with complex carbohydrates.

When it comes to to post ride recovery, I use protein powder dissolved in milk.

[jbay]

That's old news. I have a friend who was an ultra-marathon racer back in the 1990's (he did solo RAAM several times, in addition to shorter events) regularly drank chocolate milk during his races.

With a grapefruit juice chaser. I don’t know how he did it!

— John

[mtechnica]

I love chocolate milk and am convinced that if used properly, it is a simple and fairly effective post exercise or bonk avoiding drink. It is full of carbs and protien and sugar. No, it’s not the healthiest thing, and despite what the dairy lobby will have you believe, I’m pretty sure consuming a lot of dairy increases your risk of various kinds of cancers. Downing a bunch of chocolate milk is also not the best way to lose weight, and you probably have to go really hard for it to be worth considering using it for recovery. Just in my opinion... I think there are probably better options but I think it’s legitimate.

[Peter P.]

Instead of chocolate milk, think Carnation Breakfast Essentials "Complete Nutritional Drink". It's a powdered substance mixed with milk and found with other breakfast foods in your supermarket.

When those chocolate milk studies came out, for some reason I thought they were referring to the Carnation product. That's what I use.

Not quite as chocolaty as chocolate milk- and NOTHING beats Hershey's chocolate syrup in milk! That is; if the syrup makes it that far. I usually suck it straight from the bottle...:rolleyes:

[Mikej]

Water absorbs better with the sugar / carb than water alone. I used to only drink water and had the anti- sports drink mentality, but my eyes were opened when I started using scratch, EFS and Ultragyn after. I really like the scratch hyper hydration pre event mix -