FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 2, 2011
Rosemont, Ill. — New research continues to build on a growing body of science showing the benefits of low-fat chocolate milk following exercise. Today, presenters at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 58th Annual Meeting and 2nd World Congress on Exercise is Medicine® shared results from research indicating that drinking chocolate milk after a workout can boost improvements in aerobic fitness and body composition.1,2 These presentations come on the heels of another study just published in the May issue of Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research3 focusing on chocolate milk’s beneficial effect on cycling performance and signals for muscle recovery in endurance athletes.
“There continues to be increasing support showing that consumption of low-fat chocolate milk, which combines carbohydrate and protein following exercise, appears beneficial to muscle recovery and subsequent exercise performance,” said Gregory Miller, Ph.D., president of the Dairy Research Institute™ and executive vice president of the National Dairy Council®, which co-sponsored the research with the Milk Processor Education Program.
Chocolate Milk Enhances Fitness Improvements Following Routine Aerobic Exercise
At the ACSM 58th Annual Meeting, researchers from the University of Texas - Austin shared findings from a study in which 32 healthy, untrained participants followed a 4½ week aerobic training program consisting of one hour of moderately intense cycling, five days each week. Immediately and one hour following exercise, they consumed low-fat chocolate milk, a calorie and fat-matched carbohydrate beverage, or water. The men and women drinking chocolate milk after exercise improved their body composition, measured by the combination of increased lean muscle and decreased body fat, when compared to those drinking the carbohydrate beverage. The chocolate milk drinkers also had greater improvements in aerobic fitness compared to those drinking either the carbohydrate beverage or water.
“Our research showed that chocolate milk is an effective post-exercise recovery drink for both the elite and amateur athlete,” said John L. Ivy, Ph.D., chairman, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin. “Not only did study participants see improvements in body composition but they also experienced increased aerobic fitness.”
Endurance Athletes See Exercise Performance Benefits With Chocolate Milk
Endurance athletes sometimes perform multiple bouts of strenuous activities with little time to recover between each activity. Therefore, muscle recovery and endurance are extremely important to this consumer group. The study published in the
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research focused on ten endurance trained cyclists and triathletes who cycled for 90 minutes at a moderate exercise intensity prior to performing ten minutes of high-intensity intervals. Immediately following exercise and again, two hours following exercise, participants consumed a recovery drink of low-fat chocolate milk, a calorie and fat-matched carbohydrate beverage or a non-caloric flavored water. Muscle biopsies were obtained immediately after exercise, 45 minutes after exercise and again four hours after exercise. Following this four-hour recovery period, subjects also performed a 40 kilometer cycling time trial.
Results showed that chocolate milk improved cycling performance, more than the other drinks, cutting at least six minutes, on average, off the athletes’ ride time for going the same distance. Chocolate milk also increased signals for muscle protein synthesis, which leads to the repair and rebuilding of muscle proteins, more than the other drinks. In addition, the results showed that chocolate milk and the carbohydrate drink were more effective than water in restoring carbohydrate fuel in the muscle. There was no difference between groups in markers of muscle breakdown.
Miller points out that these significant results support other research findings. “Often referred to as ‘nature’s sports drink,’ milk can be an effective way to help the body refuel, rehydrate and recover after a workout as every serving contains nutrients that promote effective recovery after vigorous exercise,” he said. “These nutrients include carbohydrates to help refuel muscles; protein to stimulate repair and growth; and fluid and electrolytes to help replenish what is lost in sweat and to rehydrate the body.”
Dairy Research Institute™ is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization affiliated with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy™ and was created to strengthen the dairy industry’s access to and investment in the technical research required to drive innovation and demand for dairy products and ingredients, globally. The Institute works with and through industry, academic, government and commercial partners to drive pre-competitive research in nutrition, products and sustainability on behalf of the Innovation Center and the National Dairy Council®.
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[1] McCleave, et al. Effects of Aerobic Training and Nutritional Supplementation on Body Composition, Immune Cells, and Inflammatory Markers. Presented June 2, 2011, at the American College of Sports Medicine 58th Annual Meeting and 2nd World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®.
[2] Ferguson-Stegall, et al. Aerobic Exercise Training Adaptations are Increased by Post-Exercise Carbohydrate-Protein Supplementation. Presented June 2, 2011 at the American College of Sports Medicine 58th Annual Meeting and 2nd World Congress on Exercise is Medicine®.
[3] Ferguson-Stegall, et al. Post-exercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation improves subsequent exercise performance and intracellular signaling for protein synthesis. J Strength Cond Res. 2011;25(5):1210-1224.
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