# Here's why chocolate milk is better than whey - post workout



## cmanco (Oct 27, 2009)

I've read numerous posts about post workout recovery. Some people say protein some say chocolate milk. I used to work out a lot and tried gaining weight. During this I used supplements like different kinds of protein, creatine, etc. As I've stopped lifting as much for size and now for strength, I stopped using supplements since I didn't really see a difference. Well started to notice that your body needs something after a strenuous workout or ride and I read a few posts where people suggested chocolate milk. I never really knew why but I just started doing it. I was looking at the benefits of it the other day and ran across this article that does an in-depth study of chocolate milk vs a brand of protein called Surge. The conclusion is that chocolate milk has pretty much the same or more nutrients as surge. And choclate milk taste 100 times better. 

Heres a link to the study.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/an-objective-comparison-of-chocolate-milk-and-surge-recovery.html


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

This is somewhat old news but I agree.

Too easy to stir up a glass of chocolate milk.

I've also found that on repeated long hard days a chocolate milkshake is required for full recovery.


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## Gatorback (Jul 11, 2009)

I'm still hungry from a Saturday race and my ride yesterday. After reading this, I'm thinking I'll be getting a milk shake tonight. Merlin my daughters thank you they'll be real happy with a trip to Brewster's.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

cmanco said:


> I've read numerous posts about post workout recovery. Some people say protein some say chocolate milk. I used to work out a lot and tried gaining weight. During this I used supplements like different kinds of protein, creatine, etc. As I've stopped lifting as much for size and now for strength, I stopped using supplements since I didn't really see a difference. Well started to notice that your body needs something after a strenuous workout or ride and I read a few posts where people suggested chocolate milk. I never really knew why but I just started doing it. I was looking at the benefits of it the other day and ran across this article that does an in-depth study of chocolate milk vs a brand of protein called Surge. The conclusion is that chocolate milk has pretty much the same or more nutrients as surge. And choclate milk taste 100 times better.
> 
> Heres a link to the study.
> 
> http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/an-objective-comparison-of-chocolate-milk-and-surge-recovery.html


Umm...whey protein is milk protein. Milk also has casein protein. If you want a cheap source of whey protein just buy dried milk.


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## cmanco (Oct 27, 2009)

Bocephus Jones II said:


> Umm...whey protein is milk protein. Milk also has casein protein. If you want a cheap source of whey protein just buy dried milk.


Milk is 80% casein and only 20% whey. They both do different things. Whey is made from the by product of cheese production. The difference between casein and whey is that casein takes hours for your body to absorb while whey is absorbed in a very short time. Whey increases protein synthesis and casein blocks protein breakdown, thats why a mixture of both is better than just whey.


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## cmanco (Oct 27, 2009)

MerlinAma said:


> This is somewhat old news but I agree.
> 
> Too easy to stir up a glass of chocolate milk.
> 
> I've also found that on repeated long hard days a chocolate milkshake is required for full recovery.


Yeah I knew it was old news, I just never found the scientific proof that made me believe my delicious choclate milk was working. Now I can enjoy it and know I'm getting a good recovery drink with the stuff I need :thumbsup:


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## 151 (Apr 6, 2009)

cmanco said:


> Milk is 80% casein and only 20% whey. They both do different things. Whey is made from the by product of cheese production. The difference between casein and whey is that casein takes hours for your body to absorb while whey is absorbed in a very short time. Whey increases protein synthesis and casein blocks protein breakdown, thats why a mixture of both is better than just whey.



I wonder how much of the reasoning for whey is because the dairy manufacturers wanted to sell a by product of cheese?

Anyone seen my aluminum foil?


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## Hula Hoop (Feb 4, 2009)

Are you reading the whole study?
They are comparing chocolate milk to Surge, which uses WPH
and a number of other ingredients. Way too many variables
involved to make a blanket statement the all whey protein
supplements (WPI) are prima facie inferior.


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## rbart4506 (Aug 4, 2004)

I cover both...

I mix chocolate powder in with my Endurox R4 and protein supplement...Is it better for me?? Who knows....But it sure tastes better!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

2% milk mixed with Carnation Instant Breakfast (chocolate of course) has been shown to improve my average speed by 3mph the following day.


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## black_box (Jun 7, 2008)

MerlinAma said:


> Too easy to stir up a glass of chocolate milk.


this interests me. Am I better off buying Oberweis chocolate milk, store-brand, or mixing my own with powders or syrups? 

Oberweis adds sugar, cocoa, dextrose (basically glucose?), then carrageenan and corn starch presumably for thickening agents. Other brands use high fructose corn syrup for sweetening, as do most syrups (Hershey's?). They may also use "skim" or low fat milk then add the thickening agents for the rich texture. I'd rather skip the thickening agents and throw a banana and peanut butter with it in the blender. 

Sugar is 50/50 glucose/fructose. Adding dextrose tips the sugar proportion towards glucose. The opposite effect is achieved by HFCS, which is typically 45/55 glucose/fructose? Long but interesting video on sugar/HFCS is here. Not that its to be taken as gospel, but might be worth a look.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

I've found that a Brooklyn Brewing black choc stout is the optimal recovery drink:thumbsup:


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Creakyknees said:


> 2% milk mixed with Carnation Instant Breakfast (chocolate of course) has been shown to increase my body weight 3 pounds by the following day.


FTFY. . .


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

I bought a gallon of chocolate milk last night.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Overthinking*



black_box said:


> this interests me. Am I better off buying Oberweis chocolate milk, store-brand, or mixing my own with powders or syrups?
> 
> Oberweis adds sugar, cocoa, dextrose (basically glucose?), then carrageenan and corn starch presumably for thickening agents. Other brands use high fructose corn syrup for sweetening, as do most syrups (Hershey's?). They may also use "skim" or low fat milk then add the thickening agents for the rich texture. I'd rather skip the thickening agents and throw a banana and peanut butter with it in the blender.
> 
> Sugar is 50/50 glucose/fructose. Adding dextrose tips the sugar proportion towards glucose. The opposite effect is achieved by HFCS, which is typically 45/55 glucose/fructose?


You're thinking WAY too hard about this, though I must admit that is exactly what the energy drink makers want you to do. Chocolate milk is a good recovery food because it contains carbohydrates (largely in the form of sugars), complete protein, and some fat plus it gives you liquids. You can get to the same end point lots of different ways. The point about chocolate milk is that "recovery drink" makers are ripping you off in that they don't offer anything that chocolate milk doesn't. Worrying about g/f ratios or whether something contains HFCS is pretty pointless.


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## black_box (Jun 7, 2008)

:lol: thanks and good point. It's not the first time I've overanalyzed something (or been caught doing it ).


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## zriggle (Apr 16, 2008)

black_box said:


> :lol: thanks and good point. It's not the first time I've overanalyzed something (or been caught doing it ).


Whenever I hear about ratios of X to Y versus a specific amount of X or Y, my eyes glaze over from the marketing-speak.


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## Dajianshan (Jul 15, 2007)

My thoughts on the matter:


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## Terex (Jan 3, 2005)

Chocolate almond milk, banana, ground flax seed, ice - blend.


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## hobgoblin (Jun 26, 2009)

The top finishers at Battenkill got a quart bottle of chocolate milk, which was probably because a dairy was a sponsor. Because I wasn't a top finisher, I had to buy my own, and it was definitely worth it. Never has chocolate milk tasted so delicious.


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## cmanco (Oct 27, 2009)

Hula Hoop said:


> Are you reading the whole study?
> They are comparing chocolate milk to Surge, which uses WPH
> and a number of other ingredients. Way too many variables
> involved to make a blanket statement the all whey protein
> supplements (WPI) are prima facie inferior.


Whey protein hydrolysate (WPH) is better than whey protein isolate (WPI) because it is the fastest absorbing and highest quality protein and its still whey protein.But anyway, I don't even care if chocolate milk doesn't work as good as other proteins, its so much more satisfying to drink. It's delicious. :thumbsup:


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

Had chocolate milk after my ride yesterday and loved it. Previously a myoplex guy.


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## cmanco (Oct 27, 2009)

rcekstrom said:


> Had chocolate milk after my ride yesterday and loved it. Previously a myoplex guy.


Glad to see some people are switching over. It's so much more inexpensive and taste better too. It makes me wonder about other things out there that are just a marketing scam.
While I drink milk and consume dairy products, I've seen this site a few times notmilk.com and I really have trouble believing some of the stuff on there. It pretty much connects milk to every disease out there, especially cancer, saying we shouldn't consume dairy products, blah blah blah. It's not going to stop me though.


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## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

FWIW, I prefer the "organic" , 1% fat, choc milk brands.

The organic choc milk contains cane sugar, whereas the non-organic typically is full of high fructose corn syrup. 

On principle I won't ingest HFCS, although I'm not aware of _hard_ evidence that HFCS is really any worse than "organic sugar" ... AFAIK and I could be misinformed.

Anyway, overall, the organic choc milk lists less strange ingredients, and more "pure" ingredients, such as real cocoa and vanilla. I'm a believer in "eat real food".


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## black_box (Jun 7, 2008)

A few months of Oberweis and I think I've turned into a chocolate milk snob. I got some Dean's 1% choc. milk without reading the label... it's actually skim milk (how is that 1%?) with HFCS and it tastes artificially sweet to me.


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## Dutch77 (Jan 3, 2009)

tom_h said:


> On principle I won't ingest HFCS, although I'm not aware of _hard_ evidence that HFCS is really any worse than "organic sugar" ... AFAIK and I could be misinformed.


You should watch The Bitter Truth for some very interesting perspectives on HFCS. Warning: Long video (89 min).


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## andre71144 (Aug 25, 2003)

Chocolate milk does hit the spot is there any reason to buy soy milk over the cheap store brands?


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## Gatorback (Jul 11, 2009)

Dutch77 said:


> You should watch The Bitter Truth for some very interesting perspectives on HFCS. Warning: Long video (89 min).


Thanks for the link. I just watched it and it is very informative.


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

I wouldn't touch dairy as I think that was intended for calves not humans.

I wouldnt' touch soy milk because of all the negative aspects of estrogen.

Organic rice milk or organic almond milk for me and none of the added sugars. 

Your better off eating real foods, whole foods post recovery then you are drinking a highly chemically processed and refined sugared chocolate milk from a nasty smelly sluggish fat beast called the dairy cow....if an animal can't run as fast as I ride my bike then I ain't eating or drinking anything from it.


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## bmxhacksaw (Mar 26, 2008)

So Sloth butter is out?


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## penn_rider (Jul 11, 2009)

bmxhacksaw said:


> So Sloth butter is out?



I prefer the sweet milk from a young Yak and the wife of a Belgian Chocolatier....


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## seawind161 (Nov 8, 2008)

heathb said:


> ....if an animal can't run as fast as I ride my bike then I ain't eating or drinking anything from it.


Wait, wait... No bacon???


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## SuperSlow (Feb 11, 2005)

chocolate milk + expresso double shot


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*The purpose of milk*



heathb said:


> I wouldn't touch dairy as I think that was intended for calves not humans.


So you think that humans domesticated cows just so they could provide milk for a calf? Interesting theoretical basis for food choices. It may interest you to know that in the past 10,000 years or so, humans have evolved so that certain groups of them (Europeans for example) are well adapted to drinking cow's milk. Rant all you want, but for most people, drinking cow's milk is not an issue, despite what you read on the Internet.


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