Choc + Milk = Good

As a kid I loved choc-milk, so its pretty exciting that it is now championed by science. Sports nutrition research has shown that choc-milk, other favoured milk and just plain milk supplies the nutrition your body needs after exercise.  Just to test its performance, along with my running gang, I have been religiously swilling down a 600ml choc-milk immediately following our long runs in preparation for the New York Marathon, a race we will tackle in just over a week. My recovery has been great and my body is holding up and I know the timing and content of my favourite flavoured milk has helped me hugely. The good news is that studies have shown women who drink 500ml skim milk after training gain more muscle and lose more fat compared to women who drink carbohydrate drinks. There is good news for the men too.  Men who drink the same amount of skim milk after a resistance workout  have been shown to gain 63% more muscle mass than those who drink carbohydrate-based beverages.

Milk and its flavoured counterparts provide you with:

• Carbohydrates to help refuel muscles and energy stores
• High quality protein to promote muscle recovery and growth
• Fluid and electrolytes to help replenish what is lost in sweat

We know that a combination of protein and carbohydrate is best for recovery after exercise and with the exception of cheese, dairy products are a winning combination of both.

Dairy foods providing approximately 10g protein

300ml Milk

300ml Flavoured milk

125ml Evaporated milk

250g Flavoured yoghurt

100g Ricotta cheese

40g Cheddar cheese

250ml Vanilla custard

I very much hope that New York will have a finish line and some choc-milk waiting for me on the 3rd November.