Chocolate Milk For
Youth Soccer Players?
 Dump
the after game snacks and hand out the CHOCOLATE MILK.
Yes, you heard me right. Believe it or not
I was finally right about a “theory” I have had for several
years.
When you take a look sports drinks they
have very similar attributes to those of chocolate milk. My
assumption was that there would be little difference between
children drinking chocolate milk after a soccer game vs. a
sports drink. Guess what? It looks like I was right.
Indiana University conducted a study in
conjunction with a grant from the dairy council. They wanted to
put “my” theory to the test. The results were just as I thought
they would be. “As compared to the commercial products tested,
(sports recovery drinks), chocolate milk is an effective
recovery aid following exhausting exercise.”
Why is chocolate milk good for youth soccer
players after a game?
The study found that athletes who drank
chocolate milk after an intense bout of exercise were able to
workout longer and with more power during a second workout
compared to athletes who drank commercial sports beverages.
I have also been a fan of drinks that
incorporate protein in their carbohydrate formula. (Such as
Accelerade.) Researchers stated, "Chocolate milk contains an
optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio, which is critical for
helping refuel tired muscles after strenuous exercise and can
enable athletes to exercise at a high intensity during
subsequent workouts."
Some common sense points…
1)
Kids don’t drink to “re-hydrate” like athletes. They
drink only when they are thirsty or when something tastes good.
Tricking them into drinking more because something tastes great
makes sense for any one who has dealt with young athletes.
2)
The addition of protein is good for muscle recovery,
growth and refueling.
3)
Milk is naturally high in Potassium. My kids don’t like
bananas.
Confirming these results was a study by Dr.
Janet Walberg-Rankin and co-workers at Virginia Tech. This
study compared body composition and muscle function responses to
resistance training in males who consumed a carb drink
(Gatorade) or chocolate milk following each training session.
Chocolate milk consumption immediately after each workout tended
to increase lean body mass and bodyweight compared to
supplementation with carbs. This study clearly shows that carbs-only
post-exercise beverages don’t cut it.
The one thing you want to keep however is
that you want to select a non-fat or skim chocolate milk.
Forty-eight percent of the calories in whole milk come from fat;
33 percent of the calories in 2% milk come from fat; 20 percent
of the calories in 1% milk come from fat, and 0 percent of the
calories from skim milk come from fat. So, when reaching for
chocolate milk as your post-workout recovery drink of choice,
choose the non-fat version.
Before you start laughing about handing out
chocolate milk after a game, think about the junk in the snack
box they’re about to eat.
Hey, if it’s my choice between a soda and a
hotdog or a large jug of chocolate milk, you know which one I
will choose. |
