Chocolate Milk: Miracle Drink?

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Chocolate Milk is the new Gatorade.  So said the fitness & nutrition blogosphere a while ago when it started buzzing about a few studies and trials measuring the recovery effectiveness of chocolate milk versus engineered food products like sport drinks, and unengineered liquids like plain ol' water. Finding nutritional value in a food that is considered relatively sinful, childish and, dare I say it, falls in line with  the economic interests of politically mighty Big Dairy and Big Sugar  must be viewed with a jaded eye. (Is there a Big Chocolate?)

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This week I road my bike 30 miles in the evening, capped my evening with a tall glass of chocolate milk, and indeed, the next morning felt all the better for it. Yes, I am one person with a single anecdote, but that's enough to get me to pay attention, and blog it up a bit!

Before we can even speak of chocolate milk's newly assessed properties, we must contextualize. What is this "recovery" thing that we speak of?

The purpose of post-workout recovery is to replenish glycogen (sugar) stores in the muscle and start the process of protein synthesis (muscle rebuilding) so that your body is ready for the next workout.

Glycogen is the energy stored in your muscles that can be burned in real time to make the muscles go and do stuff. As you use it up, new glycogen comes from your blood or if you work out long enough and your body is tuned up properly, from storage in your fat. If your muscles aren't full of this quick energy next time you work out, your work out will be compromised by weakness and lack of focus and energy. So, the purpose of a recovery drink is simply to help allow your muscles to regain it's maximum store of glycogen as fast as possible.

Aww screw it, why bother with a simple, natural product when you could have THIS?!

Prior research has found that the ideal recovery drink has a ratio of 3 parts carb to 1 part protein, which chocolate milk has. Why not 100% sugar, as glycogen is sugar? Simply put, protein is digested slower, turning to sugar slower, therefore allowing your body the right pace to refresh muscles -- go too fast, and insulin spikes kick in, and excess sugar is shunted off to fat cells to keep things stable.

So the science seems pretty firm: if you need a recovery drink after a work out, chocolate milk is just as good as a less natural, more expensive engineered food product, and definitely better than water. However, beware:

Ready to switch your bottled water for chocolate milk? Assess your workout level first. Downing a post-workout beverage chock-full of carbohydrates isn't just for the weekend tennis player, said Stager -- and that's key. A drink like chocolate milk is most useful to a cyclist, swimmer, or long-distance runner. These sports stress high endurance levels and constant, sustained movement. Competing athletes need high levels of calories, carbs, and protein to sustain that level of performance.

Don't forget the Diet Coke Fallacy. Some people justify the 2nd Big Mac by having it with Diet Coke instead of regular, but the result is your still eating way too many calories. If you don't burn some serious calories, don't bother with a recovery drink, be it chocolate milk or Gatorade, as it'll just mess with your health. There is nothing sadder than seeing a fat kid on the street chugging a 24oz bottle of Gatorade, probably thinking it's somehow healthier than 24oz of coke or whatever. It ain't. In the end, a calorie is a calorie, and chocolate milk is simply a good, efficient, more natural, cheaper way to replace calories. But first you need to burn 'em.

Ohmehgerd, it's so hot out, must consume copious calories!

Chocolate Milk is not perfect -- it spoils, people with any sort of dairy issue can not indulge, mass-produced dairy is full of suspicious hormones and antibiotics and is not as portable as a powder or shelf-stable product. And don't even get me started on the abomination of Yoohoo....

It was never "milk", gakk!

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On a side note, my chocolate milk is:

• 16 oz organic whole milk
• 4 tbsp organic chocolate syrup

This is 500 calories, has real cane sugar and no HFCS or scary sweeteners, and is double the recommended serving size, BUT it fit into my daily calorie intake.

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Huh, I think I may have kicked my life long diet soda addiction. When I first started this blog about a year ago, I was doing about 12 cans of 12oz each a week, diet coke and diet sprite. Then I noticed the 7.5oz cans, and two 8-packs were soon carrying me through 2 weeks. After a while, I found I usually wasn't finishing the 7.5 oz cans, and skipped days here and there. Finally booted diet soda to the weekends, and upon reflection, only do maybe 12oz at most any given weekend, and only because it comes with the combo meal, so to speak. 

This past Thursday, I treated myself to Subway, and skipped the oil on the sandwich to bring the calorie count down. I poured my 20oz cup full of diet coke, and by the end of the meal I realized I not only did I not finish it, but it tasted vaguely of battery acid. Ick.

On a lark, to go with my "soda", I picked up a bag of "potato" chips. 

I chose it because it was 130 cal for the bag, about 100 cal less then the regular. After the first bite, I realized this simply wasn't a sliver of potato that was simply baked, but something....else. Reminded me of a pringle, minus the satisfyingly artificial shape, savory greasiness or salty punch. I thought the ingredients would be just like the regular: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil, Salt. Nope:

Dried Potatoes, Corn Starch, Sugar, Corn Oil, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Corn Sugar

Huh? Starchy potatoes, dried to concentrate the starch, then more simple starch from corn added to it to bulk it up cheaply. Natural sounding "sugar" thrown in there, but the list is book ended by "Corn Sugar", which is a nice way of saying corn syrup. Oil is mixed in there, as well as salt and a soy-derived emulsifying agent to get this franken-food product to stick together into "chip"-like forms.

What I really wanted? A smaller bag of real potato chips.
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Let it be known on May 9th, 2013 at 9:28am, I did my first. damn. pull up. Technically, it was a chin-up, unassisted from a still, prone position. Witnessed by Wifey and Lil' Mili.

My first thought was to reward myself by skipping my work out, but I quickly dismissed it -- that's a fat person's way of thinking. I was actually looking forward to the work out, so instead I did it a little quicker and a littler harder, and felt good. Going to celebrate properly by taking Monday off from life and riding my bike all day.

My 12 year old self is retroactively applauding me from gym class at I.S.61.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2263

Funny how 3 out of 5 days I was over budget, but not by too much, and the days I was under budget pulled the average into the target range.

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MONDAY COUNT: 1835

Spent the day at an office freelancing some graphics. Woke up early and got a weight lifting session before taking Edie to school, packed a proper lunch and snack, and made it home after errands to make a complex but quick-cooking meal. Is this the beginning of a template for when I'm back to work f'real? If so, it's encouraging.

I think the excitement of working and being super-busy all day made it easy to stay below budget, but I surgically chose which chores I had to do on the way home, as if I waited too long I probably would have bonked.

AM SNACK: 6:15am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 9am, fruit smoothie, 400 cal
Out of pomegranate juice, substituted whole milk, which slightly lowered the sugar content but raised the fat. Surprised how it changed it, smoother mouthfeel, not a noticeable drop in sweetness, but the sour notes of the pomegranate are missing. Hmmm.

LUNCH: 2:15pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, momma salad, water  490 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, salty seaweed sheets, 100 cal
Second time snacking on these, again just a little too salty. Love the crispness and the sesame oil flavor, but the salt is on the edge of too much.

PM SNACK: 8:45pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 9pm, stir fry with shiritaki noodles, broccoli, snow peas, shitaki mushrooms and shrimp in black bean sauce, 445 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:30pm, Fritos, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 600 CAL

TUESDAY COUNT: 2440

Felt slightly sore from yesterday's work out, which is great -- I rushed it a little yesterday, but it was still a real work out. Due to weather and scheduling, it looked like I would not be able to ride my bike for more than a week, so when B got home, went out to Coney Island. Packed one snack, but 3/4 of the way home, felt the edge of the bonk approaching, and stopped for streetza. Indeed, as expected, it was 2 hours later and according to the calorie reading, I was about 60 cal beyond the 420 cal I took in from the previous bike snack. It's nice to find my body being predictable.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, steel cut oatmeal, 250 cal

LUNCH: 1:15pm, chicken meatballs, sofrito black beans, steamed string beans, momma salad, 540 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, apple/carrot/beet/celery/cucumber/ginger/kale/cayenne juice, 150 cal

BIKE SNACK: 7pm, homemade granola bar, 420 cal

BIKE SNACK: 9:15pm, slice of streetza, +/- 300 cal

DINNER: 10pm, whole wheat pasta with parm and homemade sauce, poppa salad with homemade Italian dressing, 580 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, Fritos, 300 cal


EVENING SNACK: 10:45pm, pint of chocolate milk, 500 cal
I've read that drinking chocolate milk after working out as a recovery aide is a real thing. Hmmm, maybe I should write about that.
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2100

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, Fage full fat with almonds, agave & vanilla, 320 cal

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 2:15pm, scallops, stringbeans, sofrito black beans, 555 cal
Had a different lunch in mind, but the oven was in knish-making mode, so I had to do things that could be done on the stove-top & microwave.

PM SNACK: 5pm, apple/carrot/beet/celery/cucumber/ginger/kale/cayenne juice, 140 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 9:45pm, sauteed chicken breast, roasted asparagus & cippolini onions, kimchi, water, 585 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Fritos, 300 cal

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2510

Good eating day, though got so hungry at end of day had to double up on snacks.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 9am, steel cut oatmeal, 250 cal

AM SNACK: 11:30am, momma salad, 100 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, Subway veggie patty on 9 grain wheat, 16oz diet coke, Baked Lays "potato" chips, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, beef jerky, 160 cal

PM SNACK: 7:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 8:15pm, roasted flounder & broccoli, madras lentils, water, 780 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, Fritos, 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 10:30pm, Cheetos, 300 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2430
Went over budget, but had guests for lunch, forgot to eat momma salad, and by the end of day, just wanted something easy as B was away and I was on kiddie duty.

AM SNACK: 7:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, Fage full fat with almonds, agave & vanilla, 320 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, sauteed berbere chicken breast, porcini macaroni & cheese, roasted brussel sprouts, water, +/- 650 cal

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, poppa salad with homemade Italian dressing, 150 cal

PM SNACK: 6:45pm, apple/carrot/beet/celery/cucumber/ginger/kale/cayenne juice, 170 cal

DINNER: 8pm, Stouffer's Deluxe French Bread pizzas, 840 cal


EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, Fritos, 300 cal

1590