Discussion: Chocolate milk

Although this is one of the favored drinks in the U.S, people that I have talked to strongly dislike this amazing drink. What started this conversation is a training we completed after school. While in the gas station I grabbed a chocolate milk and he grabbed a juice. He questioned me why I picked this after a workout. I explained to him that it is a replenishing sports drink. Later when I got home i did a little research. According to fitness/LAfitness.com "Compared to plain milk, water, or most sports drinks, it has double the carbohydrate and protein content, perfect for replenishing tired muscles. Its high water content replaces fluids lost as sweat, preventing dehydration. Plus it packs a nutritional bonus of calcium, and includes just a little sodium and sugar -- additives that help recovering athletes retain water and regain energy. " so I have pleaded my case!
- Any inputs are greatly appreciated.

When I was in high school, I'd come home from tennis practice and drink two glasses of milk, sometimes chocolate.

The general public with a bit of 'diet' awareness are conditioned to fear the large energy content, usually predominantly fats than sugar depending upon the brand. If you're a habitual high-energy burning endurance athlete then the 2000kJ or so (600mL drink) may not be excessive compared to your overall energy intake vs energy expenditure. Summary - it's not all bad!

Chocolate milk is unambiguously the greatest human beverage ever.

Agreed Ian smith!

It's my recovery drink of choice after weights, just the right mix of protein and carbs and MUCH cheaper than protein shakes!! And don't taste like s&^t, like protein shakes.

Yes also a problem that I face with protein shakes is they don't want to mix well. So I'm stuck drinking clumps of "protein" on top of milk.

Chocolate milk tastes like happiness.

chocolate milk is delicious. And it's a totally fine recovery drink. There are other options, if you don't happen to love chocolate milk, with a similar ratio of protein:carbs - recovery drinks.

I heart chocolate milk. :)

Hammer should confirm this, but I believe noted orienteer and especially smart guy Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky has described chocolate milk as "God's gift to us all". I think I'll go have a glass.

This thread has made me yearn to sneak out from home while the kids are sleeping for a cold choc milk!

Chocolate milk is my breakfast

I had to check out this thread just because it mentioned chocolate milk and I thought maybe someone was giving it away. I've recently replaced soft drink (fizzy drink) with choc milk post-exercise because it doesn't give me the headaches that the former has been handing me lately but then I've always liked it anyway. If it is in some way good for me, all the better!

On a related note, I have four bottles of soft drink in my fridge if anyone wants them.

I take my chocolate milk intravenously.

"How now brown cow, what's new with you?"
"What's new you say, well can I moo!"
"It's new instant chocolate Milko.... MILLL-KO"
- dialogue from a children's TV ad from the 1950s. They tried to tell us how good it was but no... our parent's wouldn't listen.
I couldda been a contender (Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront, 1956) if only my parents had listened.

So what I'm getting from this thread is that I will never be able to recover properly since I think chocolate milk is gross. I'm doomed!

Always use chocolate milk. Ray thinks it's good to.
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2009/03/chocolate-milk-...

@JJ: Yes for about a decade now Mark Tarnopolsky (orienteer, ski orienteer, trail runner, ARK coach, and super smart guy) has been promoting low-fat chocolate milk (not soy) as the perfect post exercise recovery drink. Anybody that has attended his excellent talks at orienteering training camps or races (most recently at Canadian Nationals last autumn) knows this. Mark's research has shown that this post exercise drink is especially important for people doing 'two a day' trainings or races. I couldn't find his summary article he handed out a camp in 2006 but I found this interview from 2004. It is a bit long but is a good read.

http://www.runnersweb.com/running/rw_news_frameset...

Incidentally starting next week Mark will be providing free VO2max tests for several of DontGetLost Adventure Running X teens. I'll get the chocolate milk ready. :-)

I wonder if in the winters.... Hot chocolate serves the same recovery value?

>I take my chocolate milk intravenously.

I mix with bath salts to improve taste.

Here in the southeast US, we have a chocolate drink called Yoo-hoo! which is mostly water and whey, non-fat milk.

Our local (just down the street) supplier - http://www.blackwelldairy.com/splash.html

The key is the 3.25%. Yeh, low fat whatever.

Interesting video runit: Since all milk contains hormones, current studies show a possible link between milk and dairy consumption, to hormone-dependent cancers such as Prostate Cancer.

Does it have to be chocolate milk? What about regular milk? Strawberry milk?

I don't know? I would assume that strawberry milk would serve the same purpose?

Chocolate milk (along with chocolate) is also one of the few products which is dirt-cheap in Switzerland (about CHF 1 for 500ml in the supermarket, about one-third the typical Australian price).

+chocolate milk

Too bad people are afraid of the unadulterated stuff. Ooo - I like the 3.25% marketing bit at Blackwell Dairy. Yes, that sounds like "whole milk". If 2% is ok, there's not much additional in 3.25% now is there...

When I grew up we had a family cow for milk, butter, etc. A Jersey and they are noted for high butterfat; almost always over 5%, not unusual to be over 6%. We would skim the cream off though and use for making butter. The best part was when we wanted cream for pie or whatever, we would use a fork to grab a glob from the cream container.

Always whole milk for me, unless I have no choice.

Both chocolate and milk were essential provisions on Shackleton's expeditions.

Chocolate milk (along with chocolate) is also one of the few products which is dirt-cheap in Switzerland (about CHF 1 for 500ml in the supermarket, about one-third the typical Australian price).

We were hard pressed to find any in Estonia. We only ever found one brand and not every store had it.

Both chocolate and milk were essential provisions on Shackleton's expeditions.

Coincidentally one of my AR teams is named Shackleton. I'm sure I can easily add choc milk to the gear list.

Based on nutrition labeling, typical "whole milk" could probably also be called 4%.

One of the WA dairies is selling non-homogenised chocolate milk - 1L choc milk with a 1cm plug of cream at the top of the bottle. Mmmmm....diet'licious.

I recall Hammer Nutrition publishing some of their research showing their recovery drink was the best of all available commercial mixes -- almost as good as chocolate milk.

Wow, that's a bold statement.

This is the happiest thread I've read on AP. Even happier than 'why I love orienteering'.
Chocolate milk is reason to live! It's reason to train!

I have to wonder if much of chocolate milk's efficacy is due to the mood altering qualities of chocolate versus the nutritional content. The studies I've seen always measure recovery where the drink is the only thing ingested after exercise. I'd think a sports drink followed by some solid chocolate (definitely in that order) might be even better. There's a lot to be said for making yourself feel good after a workout - it makes you want to do it again.

Just had a glass after my run today at Joyce Park. 13.6 kilometer Blue course in a foot of snow. Talking about tired and sore!

How about chocolate milkshakes? Malt supplements?

Picked some up at the store today. Now to get myself tired enough for optimum enjoyment.

We didn't have chocolate milk so we stopped at UDF for ice cream after our runs at Joyce Park. Blue 13.6, Red 9.6, and Orange 6.7 km in the snow and wind made the Cherry Cordial, Peppermint Stick Chocolate, and Swiss Chocolate Almond taste great.

@O Joy- Did Rob run Blue(13.6k)?

In Ontario Kawartha and Hewwits both make a great 2% choc milk... higher fat typically means they add less sugar and still tastes as good or better. A number of smaller Dairies are making full fat(3.25+) like Sheldon Creek (Alliston Area) and Miller's (Creemore).
I always give it to my hockey teams after games as a recovery drink and also so they don't go home hungry and eat a bunch of crap before they go to bed.
... and for those who know me, I'm not in the milk business anymore, but still a strong supporter :-)

Sheldon Creek 3.25% chocolate milk is my downfall...

Stopping for ice cream on a snowy, windy day? I bet you didn't have to line up to place your orders.

@gord: At UDF, there's always a line... It's worth the wait.
@addison: mintore also ran blue. You got him. good race!

I must be the only one who finds the idea of dairy products right after exercise to be stomach-churning.

Not wanting to throw a wet squid, but what about vegans or sympathizers?

No sympathy for vegans!

Vegans don't like to eat squid, Clem. They probably wouldn't appreciate you throwing one, either. And squid ink is a poor substitute for chocolate milk.

Vegans schmegans. Guess they're SOL. Chocolate almond drink must have some redeeming qualities.

It's pretty good, I must say.

See it works http://www.youtube.com/user/ChocolateMilkRefuel

I like that video

I've been drinking plain milk (full cream unhomogenised organic Mmmm...) after exercise. What am I missing from the added brownness? Is this why I can't get a tan?

>One of the WA dairies is selling non-homogenised chocolate milk - 1L choc milk with a 1cm plug of cream at the top of the bottle. Mmmmm....diet'licious.

WA is leading the way. That 1cm plug makes me go weak at the knees.

That 1cm plug makes me go weak at the knees.

Oooh, kinky.

Hahaha @juffy

... then today I added a well known malted drink powder from a green tin. Pretty good I reckon but probably still not brown enough.

It is cold. It is creamy. It is chocolate. Low fat chocolate milk is the perfect food.

AGREED!!!

We have a local dairy (Hillcrest Farms in Moravia, NY) that makes their own - they add a touch of cream for texture and it is like drinking melted chocolate ice cream. Yum!

melted chocolate ice cream.
ew ew ew. That's appealing to people?

Yes. Yes it is.

I'm with Cristina on that one. That sounds really gross. But I'm not the one to judge. It's okay to like different things :)

ew ew ew

Which part(s) do you not like?
Melted, chocolate, or ice cream?

Chocolate ice cream is not very refreshing but it is at least acceptable. Melt it and it no longer has any redeeming qualities.

Melt it and it no longer has any redeeming qualities.

You take that back or we are no longer friends, Miss...err....crap, I don't even know your surname, which kinda lessens the impact a tad. Carry on!

I think she best responds to "Taco-C."

crap, I don't even know your surname

F35

Spell her first name correctly, and the last name is not necessary...

Mr Juffy's predilection for melted chocolate icecream - now THAT is kinky. Ha!

I stand by my admiration for cream, pure, cold, creamy cream. Yes a little of that added to chocolate milk is delicious.

ndobbs gave me bottle of this stuff. Tasty, but I not sure it was all that good recovery drink.

F35

Aw hell, when did that happen?

Hahah....preach it, sister!

Wait, M36!?!?! Crap, I'm practically 40!

If you're ever in SMOCland, be sure and try Guernsey Dairy Chocolate Milk. It was voted Best Chocolate Milk at the World Dairy Expo in 2013. I used to go to this dairy in Northville, MI, owned by my classmate's family, the McGuires, to get their ice cream when I was a teen. It was wonderful. Next time I'm in town, I'll try their chocolate milk. Perhaps a certain OUSA Athlete of the Year who now resides in Toledo and orienteers near Northville could try it and weigh in.
http://northville.patch.com/groups/announcements/p...

How can anyone not like melted chocolate ice cream? I mean, what do you do when you've got a bowl of ice cream and you're down to the last bit and it's all cool and melted and creamy in the bottom of the bowl? That's the best part!

ndobbs gave me bottle

I did? Oh wait, know I remember... still, better drunk after training than before.

MJ, SMOC now has a map now just 5 km from Guernsey - should be perfect for post event recovery!

I mean, what do you do when you've got a bowl of ice cream and you're down to the last bit and it's all cool and melted and creamy in the bottom of the bowl?

Well, if you're specifically asking about chocolate melted ice cream then the answer is that I don't know. Melted chocolate ice cream won't clog the pipes, though, right?

If you're in New Holland, PA, for the Garden Spot marathon/half marathon in early April (if you're not heading to the Flying Pig, that is), go to Lapps, a dairy farm just a few miles away, for luscious chocolate milk fresh from the Amish farm. Or try ice cream or a smoothie.

I may not be an expert on chocolate milk, but I am on New Holland (the closest real "city" to my hometown several miles east.) Lapps is an inspired choice.

New Holland? We had that name for a while too... but it was a continent, not a mere city.

Now we have to make do with New South Wales and its poorer cousin, New Zealand.

On the topic of choc milk, mix it 50/50 with vanilla pouring custard for a nice, smooth consistency. It's also quite filling*.


*not recommended for pregnant women, old people or those with lactose intolerances

I've taught Edmund - or maybe it was inherited - the delight of drinking cold shop-bought pretend custard from a carton.

If you are ever fortunate enough to come across Litago Chocolate Milk, that's definitely my favourite. Just had one after training right Here , and then fire up one of these badboys, and I'm good to go.

I drink chocolate milk after my marathon swims. Perfect recovery drink, until I take my shower, dry off and get dressed, then beer is the perfect recovery drink.