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Strenuous physical training to boost performance depletes the body of water, electrolytes (sodium and potassium) and minerals (magnesium, calcium, zinc) through sweating, uses up stored sugar or glycogen in muscles, and breaks down muscle. The ability to replenish these nutrients and rebuild muscle is fundamental to a racer’s ability to train hard every day and succeed in competition.

Low-fat milk may be a better choice than sports drinks or soy protein beverages for replacing lost fluids after endurance exercise and for helping to repair and rebuild muscles after strength training. A study showed that, after exhaustive exercise, athletes who drank low-fat milk, compared to those who drank water or a commercial sports drink, retained substantially more of the fluid consumed during a two hour recovery period. Thus, low-fat milk promotes retention of fluid after heavy exercise.

Other studies have shown that low-fat or fat-free milk, compared to a soy protein beverage, is an ideal choice for muscle repair and muscle gain after strenuous weight lifting. After one session of weight-lifting and twelve weeks of training, consumption of milk increased muscle building and the overall gain of muscle more than the other drinks. The reason for the advantage of milk over the other products may be related to the nutritional content of milk and how the nutrients work together to enable recovery after heavy exercise.

Low-fat milk is a nutritional power house. It consists of 90% water, so it is a good source to replace fluid lost in sweat. Low-fat milk also contains calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D to build strong bones, and B vitamins to produce energy. A pint of low-fat milk provide substantial amounts of potassium and sodium, both of which are lost in sweat during exercise. Low-fat milk also is an important source of the key proteins, whey and casein, which contain leucine, an amino acid (building-block) needed to make new protein. Whey is absorbed very quickly and coordinates the process of building muscle protein. Casein plays another essential role by slowing the breakdown of muscle after exercise. Sugar content of low-fat milk also is high.

Low-fat chocolate milk offers additional benefits because it has a greater carbohydrate or sugar content than low-fat milk with slightly more fat. The principal carbohydrate in cow’s milk is lactose or milk sugar. Low-fat chocolate milk contains carbohydrate and protein in a proportion greater than 3 to 1, which is the optimal level to refuel tired muscles with carbohydrate after heavy exercise. The presence of protein in milk is vital because it speeds the uptake of sugar into exhausted muscles by directly increasing insulin levels in blood. A study found that men who drank low-fat chocolate milk during the 2-hour recovery period after one bout of strenuous exercise improved their time to exhaustion by 52% in a second consecutive exercise test as compared to some commercial sports drinks. This important finding, although preliminary, suggests that low-fat chocolate milk can be useful in assisting people to recover from one session of strenuous exercise to the next.

Compared to other after-exercise recovery beverages, low-fat chocolate milk provides needed nutrients to refill body fluids, replenish muscle energy stores, and rebuild and renew tired muscles. Additional research is underway to confirm and extend the findings that low-fat chocolate milk is an effective after-exercise beverage for adults engaged in all types of physical activity.