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Media Relations

Chocolate and exercise really do go together

Mount Vernon News
April 14, 2008

By Cheryl S. Splain

Those of us who have long craved a glass of chocolate milk after prolonged exercise may finally have the scientific answer as to why. According to Joel M. Stager, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology at Indiana University, "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." Stager is co-author of a study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism that compared chocolate milk against Gatorade and Endurox R4. In the study, nine male cyclists rode until their muscles were depleted of energy; they rested for four hours, then biked again until exhaustion. During the rest period, cyclists drank low-fat chocolate milk, Gatorade or Endurox R4. The findings showed that the cyclists who drank the chocolate milk were able to bike about 50 percent longer than the ones who drank Endurox and about as long as those who drank the Gatorade.

Read the entire article at: http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/08/04/14/fit_chocolate.html

Learn more about the Department of Kinesiology at Indiana University at: http://www.indiana.edu/~kines/

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