02/27/07 Milk the Utimate Sports Drink

I would hazard to guess that the number of times over the last 20 years I repeated the following phrase was in the thousands& Boys "finish your milk". Funny I never uttered those words when chocolate milk was on the table as the kids lapped it up quicker than a cat in a cereal bowl. To the delight of young children everywhere a study in the Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism concluded that chocolate milk is as good or better than traditional sports drinks at helping athletes recover from taxing athletic endeavors. Nine male cyclists rode until their muscles reached exhaustion, relaxed for four hours while sipping Gatoraide, Endurox R4 or chocolate milk, then climbed back on and peddled until they were pooped. Those who drank chocolate milk rode an amazing 50% longer than those who drank the Endurax and as long as those drinking Gatorade. For children and especially teens chocolate milk is the ultimate sports drink even discounting the endurance factor simply by virtue of adding much needed calcium