Chocolate milk for recovery from exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials.

European journal of clinical nutrition. 2019;73(6):835-849

Plain language summary

Post-exercise nutrition is highly important for recovery and performance. It has been proposed that beverages containing protein, carbohydrates and electrolytes may attenuate exercise-induced fatigue and dehydration. Chocolate milk contains all of these nutrients and has recently drawn attention as a plausible post-exercise recovery drink. Therefore the aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of chocolate milk on post-exercise recovery markers. This review included 12 studies and a sub-analysis found significant improvements in time to exhaustion and lowered post-exercise blood-lactate. There were no significant differences between the other markers considered in the analysis. Based on these results, the authors deem chocolate milk to provide equivalent outcomes to placebo or other recovery drinks. As the available research is limited, the authors recommended high quality controlled trials with larger sample sizes be done to gain more clarity on best-practice for post-exercise recovery.

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Chocolate milk (CM) contains carbohydrates, proteins, and fat, as well as water and electrolytes, which may be ideal for post-exercise recovery. We systematically reviewed the evidence regarding the efficacy of CM compared to either water or other "sport drinks" on post-exercise recovery markers. SUBJECTS/METHODS PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar were explored up to April 2017 for controlled trials investigating the effect of CM on markers of recovery in trained athletes. RESULTS Twelve studies were included in the systematic review (2, 9, and 1 with high, fair and low quality, respectively) and 11 had extractable data on at least one performance/recovery marker [7 on ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), 6 on time to exhaustion (TTE) and heart rate (HR), 4 on serum lactate, and serum creatine kinase (CK)]. The meta-analyses revealed that CM consumption had no effect on TTE, RPE, HR, serum lactate, and CK (P > 0.05) compared to placebo or other sport drinks. Subgroup analysis revealed that TTE significantly increases after consumption of CM compared to placebo [mean difference (MD) = 0.78 min, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.27, 1.29, P = 0.003] and carbohydrate, protein, and fat-containing beverages (MD = 6.13 min, 95% CI: 0.11, 12.15, P = 0.046). Furthermore, a significant attenuation on serum lactate was observed when CM was compared with placebo (MD = -1.2 mmol/L, 95% CI: -2.06,-0.34, P = 0.006). CONCLUSION CM provides either similar or superior results when compared to placebo or other recovery drinks. Overall, the evidence is limited and high-quality clinical trials with more well-controlled methodology and larger sample sizes are warranted.

Lifestyle medicine

Fundamental Clinical Imbalances : Immune and inflammation ; Structural
Patient Centred Factors : Mediators/Exercise
Environmental Inputs : Nutrients ; Physical exercise
Personal Lifestyle Factors : Nutrition ; Exercise and movement
Functional Laboratory Testing : Not applicable
Bioactive Substances : Gluconeogenic amino acid ; Glycogen ; Fatty acids

Methodological quality

Jadad score : Not applicable
Allocation concealment : Not applicable

Metadata

Nutrition Evidence keywords : Recovery ; Athletic performance