Chocolate milk may be the new Gatorade

Brad Williams is 47, a triathlete and a father of three. But when he needs to refuel after a grueling training session, he chooses a drink favored by toddlers everywhere:

Chocolate milk.

Through more than 20 years of competing in triathlons, Williams has tried Gatorade and protein drinks and all sorts of different products to replenish lost nutrients, calories and hydration after training sessions and competitions.

For about six weeks, though, he’s been downing 12-ounce bottles of 1-percent chocolate milk after his workouts.

“I’m noticing that I’m feeling better,” says Williams, a Shadle Park High School graduate who now lives in Kent, Wash.

Plus, he says, “It tastes great. That is probably the best thing.”

There is science behind Williams’ beverage of choice.

A small study published in February found that elite cyclists recovered best after punishing exercise when they drank chocolate milk. (The study was funded in part by the dairy industry. Williams and three other triathletes are receiving their milk free from the Dairy Farmers of Washington, though they are not being otherwise compensated.)

It’s believed that chocolate milk contains the right mix of carbohydrates and protein to replenish what’s lost during activity, according to the study’s author, Indiana University professor Joel M. Stager.

Stager’s study found that cyclists who drank chocolate milk were able to keep peddling 50 percent longer than those who drank a special protein drink and about equally as long as those who drank Gatorade, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

The Washington Dairy Farmers has enlisted four triathletes, including Williams, who will be competing in the Iron Man Competition in Coeur d’Alene next month, to test the chocolate-milk theory.

“What we’re doing is not scientific,” says Mark Leader, Dairy Farmers spokesman. “It’s observational.”

Adds Leader: “All four have reported that chocolate milk has really made a difference in refueling. … When you exercise, you break down muscle, and this helps restore it. When you rest and refuel, that enables you to go to your next practice stronger.”

Williams admits that drinking chocolate milk after training takes a little preparation. It has to be kept cold, of course.

He’s curious to see how drinking the milk impacts his performance in upcoming races, including the Ironman – a staggering combination of 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and 26.2-mile run.

He thinks he’ll stick with his post-exercise milk break, though, no matter how he does in competition.

It stacks up well when compared to other nutrient-replacement drinks he has tried, he says.

“Some of them are quite expensive,” Williams says. “Some of them don’t taste very good. More and more research is showing that getting a balance of carbohydrates, fats and protein aids in that recovery.”

As for drinking chocolate milk, he says:

“The biggest thing for me is I look forward to it.”