Homemade Chocolate Milk Recovery Drink

Tooloopee

I've been doing a bit of reading this morning and decided to try Chocolate Milk for post exercise recovery. From what I was reading, this works because the carbs:protein ration is close to 4:1.

I found a simple recipe online and tried it (http://www.examiner.com/article/chocolate-milk-after-workouts-helps-recovery-best-chocolate-milk-recipe) - 750 ml of [skimmed] milk, 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder and 2 Tablespoons Sugar (I didn't have any vanilla, so skipped that) - however when I put it all together in MFP, it came out as 55g carbs, 29g of protein and 3g of fat - so not really the carb:protein ratio I'm looking for.

Any suggestions on how I should be making chocolate milk for recovery? I'm not really liking the idea of buying commercial chocolate milk, like nesquik (and I didn't really like adding sugar either! Though it still didn't taste great....)

_John_

Is milk and chocolate syrup too complicated now?

_John_

You could just buy some at the store. No?

I'm not really liking the idea of buying commercial chocolate milk

UsedToBeHusky

This is an odd ratio. 4 to 1, carbs to protein.

I'm not sure chocolate milk is what you are looking for.

_John_

This is an odd ratio. 4 to 1, carbs to protein.

I'm not sure chocolate milk is what you are looking for.

don't question the broscience bible...just answer OP's question.

UsedToBeHusky

Maybe you could eat a banana with the chocolate milk....

UsedToBeHusky

Or maybe you could use rice milk. I'm pretty sure that is going to give you the overly ridiculous amount of carbs you are looking for.

Ilikelamps

Good job OP you do your thing...especially if that means complicating chocolate milk :flowerforyou:

Tooloopee

Is milk and chocolate syrup too complicated now?

I'm not totally sure what Chocolate Syrup is - I wonder if its an American thing (I'm in the UK) - or just me!! When I search for Chocolate Syrup here I get a list mainly of dessert toppings (and indeed, the commercial, presumably processed, items I'm mostly trying to avoid) - is that the kind of thing you mean? http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/FindProducts.aspx?Query=chocolate syrup

Tooloopee

Good job OP you do your thing...especially if that means complicating chocolate milk :flowerforyou:

Ok - I'm not trying to complicate it - what's the simple way?

Hendrix7

there is no magical carb/protein ratio for recovery. there is no desperate need to consume simple carbs post workout for 99% of people.

If you want a calorie free flavoring to add to milk have a look at
http://www.myprotein.com/our-range/flavouring-systems/liquid-flavouring.list

RobynSmithIBECHS

Why not try greek yogurt blended with 1 or 2 fruits. You could blend light and fit greek (80 cals) with some strawberries (cant be too many cals) and some apple or something. Delish, low cal and tons of protein.

Pirate_chick

I like Silk Dark Chocolate Almond milk. Add 84 grams frozen bananas, 100-200g strawberries, a tablespoon of crushed almonds, Tastes like a frosty for half the calories.

KarenJanine

This is an easy to find UK chocolate milk syrup: http://www.crusha.co.uk/milkshakes/chocolate but I expect you will reject it on the grounds of being processed.

How about blending a banana in milk with some cocoa powder? That should give the high carb ratio you are seeking.

Tooloopee

Why not try greek yogurt blended with 1 or 2 fruits. You could blend light and fit greek (80 cals) with some strawberries (cant be too many cals) and some apple or something. Delish, low cal and tons of protein.

Ok - where I'm coming from .....

... I started off this morning deciding that I wanted to make a better and more informed choice of protein powder to stock up on, as I have run out. As I was doing my research trying to find what suited me best, I kept coming across the view that protein as a post workout option was the wrong choice and that there is a common misconception (which I held as well) that boosting your protein intake after exercise was the best option - and that really restocking carbs was more important. I keep seeing the ration 4:1 for carbs:protein as the best option and I keep seeing the point made that chocolate milk, which hits this ratio is the best option for post exercise recovery ... so I decided to ditch the protein shakes (I'm confident that I've improved my diet well enough now that I am getting enough protein from proper food) and try chocolate milk post exercise instead.

To be honest - I'm not totally sure what Chocolate milk is - from the pretty negative response on here I've had, I presume its a far bigger thing in the US than it is here in the UK (or certainly in my family) - I'm guessing its just what it says - chocolate flavoured milk (Chocolate milkshake?)

mom2kpr

I like Silk Dark Chocolate Almond milk. Add 84 grams frozen bananas, 100-200g strawberries, a tablespoon of crushed almonds, Tastes like a frosty for half the calories.

Will have to try this. Sounds wonderful

Tooloopee

This is an easy to find UK chocolate milk syrup: http://www.crusha.co.uk/milkshakes/chocolate but I expect you will reject it on the grounds of being processed.

How about blending a banana in milk with some cocoa powder? That should give the high carb ratio you are seeking.

Thanks - best response so far

Yes, I'm desperately trying to move my diet away from commercial/processed products - I've come to the conclusion that there's just far too much crap added to EVERYTHING! (possibly quite literally!) The real turning point was discovering that my Tesco Frozen Chicken Breasts that became a staple part of my diet had upto about 45% of the RDA for salt per breast and that's just way too much! I lost confidence in my ability to work out from labels whether the eating choices I was making were really healthy or not! Going clean was the only way I could start to have confidence in what I was really eating.

The Banana/Milk/Cocoa option is certainly something I'd be happy to try - but with the negative response I appear to be facing, I'm thinking I'm more likely to be barking up the wrong tree and to have got things muddled somewhere.....

ATT949

I've been doing a bit of reading this morning and decided to try Chocolate Milk for post exercise recovery. From what I was reading, this works because the carbs:protein ration is close to 4:1.

I found a simple recipe online and tried it (http://www.examiner.com/article/chocolate-milk-after-workouts-helps-recovery-best-chocolate-milk-recipe) - 750 ml of [skimmed] milk, 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder and 2 Tablespoons Sugar (I didn't have any vanilla, so skipped that) - however when I put it all together in MFP, it came out as 55g carbs, 29g of protein and 3g of fat - so not really the carb:protein ratio I'm looking for.

Any suggestions on how I should be making chocolate milk for recovery? I'm not really liking the idea of buying commercial chocolate milk, like nesquik (and I didn't really like adding sugar either! Though it still didn't taste great....)

That ratio is a bit low, agreed.

I make my own recovery drinks. My recipe for "chocolate milk" is to use Nestle's Nesquick chocolate flavoring and Costco's plain organic soy milk.

4 tbsp of mix with 16 oz of milk gives me 320 calories at 44:18 ≈ 2.5:1

That's lower than "optimal" but you could always add more mix or have a bagel and jam.

I am not too concerned about a mixture where there's a bit too much protein because the goal is to get glucose into the body to restore glycogen stores within about a 30 minute window. I just focus on the glucose and take the extra protein as an added benefit.

aliakynes

... when I put it all together in MFP, it came out as 55g carbs, 29g of protein and 3g of fat - so not really the carb:protein ratio I'm looking for.

Your milk has a lot of protein and your cocoa powder doesn't have much sugar. So you either need to add sugar or use less milk. Play with the portions of those two items on MFP until you get your 4:1 ratio. Yay for math.

EDIT: I'm all for 4:1 recovery and normally use chocolate milk after workouts. The recipe is going to depend on your milk and sugar and I have to adjust every time the ingredients change.

Though since it's hot over here these days, I'm going for frozen greek yogurt as there are a few flavors that have 4:1, at least in the US. :flowerforyou: