question!! chocolate milk

Carbs are a quick fix, but not nearly as important as protein.

Carbs are there to help with insulin response. You need insulin to transport amino acids to your muscles.

I find it really strange that milk would make a good recovery drink because it digests so slowly, and the idea behind a recovery drink is that your body will absorb it quickly.

She's right. I went to a lecture on this a few weeks ago and chocolate milk does not actually make a great recovery drink for this very reason.

Sugars absorb fast which is what matters here. The milk is casein protein which digest slow but the carbs are what makes the recovery. The anabolic window lasts 24 hours anyway so it doesn't matter when you get your nutrients as long as it's throughout the day. This is why meal timing doesn't matter.

This is true but the PROTEIN is the most important part of the combo. The protein is where recovery comes from. It helps build up the muscle mass lost through exercise. Carbs are a quick fix, but not nearly as important as protein.

Again, the anabolic window lasts 24 hours so it does not matter if you have protein after you workout. Also unless you are eating at a calorie surplus, new muscle tissue is not being built.

You are dead wrong about the anabolic window. Spend a little time in some biology and Kinesiology text books.

Enhanced amino acid sensitivity of myofibrillar protein synthesis persists for up to 24 h after resistance exercise in young men.
Burd NA, West DW, Moore DR, Atherton PJ, Staples AW, Prior T, Tang JE, Rennie MJ, Baker SK, Phillips SM.
SourceExercise Metabolism Research Group, Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.

Abstract
We aimed to determine whether an exercise-mediated enhancement of muscle protein synthesis to feeding persisted 24 h after resistance exercise. We also determined the impact of different exercise intensities (90% or 30% maximal strength) or contraction volume (work-matched or to failure) on the response at 24 h of recovery. Fifteen men (21 ± 1 y, BMI = 24.1 ± 0.8 kg · m(-2)) received a primed, constant infusion of l-[ring-(13)C(6)]phenylalanine to measure muscle protein synthesis after protein feeding at rest (FED; 15 g whey protein) and 24 h after resistance exercise (EX-FED). Participants performed unilateral leg exercises: 1) 4 sets at 90% of maximal strength to failure (90FAIL); 2) 30% work-matched to 90FAIL (30WM); or 3) 30% to failure (30FAIL). Regardless of condition, rates of mixed muscle protein and sarcoplasmic protein synthesis were similarly stimulated at FED and EX-FED. In contrast, protein ingestion stimulated rates of myofibrillar protein synthesis above fasting rates by 0.016 ± 0.002%/h and the response was enhanced 24 h after resistance exercise, but only in the 90FAIL and 30FAIL conditions, by 0.038 ± 0.012 and 0.041 ± 0.010, respectively. Phosphorylation of protein kinase B on Ser473 was greater than FED at EX-FED only in 90FAIL, whereas phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin on Ser2448 was significantly increased at EX-FED above FED only in the 30FAIL condition. Our results suggest that resistance exercise performed until failure confers a sensitizing effect on human skeletal muscle for at least 24 h that is specific to the myofibrillar protein fraction.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21289204

The postexercise "anabolic window" is a highly misused & abused concept. Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you're an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day. Getting down to brass tacks, a relatively recent study (Power et al. 2009) showed that a 45g dose of whey protein isolate takes appx 50 minutes to cause blood AA levels to peak. Resulting insulin levels, which peaked at 40 minutes after ingestion, remained at elevations known to max out the inhibition of muscle protein breakdown (15-30 mU/L) for 120 minutes after ingestion. This dose takes 3 hours for insulin & AA levels to return to baseline from the point of ingestion. The inclusion of carbs to this dose would cause AA & insulin levels to peak higher & stay elevated above baseline even longer.

So much for the anabolic peephole & the urgency to down AAs during your weight training workout; they are already seeping into circulation (& will continue to do so after your training bout is done). Even in the event that a preworkout meal is skipped, the anabolic effect of the postworkout meal is increased as a supercompensatory response (Deldicque et al, 2010). Moving on, another recent study (Staples et al, 2010) found that a substantial dose of carbohydrate (50g maltodextrin) added to 25g whey protein was unable to further increase postexercise net muscle protein balance compared to the protein dose without carbs. Again, this is not to say that adding carbs at this point is counterproductive, but it certainly doesn't support the idea that you must get your lightning-fast postexercise carb orgy for optimal results.

To add to this... Why has the majority of longer-term research failed to show any meaningful differences in nutrient timing relative to the resistance training bout? It's likely because the body is smarter than we give it credit for. Most people don't know that as a result of a single training bout, the receptivity of muscle to protein dosing can persist for at least 24 hours: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21289204

More from earlier in the thread:

Here's what you're not seeming to grasp: the "windows" for taking advantage of nutrient timing are not little peepholes. They're more like bay windows of a mansion. You're ignoring just how long the anabolic effects are of a typical mixed meal. Depending on the size of a meal, it takes a good 1-2 hours for circulating substrate levels to peak, and it takes a good 3-6 hours (or more) for everythng to drop back down to baseline.

You're also ignoring the fact that the anabolic effects of a meal are maxed out at much lower levels than typical meals drive insulin & amino acids up to. Furthermore, you're also ignoring the body's ability of anabolic (& fat-oxidative) supercompensation when forced to work in the absence of fuels. So, metaphorically speaking, our physiology basically has the universe mapped out and you're thinking it needs to be taught addition & subtraction.

I find it really strange that milk would make a good recovery drink because it digests so slowly, and the idea behind a recovery drink is that your body will absorb it quickly.

She's right. I went to a lecture on this a few weeks ago and chocolate milk does not actually make a great recovery drink for this very reason.

Sugars absorb fast which is what matters here. The milk is casein protein which digest slow but the carbs are what makes the recovery. The anabolic window lasts 24 hours anyway so it doesn't matter when you get your nutrients as long as it's throughout the day. This is why meal timing doesn't matter.

Joe - I have learned that, especially when it comes to nutrition, you can find a study that will tell you anything you want to hear about anything. I have also learned specifically to distrust any that are put out by the government (this is what led to the infamous food pyramids which were promoted by the government and funded by farmers).

But, a recovery drink still needs to be a low density, quickly absorbed beverage. I do not argue that milk is good for you - but it cannot be a recovery drink because it is too dense. If you drink it, you will definitely get the health benefits, long term or short term. So go for it if you want to.

But, a recovery drink still needs to be a low density, quickly absorbed beverage. I do not argue that milk is good for you - but it cannot be a recovery drink because it is too dense. If you drink it, you will definitely get the health benefits, long term or short term. So go for it if you want to.

Joe - I have learned that, especially when it comes to nutrition, you can find a study that will tell you anything you want to hear about anything. I have also learned specifically to distrust any that are put out by the government (this is what led to the infamous food pyramids which were promoted by the government and funded by farmers).

But, a recovery drink still needs to be a low density, quickly absorbed beverage. I do not argue that milk is good for you - but it cannot be a recovery drink because it is too dense. If you drink it, you will definitely get the health benefits, long term or short term. So go for it if you want to.

And - considering that Alan Aragon is employed by the government and the other paragraph you quoted is from a government website, I am going to go ahead and make the assumption that they are all concerned with the plight of US dairy farmers.

You have some serious issues. You obviously have never heard of Alan Aragon. He's a nutritional legend.

Joe - I have learned that, especially when it comes to nutrition, you can find a study that will tell you anything you want to hear about anything. I have also learned specifically to distrust any that are put out by the government (this is what led to the infamous food pyramids which were promoted by the government and funded by farmers).

But, a recovery drink still needs to be a low density, quickly absorbed beverage. I do not argue that milk is good for you - but it cannot be a recovery drink because it is too dense. If you drink it, you will definitely get the health benefits, long term or short term. So go for it if you want to.

And - considering that Alan Aragon is employed by the government and the other paragraph you quoted is from a government website, I am going to go ahead and make the assumption that they are all concerned with the plight of US dairy farmers.

You have some serious issues. You obviously have never heard of Alan Aragon. He's a nutritional legend.

Well, I have heard of him. But he has not succeeded in convincing me of every single one of his points because I choose to acknowledge his bias.