Chocolate milk as a recovery drink after endurance exercise
What it found
Drinking chocolate milk right after exercise and again 2 hours later may help athletes recover and may reduce signs of muscle damage.
The authors say the best amount, timing and frequency still need more study.
What they found
Carbohydrate to protein ratio
Low-fat chocolate milk has a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio, similar to many commercial recovery beverages.
Fluids and sodium
Chocolate milk provides fluids and sodium to aid in post-workout recovery.
Timing and amount
Consuming chocolate milk at 1.0 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight per hour right after exercise and again 2 hours later appears to be optimal for exercise recovery.
Muscle damage
Drinking chocolate milk after exercise may attenuate indices of muscle damage.
Cost
Chocolate milk has become an affordable recovery beverage for many athletes, taking the place of more expensive commercially available recovery beverages.
What the authors conclude
“Future research should examine the optimal amount, timing, and frequency of ingestion of chocolate milk on post-exercise recovery measures including performance, indices of muscle damage, and muscle glycogen resynthesis.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say future research should examine the optimal amount, timing, and frequency of ingestion of chocolate milk on post-exercise recovery measures including performance, indices of muscle damage, and muscle glycogen resynthesis.
How it was done
An optimal post-exercise nutrition regimen is fundamental for ensuring recovery, so research has aimed to examine post-exercise nutritional strategies for enhanced training stimuli.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This paper does not report a single new experiment, so it cannot show cause and effect for any one recovery measure.
- It does not give a final answer on the best amount, timing or frequency of drinking chocolate milk after exercise.
The paper
- Title
- Chocolate milk: a post-exercise recovery beverage for endurance sports
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Pritchett K, Pritchett R (2012). Chocolate milk: a post-exercise recovery beverage for endurance sports. Medicine and sport science. doi:10.1159/000341954PubMed 23075563DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error