Chocolate Milk as a Refuel Beverage
Many of us understand the importance of drinking a glass of chocolate milk as a recovery fuel beverage. Here’s the breakdown:
- Chocolate milk is the ideal sports recovery beverage because it contains the golden ratio of carbs to protein – about 3-4 grams of carbs for every 1 gram of protein.
- This ratio helps rehydrate your body, repair your muscles, and replenish your energy after exercise.
- Research consistently shows that consuming chocolate milk after exercise or sports performance is a great way to replenish the important nutrients our bodies need for recovery — carbohydrates, protein, fluids and even electrolytes.
Chocolate Milk in the Kitchen
But did you know that you can also enjoy chocolate milk as part of your nutrition plan throughout the day and utilize it in various cooking applications?
Our Sports Nutrition Advisory Panel and team of culinary consultants created ten chocolate milk recipes that you can enjoy pre or post exercise. They all contain at least 1 cup of chocolate milk in each recipe.
Depending on your needs, you can use either 1% chocolate milk or whole chocolate milk. We’ve taken the guesswork out and completed the nutrition analysis both ways, so you can feel confident knowing the nutritional benefit of each recipe.
Importance of Dairy
Whether you’re a professional athlete, high school athlete or weekend athlete – sports nutrition should be top of mind so you can perform at your best on and off the field.
Dairy plays an important role in reaching your optimal level of performance. Be sure to include chocolate milk and other dairy products in your day-to-day nutrition plan. Aim to get three servings of dairy every day, whether that chocolate milk, Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, or whatever your favorite dairy product may be. And next time you think about chocolate milk, reimagine it as more than just a beverage; use it in the kitchen when your cooking!
Whipped Chocolate Milk
This is the ultimate whipped beverage with a texture that is so creamy and thick. The richness of the chocolate in this chilled drink comes from the combination of chocolate milk and cocoa powder.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Whip
This beverage helps you restore from practice, workouts or competition so that you can recover better and do more the next day. The protein from the milk and peanut butter helps your muscles to recover, the carbohydrate restocks energy reserves you’ve used, and the fat replaces the calories you expended. And because milk is a fluid, you get to #scorewithyourpour
Golden Milk Hot Chocolate
Enjoy those crisp, cool evenings with some warm hot cocoa. We’re kicking it up a notch in this recipe! Add honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and turmeric powder to create a beautiful golden color to your hot cocoa, as well as a burst of nutritional benefits from these ingredients.
Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats
Chia seeds are incredible! They are hydrophilic, which means they hold water and in fact they can hold about ten times their weight. This is why you can transform chocolate milk into a pudding-like texture with chia seeds. Plus, they deliver fiber and unsaturated fats to help support your gut health and keep you full.
Triple Chocolate Protein Pancakes
For a higher protein content, use a higher-protein chocolate milk, like ultra-filtered brand. Want more pancakes? Double the recipe! After cooking, let let the leftover pancakes cool on a plate, then put them in a small zip-lock bag. Press the air from the bag before sealing, then freeze.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Seed Pudding
The protein and minerals found in dairy foods play a role in repairing and rebuilding muscles after your workouts. Including dairy as part of a balanced diet can help repair muscle fibers so athletes can recover more quickly from hard training days!
Chocolate Rice Pudding with Chia Seeds
Enjoy this decadent treat cold or warm. If you enjoy traditional rice pudding, then you have to give this a try. We bump up the taste, texture, and nutrition by adding chocolate milk in place of white milk and chia seeds to complement the white rice for the creamy factor!
Chocolate Milk Brownies
Even though this recipe starts out with boxed brownie mix, you’ll be making some simple, but significant modifications along that way that will make these triple-chocolate brownies worth every bite. And you’ll enjoy a little caffeine boost from secret ingredient: ground espresso!
No-Churn Double Chocolate Milk Ice Cream
This is a simple, homemade ice cream recipe that uses chocolate milk and chocolate chips for double the chocolate flavor! Make it ahead of time and enjoy it for weeks to come (if it lasts in your freezer that long!)
Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie Bowl
This indulgent, rich smoothie bowl makes it feel like you are having a special treat for breakfast. The chocolate milk and raspberries blend so well together; and offer a powerful boost of nutrition (and flavor!). Customize the bowl with your favorite toppings, like coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, sliced almonds and more!