Study says chocolate milk is "as good or better" than sports drinks for athletes

(WalkSports.com note: I'm not posting this as advice or whether or not I believe it or adhere to it. I just found it interesting, especially given that the researchers are where I am physically at right this minute.)

A 2004 study by researchers at Indiana University in Bloomington found that chocolate milk is “as good or better” than conventional sports drinks such as Gatorade and Endurox R4 at replenishing depleted fluids and carbohydrates in hard-training athletes, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

According to the study’s lead researcher, chocolate milk was “twice as
effective as [Endurox]” and “just as effective as Gatorade” at restoring fluids and carbohydrates in elite cyclists. The researchers note that although chocolate milk is higher in calories than most sports drinks, it is also higher in protein and provides a “slew of other healthful ingredients,” such as calcium, riboflavin, and Vitamin D, which typically are not
found in sports drinks.

A spokesperson for the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center’s Center for Sports Medicine notes that the higher caloric content should not present a problem for elite athletes, who often “fail to eat enough because they are too tired” and find that “drinking their nutrition is easier.”