When you're trying to decide how to add energy before and after a run, your strategy might be to drink a sports drink and then munch on an energy bar or fruit. However, another option is chocolate. A moderate amount of chocolate milk can help you recover between workouts. (picture: Carolyn Ann Ryan / moment / gettyimages) and, according to the evidence of a study published in the International Journal of sports nutrition and sports metabolism in 2006, chocolate milk can also help you recover between two strenuous running exercises. The study showed that cyclists who drank chocolate milk after a strenuous exercise but before the next exercise increased their fatigue time and total work output in the second exercise compared with those who drank carbohydrates as an alternative drink. (Note: those who drink rehydration drinks also see improvement in performance in their follow-up training.) Although this study doesn't focus on runners (it's also a small study), chocolate milk may bring you similar physical benefits over the long run. However, if you only jog occasionally, especially when your goal is to lose weight or maintain health, drinking chocolate milk may not be ideal. is also a source of carbohydrate (especially sugar), which can improve exercise ability. Researchers have been looking for other possible reasons why chocolate can help exercise and recovery. In a 2011 study published in the Journal of physiology, researchers divided sedentary male rats into different groups to study the effect of epicatechin, a chemical found in cocoa, on their physical properties. When the researchers ran treadmill tests on all groups, they found that mice given epicatechin and light had better training programs 15 days in advance than those in the control group and the non exercise epicatechin group. The researchers also found that mice that received epicatechin without exercise performed better than mice that received exercise without epicatechin. After the researchers biopsied the muscles of the mice, they found that the cells in the muscles of the mice that got epicatechin were forming new structures that could help produce cellular energy. The more these structures in muscles, the less likely they are to fatigue. However, more research is needed to determine whether eating cocoa rich dark chocolate before exercise has the same effect on the human body. Before you eat (chocolate) and run, just because eating some chocolate may help improve your running performance. This means that you should chew or swallow it to your heart's content. Chocolate is rich in sugar, and many Americans have consumed more than the recommended amount of sugar. The American Heart Association recommends that women adhere to a daily intake of no more than 25 grams of sugar, while men limit their intake to about 36 grams. For reference, an ounce of dark chocolate contains nearly 7g of sugar, and a cup of chocolate milk contains nearly 29g of sugar. chocolate milk for post exercise recovery
