Chocolate milk could be a good post-exercise beverage

Four-year-old Heidi Dufore loves gymnastics and bowling. When she arrives home from exercising, she usually drinks a glass of water or juice.\nBut after visiting the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology last week, Dufore has a new beverage of choice: chocolate milk.\nIn association with the Week of Chocolate, a community event that featured different chocolate-related activities, WonderLab, 308 W. Fourth St., held an exhibit that highlighted chocolate milk as a recovery drink after a workout.\nThe display, which ran from Jan. 27 to Feb. 3, was based on IU professor Joel Stager's 2006 study "Chocolate Milk as a Post-Exercise Recovery Aid," which was published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.\nThe study involved randomly giving nine cyclists chocolate milk or an alternative recovery drink, such as Gatorade or Powerade, after exercise and observing the effects during a second round of exercise. According to the study, chocolate milk, with its high carbohydrate and protein content, should be considered an alternative to commercial sports beverages when recovering from exercise.\nDuring her visit to WonderLab, Heidi had the opportunity to put together her own bag of chocolate, sugar and powdered milk.\nAnd she did -- though more of the chocolate powder wound up on her pink shirt than in her plastic bag.\n"Milk is ideal after exercise as an energy booster," said Alison Kaiser, a WonderLab volunteer. "It has a good ratio of protein to sugar."\nKaiser acknowledged the positive effects that chocolate milk has to offer, but she admitted the younger children might not fully understand the point of the exhibit.\n"The little ones may not get that this is (intended) for after exercise," Kaiser said. "There is a concern with obesity, and I think it's important to communicate to kids that a little sugar is OK after exercise."\nWonderLab employee Rob McCrea said the exhibit is a change from what has been done in past years for the Week of Chocolate. In previous years, WonderLab has put on a program called the Science of Chocolate that taught kids about the varieties of chocolate and allowed them to taste different kinds.\n"This year, we decided to do something a little different," McCrea said. "We learned about all of this study regarding chocolate milk as a recovery drink and decided to put something together revolving around that." \nWhen Heidi returned to the table to make her second batch of chocolate drink mix, McCrea laughed as the 4-year-old tried to measure out the correct quantities of each ingredient.\n"It's hard because we have to try to serve all ages," he said. "The older kids can get into the content of what this is."\nAs McCrea helped Heidi fill her measuring cup completely with sugar, he added, "for the younger kids, it's a lesson on portions and just trying to fill one-third of a cup completely"