[AnnieDrews]

Has some good facts about milk, vitamin D, etc. But I think people may get that wrong idea and go "hog wild".


http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatt...ate-milk-diet/

[ThicknPretty]

I drink chocolate milk almost every day! I love it! I don't know that I buy into ANYTHING being "the ultimate key to weight loss success"...it's definitely a combination of things and lots of effort. But hey, it's fun to dream.

[AnnieDrews]

My younger son (age 13) usually has at least one glass of chocolate milk at home every day. We use 2% milk and the "lite" Hershey's syrup.

[Shannon in ATL]

I do tend to drink chocolate milk fairly often as a post-workout recovery drink. I have read about it before.

Don't know that I would recommend a person dieting to drink three glasses a day of it though.

[lights76]

I read the article yesterday. Choc milk is definitely a good recovery drink... I don't know if I could drink 3 in a day - that seems like a lot.

[AnnieDrews]

I thought 3 sounded like alot, too. Especially if you drink the high-sugar pre-mixed, pre-bottled kind.

[Crystalynnn]

well i talked to my mom about it and she was saying that just regular milk is what will help you with belly fat (i need all the help i can get) and milk chocolate isnt good for you so stick to dark chocolate if youre going to eat it at all.
idk i wouldnt trust chocolate milk, maybe regular milk.

but since im doing points i dont want to spend 6 points a day on just milk, thats like an entire meal!

[JulieJ08]

I generally think of chocolate milk as about equivalent to using ice cream as a dairy serving.

[ParadiseFalls]

If only this would work...or maybe I could do the diet REALLY well and ONLY drink chocolate milk

[Renwomin]

I can really understand Men's Health encouraging more milk being drunk with the amount of positive studies in that area. But CHOCOLATE milk? There is a lot of extra sugar in chocolate milk. I haven't seen one benefit in this article that comes from that added sugar besides taste. Sugar and flavoring has been mostly added to milk so children will drink it. Do we really need it as adults and if we do couldn't we add healthier alternatives than the added extra junk that they put in pre-made chocolate milk?

I did do a bit more research on this topic and I finally found an article from Medpedia that addresses the added sugar.

Low-fat chocolate milk offers additional benefits because it has a greater carbohydrate or sugar content than low-fat milk with slightly more fat. The principal carbohydrate in cow's milk is lactose or milk sugar. Low-fat chocolate milk contains carbohydrate and protein in a proportion greater than 3 to 1, which is the optimal level to refuel tired muscles with carbohydrate after heavy exercise. The presence of protein in milk is vital because it speeds the uptake of sugar into exhausted muscles by directly increasing insulin levels in blood. A recent study found that men, who drank low-fat chocolate milk during the 2-hour recovery period after one bout of strenuous exercise, improved their time to exhaustion by 52% in a second consecutive exercise test as compared to some commercial sports drinks. This important finding, although preliminary, suggests that low-fat chocolate milk can be useful in assisting people to recover from one session of strenuous exercise to the next.

It does look like there may be some benefits to drinking chocolate milk for athletes and those who work out strenuously. The extra sugar also wouldn't be such an issue for those who are really trying to bulk up muscle. But for the average person, and especially those of us who are trying to lose weight sticking to non-fat, low fat milk would be the healthiest and best alternative. Even for those that chocolate milk would provide good after workout recovery watching the additives in milk would definitely be in order.

[Tomato]

I once read a nice article on the benefits of chocolate milk - the link to the article was posted by Meg. I took me forever to dig it up (the search here has its limitations but I am pretty stubborn ) but unfortunately, that site is down.

But, if you google "Chocolate Milk as a Post-Exercise Recovery Aid" (include the double quotes) you will get a number of hits.

Here is one: Clicky

[loveAcat]

oh, if life was that easy... I think I could live off of chocolate milk for quite a while

I actually don't like premixed chocolate milk, because the ingredients scare me a little bit (too processed for me, and lots of sugar!)

If I want to treat myself, I make hot chocolate with milk, cocoa powder, and cinnamon on the stove top... yummy! Of course, lately it's been a little warm for that

[stella1609]

This actually brings up a question I've had for a while--I don't like chocolate milk, but I'm a huge fan of STRAWBERRY milk after exercise. I use 2% milk and the Nesquik powder (no HFCS--just plain old sugar, lol). This should have the same benefits as chocolate, right?

[DreamsOfGabija]

I usually hate chocolate milk, but maybe I'll give it a try

[jigglefree]

I didn't see in the article but I think it would clean your colon out thus it's contribution to weight loss.