We spotted an article in the newspaper last week: Does chocolate milk really help your muscles recover after exercise? “Your body needs protein and sugars.”
You can imagine our excitement, right? In the article, renowned sports dietician Stephanie Scheirlynck goes on to evaluate chocolate milk as a recovery drink. Stephanie works with the likes of Nafi Thiam, RSCA Anderlecht and Trek-Segafredo. So when she says something, it's good to pay attention.
A functional recovery drink
The article says chocolate milk is a pretty good recovery drink. Stephanie highlights that for recovery after sports it is essential to consume both protein and sugars. Protein as building blocks to repair your muscles and sugars to replace the energy expended during exercise. Two nutrients that are found in said drink: protein is in milk and sugar is added to create the sweet chocolate flavor. This is nicely aligned with the article we published on the importance of recovery.
We would add as a side note that chocolate milk contains quite a bit of fat, which you don’t need for your recovery and that it is also not isotonic so not optimal for hydration. But hey, it’s still pretty good and beats almost any other drink.
What about beer?
The author goes on to observe that a lot of (recreational) athletes prefer a cold beer after sports and asks why this isn’t a good idea. Stephanie explains that (alcoholic) beer does not give you any nutrients that help you recover. To the contrary. She says that your body will start processing the beer, blocking your actual recovery process. She goes on to say that a beer is not totally forbidden, but that you better enjoy it after your recovery drink.
So I have to choose between tasty and healthy?
Well this is where it gets interesting. Stephanie goes on to say there is now a solution on the market. A beer to which protein has been added. Aha! Did anyone say our name?
This article is indeed hitting the nail on the head. We didn't want to have to choose between tasty and healthy. And you shouldn't have to either. We love sports, but we also love beers. Generally those two don't play well together, so we came up with Thrive. A tasty beer that actually helps you recover. It’s the best of both worlds. No more need to compromise.
So you can leave the chocolate milk for the kids now!
Cheers and #gothrive
