Study Shows That Cereals and Milk are Better Than Sports Drink After Exercise

15/06/07 Whole-wheat flake cereal and nonfat milk may facilitate recovery after exercise at least as well as a specialized sports drink, according to research presented in New Orleans at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Researchers hope the findings will help home exercisers who may find it convenient to grab a post-workout snack from their kitchen.

"Sports drinks may have an advantage in convenience," said lead researcher Lynne Kammer, working under John Ivy, Ph.D., at the University of Texas at Austin. "We wanted to look at a realistic exercise scenario and test the effectiveness of whole foods that might be acceptable for muscle recovery. While some studies test athletes to the point of exhaustion, athletes typically don't do that every time they train."

Kammer had eight male and four female cyclists fast for 12 hours, then perform two-hour rides at least five days apart on a bicycle ergometer. After exercise, participants were given either a 100-percent whole-wheat flake cereal with nonfat milk or a sports drink containing carbohydrate. Researchers compared the effects on blood glucose, insulin, lactate, and muscle glycogen and protein synthesis. Riders gave blood samples just before the ride, at the end of the ride, and at intervals of 15, 30 and 60 minutes after the ride. Biopsies from the quadriceps muscle were taken immediately after the ride and 60 minutes later.

Both treatments (sports drink and a 100-percent whole-wheat flake cereal with milk) raised blood glucose and insulin levels; however, during recovery, cereal raised insulin significantly higher and blunted the rise in blood lactate compared with sports drink. While glycogen storage was comparable between the two treatments, cereal showed a significant advantage in protein synthesis and additional glycogen storage potential.

"We were surprised that blood lactate was lower after cereal, possibly due to glycogen storage," Kammer said. "In addition, the muscle was ready to store additional glycogen after the cereal-and-milk regimen, even after glycogen had already been synthesized." Exercise damages muscle tissue, she explained, and milk and a 100- percent whole-wheat flake cereal-which contain both protein and carbohydrate-help rebuild damaged tissue.

"One improvement in methodology for such research would be to replace muscle biopsies with other, less invasive procedures," Kammer said. "Although our subjects were very cooperative, it would be preferable to collect muscle information without discomfort while testing in the future. We would also like to understand the effects on less highly trained athletes."