International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolismAug 28, 2015

Recovery with Nondairy Chocolate Drinks or Chocolate Milk Both Improve Cycling Performance 4 Hours After Low-Glycogen Exercise

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Updated Apr 3, 2026

Abstract

Postexercise ingestion of various chocolate beverages enhanced cycling performance compared to a placebo.

Eight trained male cyclists participated in a study measuring cycling performance after consuming different chocolate beverages post-exercise.
All chocolate beverages provided equal energy and carbohydrate content, while the placebo contained significantly lower energy.
Time trial performance was improved for all chocolate beverage treatments compared to the placebo, with average times ranging from 34.47 to 34.88 minutes versus 37.85 minutes for placebo.
The results indicate that the total macronutrient and energy intake after glycogen-lowering exercise may be more critical than the type of protein or carbohydrate ratio in enhancing performance.

Simplified

Postexercise chocolate milk ingestion has been shown to enhance both glycogen resynthesis and subsequent exercise performance. To assess whether nondairy chocolate beverage ingestion post-glycogen-lowering exercise can enhance 20-km cycling time trial performance 4 hr later, eight healthy trained male cyclists (21.8 ± 2.3y, VO2max = 61.2 ± 1.4 ml·kg-1·min-1; M ± SD) completed a series of intense cycling intervals designed to lower muscle glycogen (Jentjens & Jeukendrup, 2003) followed by 4 hr of recovery and a subsequent 20-km cycling time trial. During the first 2 hr of recovery, participants ingested chocolate dairy milk (DAIRYCHOC), chocolate soy beverage (SOYCHOC), chocolate hemp beverage (HEMPCHOC), low-fat dairy milk (MILK), or a low-energy artificially sweetened, flavored beverage (PLACEBO) at 30-min intervals in a double-blind, counterbalanced repeated-measures design. All drinks, except the PLACEBO (247 kJ) were isoenergetic (2,107 kJ), and all chocolate-flavored drinks provided 1-g CHO·kg body mass-1·h-1. Fluid intake across treatments was equalized (2,262 ± 148 ml) by ingesting appropriate quantities of water based on drink intake. The CHO:PRO ratio was 4:1, 1.5:1, 4:1, and 6:1 for DAIRYCHOC, MILK, SOYCHOC, and HEMPCHOC, respectively. One-way analysis of variance with repeated measures showed time trial performance (DAIRYCHOC = 34.58 ± 2.5 min, SOYCHOC = 34.83 ± 2.2 min, HEMPCHOC = 34.88 ± 1.1 min, MILK = 34.47 ± 1.7 min) was enhanced similarly vs PLACEBO (37.85 ± 2.1) for all treatments (p = .019) These data suggest that postexercise macronutrient and total energy intake are more important for same-day 20-km cycling time trial performance after glycogen-lowering exercise than protein type or protein-to-carbohydrate ratio.

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Recovery with Nondairy Chocolate Drinks or Chocolate Milk Both Improve Cycling Performance 4 Hours After Low-Glycogen Exercise

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