Milk and cereal help to speed up recovery after exercise as much as expensive sports drinks, new findings from the University of Texas suggest.
Researchers found that athletes were just as replenished after exercise with a bowl of wheat flakes and skimmed milk as they were with many modern sports drinks which claim to rehydrate and re-energise the muscles.
They found that the traditional breakfast was just as good at replenishing blood sugar and insulin levels and that protein production was even better than with the so-called energy drinks.
The milk also helped reduce lactic acid levels in the blood, the compound that causes stiffness after exercise.
Lynne Kammer, exercise physiologist at the University of Texas, said: "What we showed was that cereal and milk was good for protein synthesis, or muscle rebuilding, after exercise. Because of the protein in the milk you would expect to see this.
"But what was most surprising was the lactate in the blood was greatly reduced after consuming the cereal and milk as compared to the sports drink – and that's a good thing."
The team got eight men and four women to fast for 12 hours and then cycle for 2 hours at least 5 days apart on a stationary bicycle.
After each ride, the athletes consumed either a 100-per cent whole-wheat flake cereal with non-fat milk or a typical carbohydrate- packed sports drink.
The drink and the small meal both produced a healthy rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. But during recovery cereal raised insulin significantly more and blunted the rise in blood lactate compared with the sports drink.
Miss Kammer, whose findings are published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, said: "Cereal and non-fat milk are a less expensive option than sports drinks.
"The milk provides a source of easily digestible and high quality protein, which can promote protein synthesis and training adaptations, making this an attractive recovery option for those who refuel at home."
The researchers concluded that, for amateur athletes and moderately physically active individuals who are trying to keep in shape, popping into the kitchen for a quick bowl of whole-grain cereal with a splash of skimmed milk may be a smarter move than investing in a high-priced sports drink.
Background
This study compared the effects of ingesting cereal and nonfat milk (Cereal) and a carbohydrate- electrolyte sports drink (Drink) immediately following endurance exercise on muscle glycogen synthesis and the phosphorylation state of proteins controlling protein synthesis: Akt, mTOR, rpS6 and eIF4E.
Methods
Trained cyclists or triathletes (8 male: 28.0+/-1.6 yrs, 1.8+/-0.0 m, 75.4+/-3.2 kg, 61.0+/-1.6 ml O2 * kg-1 * min-1; 4 female: 25.3+/-1.7 yrs, 1.7+/-0.0 m, 66.9+/-4.6 kg, 46.4+/-1.2 mlO2 * kg-1 * min-1) completed two randomly-ordered trials serving as their own controls. After 2 hours of cycling at 60-65% VO2MAX, a biopsy from the vastus lateralis was obtained (Post0), then subjects consumed either Drink (78.5 g carbohydrate) or Cereal (77 g carbohydrate, 19.5 g protein and 2.7 g fat). Blood was drawn before and at the end of exercise, and at 15, 30 and 60 minutes after treatment. A second biopsy was taken 60 minutes after supplementation (Post60). Differences within and between treatments were tested using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results
At Post60, blood glucose was similar between treatments (Drink 6.1+/-0.3, Cereal 5.6+/-0.2 mmol/L, p<.05), but after Cereal, plasma insulin was significantly higher (Drink 123.1+/-11.8, Cereal 191.0+/-12.3 pmol/L, p<.05), and plasma lactate significantly lower (Drink 1.4+/-0.1, Cereal 1.00+/-0.1 mmol/L, p<.05). Except for higher phosphorylation of mTOR after Cereal, glycogen and muscle proteins were not statistically different between treatments. Significant Post0 to Post60 changes occurred in glycogen (Drink 52.4+/-7.0 to 58.6+/-6.9, Cereal 58.7+/-9.6 to 66.0+/-10.0 mumol/g, p<.05) and rpS6 (Drink 17.9+/-2.5 to 35.2+/-4.9, Cereal 18.6+/-2.2 to 35.4+/-4.4 %Std, p<.05) for each treatment, but only Cereal significantly affected glycogen synthase (Drink 66.6+/-6.9 to 64.9+/-6.9, Cereal 61.1+/-8.0 to 54.2+/-7.2%Std, p<.05), Akt (Drink 57.9+/-3.2 to 55.7+/-3.1, Cereal 53.2+/-4.1 to 60.5+/-3.7 %Std, p<.05) and mTOR (Drink 28.7+/-4.4 to 35.4+/-4.5, Cereal 23.0+/-3.1 to 42.2+/-2.5 %Std, p<.05). eIF4E was unchanged after both treatments.
Conclusion
These results suggest that Cereal is as good as a commercially- available sports drink in initiating post-exercise muscle recovery.
i will try to find the study in full
