Efficacy of Chocolate Milk in Facilitating Post-Workout Regeneration of Young Male Skiers

Abstract

The use of nutritional strategies has become more widespread in recent years. This study investigates the effect of chocolate milk (CM) consumption on the recovery rate of elite male adolescent alpine skiers after intense training. Twelve male elite alpine skiers aged 13-16 years were randomly divided into two groups: chocolate milk (CM; n = 6) and placebo (PLA; n = 6). After exercise, the CM group was given 400 ml (200+200) of chocolate milk, and the PLA group took water (placebo) in the same regimen. Venous blood samples were taken before and 12 hours after drinking the fluids to determine the activity of selected enzymes, insulin, testosterone, glucose, and some minerals. It was observed that in the CM group, serum AST (Pre: 110.33±126.62 U/L vs. Post: 83.17±100.42 U/L) and CK (Pre: 2393.12±2542.22 U/L vs. Post: 1556.33±1401.45 U/L) activity, as well as testosterone (Pre: 21.12±3.59 ng/mL vs. Post: 15.19±4.96 ng/mL; p=0.028) and iron (Pre: 163.00±14.76 μg/dL vs. Post: 109.00±23.91 μg/dL; p=0.028), decreased significantly, but potassium (Pre: 4.38±0.16 mmol/L vs. Post: 4.64±0.09 mmol/L) and magnesium (Pre: 1.82±0.09 mg/dL vs. Post: 2.07±0.04 mg/dL) levels increased after supplementation compared to baseline levels (p<0.05). After taking into account the changes that occurred in the PLA group and significant differences in some variables in terms of between-group comparisons, it was found that the decrease in AST and CK activity, along with the presence of positive ionic changes in the serum after CM supplementation indicates a reduction in negative changes after training and improving the process of post-training regeneration in young male athletes.