What Should You Drink After You Work Out?

We all know the feeling: you get back from the gym and find yourself craving something sugary and delicious, but you obviously can't give in without ruining your workout. According to recent research, however, you might be able to do something about that after all, because chocolate milk is good for your body post-workout. The weird part? The added sugar is actually what makes it the ideal drink to refuel your body.Sugar's gotten a bad reputation over the years, and for good reason. Consuming too much of it has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, and sugary drinks are associated with type II diabetes. However, like most things, in moderation it's fine — in fact, your body needs naturally occurring sugars to function. After a workout, your body needs primarily protein and carbohydrates to recover, and guess what happens to have the perfect ratio of carbs to protein? If you said chocolate milk, and hopefully you did because it's literally in the heading for this article, you're right! According to the Washington Post, milk is good because it "

creates spikes in insulin... that help transport sugar into the muscle," as well as encouraging muscle repair. The flavoring, presumably from sugar, adds carbs that provide energy so you can continue being your badass self after you exercise.

The ideal ratio, by the way, is four grams of carbs for every one gram of protein. For those of you who don't like chocolate milk (weirdos), D.C. nutritionist Rebecca Scritchfield told the Post that regular milk works too unless it causes "digestive issues," although she says it "may not be enough carbs or calories" without some sort of flavoring. So a nutritionist is actually recommending we add sugar to something? This is a huge deal. It's almost enough to make a girl want to work out....Or just make some chocolate milk without the exercise, like a real adult. That sounds fun.

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