Cereal is better than an energy drink after exercise

Published on Wednesday 13 May 2009 22:05

A BOWL of breakfast cereal is better at aiding recovery after exercise than expensive sports drinks, scientists have claimed.

Not only is it just as good at replenishing energy stores, but it also helps to rebuild muscle.

The findings, which were reported yesterday in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, concluded that breakfast cereal eaten with milk offers an effective and cheap way for athletes to "refuel".

Researchers studied eight male and four female trained cyclists. After two hour-long cycling sessions, they were randomly given either bottles of carbohydrate-based sports drinks or bowls of wholegrain cereal and non-fat milk. Tests showed no difference between the two in their ability to restore lost energy "fuel" in the form of stored glucose, or glycogen. But the milk protein provided raw material for muscle-rebuilding that was lacking in the sports drink.

During sustained exercise, muscle protein is broken down. Although exercise itself stimulates the creation of more protein, the consumption of protein-rich food is also needed to maintain a proper loss and gain balance.

US researcher Lynne Kammer, from the University of Texas at Austin, who led the study, said: "Our goal was to compare wholegrain cereal plus milk – which are ordinary foods – and sports drinks, after moderate exercise. We found that glycogen repletion, or the replenishment of immediate muscle fuel, was just as good after wholegrain cereal consumption and that some aspects of protein synthesis were actually better."

The research was supported by Wheaties, a popular American wheat and bran breakfast cereal, and the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition.