Top 8 Restoring Drinks Post Workout
Spirulina drinks loaded with proteins and minerals after workouts have been reported to potentially prevent exercise-induced lipid peroxidation, inflammation and muscle damage.
Rehydration is an important part of recovery post-workout. Although solid foods can also restore glycogen and electrolytic loss but beverages can aid their rapid restoration immediately after the workout, when your appetite may be suppressed.
Here are the top 8 drinks to be tried post-workout:
1. Electrolytic Drink
After an intense workout session, the sweat losses can be sufficient to create excessive water and electrolytic imbalance in the body. This imbalance of sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and calcium can be restored with an electrolytic drink that can be:
- A glass of Coconut water
- A glass of Watermelon juice
- A glass of diluted carbonated apple juice
- A Ready to drink Electrolyte infused water
2. Spirulina Smoothie
Spirulina supplementation has been reported to potentially prevent exercise-induced lipid peroxidation, inflammation, and muscle damage.
Spirulina is a variety of edible algae rich in proteins, vitamins, minerals, and iron.
It is recommended especially for hard trainers who are not able to achieve the recommended antioxidant dietary intake.
It lowers oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage, and helps to reduce performance losses and accelerate recovery after an intense workout.1
Just add spirulina powder to your smoothie, juice, or simply a glass of warm water after your workout.
Here’s a simple recipe for a Green Spirulina Smoothie:
Ingredients:
1 chopped banana, ½ chopped cucumber, ½ cup spinach, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon Spirulina powder
How to make it?
Step 1: Blend banana, cucumber, spinach, coconut milk and spirulina powder in a blender jar to make a creamy smooth paste.
Step 2: Garnish it with berries and granola and have this smoothie after your muscles training.
3. Vegetable Smoothie
A colorful tempting homemade vegetable smoothie loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants post-workout will replenish, detoxify and satisfy your post-workout hunger.
To make a healthy vegetable smoothie, blend all the colorful vegetables of your choice along with a small number of sweet flavor fruits such as apple, mango, or banana. Add a few drops of lemon and mint leaves to boost the flavor.
Here's a simple recipe for a vegetable smoothie:
Ingredients:
A hand full of chopped spinach, 1 banana, 1/2 chopped avocado,1 chopped mango, 1 cup milk (any of your choice)
How to make it?
Step 1: Blend the ingredients in a blending jar to make a rich green smoothie.
Step 2: Garnish it with hemp seeds or chia seeds and have it after your exercise.
4. Unsweetened Green tea/Black tea
A cup of hot brewing green tea can offer you much more than you expect. Apart from reducing cholesterol, body fat, blood pressure, and improved body mass index, a cup of green tea also exerts positive effects on muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. 2
A typical cup of green tea contains 50–100 mg of catechins and 30–40 mg of caffeine which can soothe you after a hard session.
A consistent cup of green tea after a workout can also help maintain weight too after a period of weight loss.
Likewise, a brewing cup of black tea also promotes recovery by lowering oxidative stress, inflammation, muscle damage, muscle soreness, or loss of strength after a high-intensity workout.3
The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of theaflavins in black tea reduce oxidative stress and inflammation after physical training.4
5. Unsweetened Chocolate milk
Carbohydrate–electrolyte drinks such as chocolate milk are among the most common drinks to replenish fluid and electrolyte losses and restore carbohydrate reserves after a workout.6
Chocolate milk for recovery has prompted a study of the antioxidant properties that cocoa and carbohydrate in the drink provides.
It is reported that arginine, an amino acid in cocoa, and carbohydrate in milk together increase insulin secretion 5 times as much compared to carbohydrate or arginine alone.
This can magnify insulin response without creating gastrointestinal distress.7
So, a glass of unsweetened chocolate milk can effectively reduce your fatigue if you wish to get going with reps.
6. Low-Alcoholic Beer
Beer has a previous association with sports. On an easy note, sportsmen consumed beer as a ritual for their victory celebrations.
Interestingly, low alcoholic beer with an alcohol content of 1% or 2% or a non-alcoholic beer is reported to have rehydrating potential in comparison to beer with an alcohol content of 4% which can positively delay the recovery and increase urinary losses.9
7. Beetroot Juice
Beetroot juice is reported with the presence of inorganic nitrate that reduces the oxygen cost of moderate workouts and enhances the tolerance to high-intensity workouts.8
Among 0.5 Lt beetroot juice and 0.5 Lt black currant juice, beetroot juice can significantly increase the time to exhaustion during and after workouts.
8. Protein Shake
A healthy homemade protein shake before or after resistance training will improve the body's glycogen replenishment, rebuild your muscles and enhance satiety.
Here are 2 super quick recipes for homemade protein shakes:
1. Peanut Butter-Banana Protein Shake
Ingredients:
2 medium-sized bananas, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 2 cups Greek yogurt, ½ cup full-fat milk/soy milk,1 tablespoon chia seeds, ½ tsp Cocoa powder
How to Prepare?
Step1. Blend bananas, yogurt, milk, Cocoa powder, and peanut butter in a blending jar to make a thick smoothie.
Step 2. Garnish with chia seeds and cocoa powder and enjoy it post-workout.
2. Mango-Almond Milk Protein Shake
Ingredients:
1cup chopped Alphonso mango, 1 cup almond milk,10 cashew nuts,2 tablespoons chia seeds,1 cup chilled Greek yogurt
How to Prepare?
Step 1. Blend chopped mango, milk, and chilled yogurt in a jar to make a thick smoothie.
Step 2. Garnish with chia seeds and enjoy it after a strenuous workout.
Also, connect to DrTrust360 Health plans to get your diet plan customized according to your workout and know more interesting diet hacks. Our nutritionist will guide you with the choicest meals to maximize your workout outputs.