The most recent study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (www.jissn.com) examined the combo of cereal + non-fat milk versus a typical sports drink for workout recovery. Subjects included trained cyclists and triathletes in the SW hotbed of cycling – ATX (Austin, TX).
In this crossover study (meaning that every single participant participated on 2 separate occasions and consumed the cereal + milk on one occasion and the sports drink on the other) the athletes cycled for two hours, had a snip of muscle tissue drawn from their thigh (fun!) and blood taken, consumed either the cereal + nonfat milk or sports drink then laid around and had more blood drawn 30 and 60 minutes post-recovery and another snip of thigh muscle taken at 60 minutes.
Both the sports drink and cereal + milk resulted in increased glycogen synthesis (your storage form of carbohydrates) and both also increased protein synthesis (with the cereal + milk having a slight leg up in that department). In other words, both stimulated nutrition recovery.
The authors concluded that cereal + nonfat milk is as effective as a sports drink. For those people who recover at home (start and end their ride or run from their house) or walk from their gym workout back to their house in a few minutes, cereal + milk is a great option. For everyone else who is stuck in traffic or runs errands after their workout (like I did today for about 1 hour), consuming a sports drink with added protein or whey shake + some form of quick carbohydrates are both better options.
just read the study, sounds like a good post workout snack to me