Im not sure, which is 'better', but my post-workout shake consists of...
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 cup oats
1 whole banana
2 scoops whey
Here is a link to an article written by Alan Aragon regarding pre, during, and postworkout nutrition.
POSTWORKOUT
OBJECTIVE
the objective here is to raise insulin concentrations & get a head start on recovery by antagonizing cortisol & other catabolic elements, replenish water & glygogen, and restore levels of circulating amino acids. this is mistakenly viewed as the most important meal of the day, which is BS. why? because if you're not properly fueled prior to this point, your workout will suck. thus, it's equally important in the large scheme of things.
COMPOSITION
i'm not biased towards a shake-only postworkout philosophy, as long as either type contains a liquid component. 2 equally effective scenarios are:
scenario one: as soon as possible postworkout - or even at the tail end of the workout, say, 10-20 minutes before it's over. i start chugging my postworkout shake 60 minutes into my workout, regardless of how long my workout takes.
---- 30-60g protein (0.25g/lb target BW). whey again is pretty cheap & works great here. research shows that postworkout protein doesn't inhibit glycogen synthesis, and can improve protein synthesis. this means that you can hedge your anabolic & anticatabolic bets by taking in a sizable amount of protein postworkout. whey happens to be a highly insulinogenic protein, so this is ideal at this point.
---- 60-120g of high-GI carbs (0.5g/lb target BW), or a combination of types that ultimately averages to a high-GI rating (70 or above). dextrose & maltodextrin have traditionally been emphasized as ideal for postworkout because of their high-GI. however, i have issues with going pure dex for postworkout for a couple of reasons - and they have nothing to do with the threat of insulin resistance, because that whole scenario applies to a completely different population. first off, you can get some default dex within fruit or milk. secondly, pure dex has no micronutrient density, and i've said it before, antioxidant micronutrition is grossly under-emphasized whenever postworkout nutrition is discussed. dex is a fine
addition to your postworkout carb arsenal, but to go pure dex for the largest carb hit of your day doesn't make sense from a micronutrient density standpoint - especially when dex is contained in other foods that are more nutrient dense and are still either high-GI or highly insulinemic.
thinly rolled non-prepacketed oats (which many don't realize have a GI of appx 65-75 as opposed to the low-GI the steel-cut or old-fashioned type) plus dex is achieving the best of both worlds, but that's theoretical ground. NOTE: old fashioned/slow-cooked oats + dex in a 1:1 still yields a GI that crosses the threshold of high. adding fruit to your postworkout mix of carbs can potentially benefit folks who train with a high volume & do a lot of cardio (ie, precontest). the protection of liver glycogen status under such conditions can maintain the centrally neurologic signaling of the "fed state" and hence prevent lean tissue catabolism -- especially during hypocaloric balance.
okay, so to be practical, simple examples are: 1/2-1 cup dry oats + 30-50g dex (OR) 1/2 cup dry oats + 40g dex + 1 banana. these are just 2 examples out of many possibilities. i see nothing wrong with using high-moderate to high-GI carbs other than dex/malto, as long as the average GI of the combo is near or greater than 70. nitpicky theoretics aside, anything 65 or above on the GI scale (like the thinly rolled plain oats which people mistakenly think is in the low GI category) will likely have very similar real-world effectiveness as higher-GI choices. but remember, this is a discussion of optima, thus, we are scrutinizing the minutia and elucidating what might provide
the edge.
---- as little fat as possible is best postworkout, because you don't want to blunt insulin output at this point.
---- milk considerations: whether or not you add milk to your postworkout shake depends upon personal preference and tolerance. the cons of milk are that many folks have some degree of lactose intolerance or milk allergy, and therefore are excluded from the possibility. the pros of milk postworkout are that it's highly insulinogenic, contains 6g dex per cup, and is a potent anabolic/anticatabolic substance that has outperformed whey in human research thus far.
scenario two: ASAP postworkout - a solid-food meal consisting of:
---- 30-60g protein (0.25g/lb target BW) in the form of lean flesh, all types are fine, 5-8oz suffices.
---- 60-120g high-moderate to high-GI polysaccharide carbs (0.5g/lb target BW), good examples are white or brown rice (yes most brown rice is high-GI), and all types of potatoes & breads. my bias and preference here is to include a serving of higher-glucose fresh fruit, such as grapes, banana, or pineapple - for micronutrient/antioxidant purposes as well as extra glucose (we should all know by now that the fructose contribution of fruit, at 4-7g on average per serving, is insignificant). another wrinkle to add here is that berries as a group have more antioxidant potential than other fruits. this confers benefit despite their lower concentration of glucose compared to grapes, pineapples, & bananas. so, don't worry if you choose other fruit than the higher-glucose ones postworkout; you're still winning out in the antioxidant arena.
---- water or milk, pick your poison.. a word about fruit juice: while i am not against small amounts of fructose from whole fruit for maintaining/replenishing liver glycogen, fruit juice on the other hand tends to cross the line of excess in terms of fructose, and you miss out on much of the beneficial phytochemicals & oxygen radical suppressors in whole fruit.
---- once again, keep fat to a minimum.
now.. can you exceed 120g carbs or 60g protein postworkout? of course! your training program, body mass, & physiology may actually scream for it. this is merely a point of reference for the masses to digest, absorb, & process accordingly (gotta love corny nutrition puns). for the few competitive endurance athletes who might read this, consider the rather whopping 1.0g/lb a starting point for your postworkout carb intake. protein need is sufficiently met with the standard guideline of 0.25g/lb.
ESOTERIC RAMBLINGS
a word about high or low-GI postworkout.. this is a topic that has sparked debate mainly from a finding by jentjens & colleagues showing the biphasic nature of glycogenesis (30-60min insulin-independent initial phase, followed by an insulin-dependent phase lasting several hours). this has led some sugarphobic folks to strive for low-GI foods postworkout thinking that high insulin concentrations aren't necessary for maximal glycogen replenishment. well, the fact remains that although heightened insulin concentrations don't ultimately increase the total AMOUNT of glycogen replenishment, they definitely increase the SPEED of glycogen replenishment. this is of obvious benefit when the unavoidable overlap of muscular work (and hence need for rapid replenishment) is considered. another thing that's overlooked by low-GI PW advocates (jeez, that's so ridiculous i can't believe i just typed it), is that the 30-60 minute non-insulin-dependent phase is an ideal timeframe to absorb high-GI carbs immediately ingested postworkout and have them present & ready to coincide with the insulin-depended phase of glycogenesis - where the majority of total glycogenesis takes place. as an added bit of trivia, high-GI carbs are sooooo darn good at replenishing glycogen, that even a delay of 2hrs was not observed by parkin's research team to compromise total amount of glycogen replenishment (by the way, this is not recommended, i'm just driving a point). hopefully everyone realizes the importance of manipulating insulin for all aspects of anabolism & anticatabolism. there's much much more to this facet of discussion, but we'll leave it at that.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=272067