Drinking Milk After Exercise Encourages Muscle Gain And Fat Loss, Study Finds
11 Aug 2007

Part of an ongoing study into the impact of drinking milk after heavy weightlifting has found that milk helps exercisers burn more fat.

The study by researchers at McMaster University and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted by the Department of Kinesiology's Exercise Metabolism Research Group, lead by Stuart Phillips.

The researchers took three groups of young men 18 to 30 years of age -- 56 in total -- and put them through a rigorous, five-day-per-week weightlifting program over a 12-week period. Following their workouts, study participants drank either two cups of skim milk, a soy beverage with equivalent amounts of protein and energy, or a carbohydrate beverage with an equivalent amount of energy, which was roughly the same as drinking 600 to 700 milliliters of a typical sports drink.

Upon the study's conclusion, researchers found that the milk drinking group had lost nearly twice as much fat - two pounds - while the carbohydrate beverage group lost one pound of fat. Those drinking soy lost no fat. At the same time, the gain in muscle was much greater among the milk drinkers than either the soy or carbohydrate beverage study participants.

"The loss of fat mass, while expected, was much larger than we thought it would be," says Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster. "I think the practical implications of these results are obvious: if you want to gain muscle and lose fat as a result of working out, drink milk."

As reported in the first phase of the study, the milk drinking group came out on top in terms of muscle gain with an estimated 40 per cent or 2.5 pounds more muscle mass than the soy beverage drinkers. In addition, this group gained 63 per cent or 3.3 pounds, more muscle mass than the carbohydrate beverage drinkers.

"I think the evidence is beginning to mount," says Phillips. "Milk may be best known for its calcium content in supporting bone health, but our research, and that of others, continually supports milk's ability to aid in muscle growth and also promote body fat loss. To my mind -- with milk being a source of nine essential nutrients -- it's a no brainer: milk is the ideal post-workout drink for recreational exercisers and athletes alike."

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Ongoing work with this project will focus on the components of milk that might be responsible for the effects observed by the McMaster-based researchers. The work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and a grant from the US National Dairy Council.

McMaster University, a world-renowned, research-intensive university, fosters a culture of innovation, and a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching, research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University, one of only four Canadian universities to be listed on the Top 100 universities in the world, has a student population of more than 23,000, and an alumni population of more than 125,000 in 125 countries.

Source: Stu Phillips
McMaster University

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/79235.php

Main News Category: Nutrition / Diet

Also Appears In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness, Sports Medicine / Fitness,

We are not constructed to digest milk.
There are complex proteins that we do not digest that deposit in our joints and cause swelling and, for those with any joint problems like arthritis or tendinitis, increased pain and accelerated problems.
Same goes for digestive issues.
Soy milk on the other hand may be true when it comes to this.
We absorb much less calcium from cow milk than most believe.
We absorb 5x the calcium from a cup of raw spinach than 1/2 gallon of milk. How do you think cows get their calcium.
Green veggies have a GREAT DEAL more calcium than milk does and we absorb FAR more from them.
I'm happy to see them talking soy, Silk is a great brand, organic and tasty... I dislike the taste of most brands.

Drinking Milk After Exercise Encourages Mucous Gain

good one, had me laughing

good article. Thanks!

rkzenrage: didn't it say that soy gave little to no benefit where milk showed noticable benefit? Could've sworn that's what it said...*checks glasses*

the dairy farmers put this artical out to have us buy more milk....

it's sad that milk is higher than a gallon of gas.

if you think about it milk has mostly been more than gas in cost for years.

Yes, but does it make sense that gas goes up and that milk sould go up just as much?

what it is, is that the middle man is jacking the prices up and getting away with it. The stores increase the price to make up the diference of their loss on what goes bad sitting on the shelf instead of dropping prices to get rid of it. I have a friend who now works at a large store and has to do the ordering and he tells me of the mark ups of just the produce (100-150%) does this seem right? This is why I say drop the price and you can sell more with out the loss of things going bad.



STICK IT TO THE MAN, BEFORE HE STICKS IT TO YOU!!!!

Milk also causes osteoposorosis, as well as heart disease.
We aren't designed to digest it and in order to digest it, calcium is leached from our bones causing the disease. Soya milk isn't great either I'm afraid.
Simon

so lets go and spend $3.48/gal. and shorten our life spane, if this is the case why were we taught/brought up to drink it so often? (the man at work sticking it to us?)

All I stated was that we absorb more calcium from it, nothing more.

There’s currently a fiery debate going on in New Zealand over the claimed differences between milks with A1 or A2 proteins.

Lincoln University professor Keith Woodford has just released a book, Devil in the Milk, that claims A1 proteins are linked to a range of serious illnesses, including heart disease, Type 1 diabetes, autism and schizophrenia.

Mostly, worldwide milk is a mix of both A1 and A2. I think Iceland (or was it Greenland?) is the only place that is exclusively A2.

You can find out more from:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4203234a22981.html