Got Milk?

Great Blog Post from VerticalJumping.com

TRAINING BENEFITS OF MILK

Bovine (cow) milk has well known health benefits but how well do the components of milk relate to recovery from sports training and competition? Well there are many benefits actually, some of the main ones are listed below.

• Milk has concentration of carbohydrates (in the form of lactose) similar to commercially available sports drinks.
• Milk contains casein and whey proteins at a ratio of 3:1 which slows digestion and absorption increasing blood concentration of amino acids (Protein).
• Whey protein contains branched chain amino acids, important for the muscle metabolism and muscle growth.
• Milk contains high concentrations of electrolytes, which may facilitate rehydration after exercise.
• Milk is low fat when the low fat products are selected often with just 1-2% fat.
• Muscle growth requires that protein (the main component of muscles) is created faster than it is broken down. This process requires stimulation (resistance training) and an increase in protein consumption to aid muscle growth.
• Protein and carbohydrate intake improves the bodys adaptation to resistance training.
• Research indicates that milk consumption increases protein metabolism after resistance training.
• Bovine milk as opposed to soymilk may be more beneficial: soymilk proteins are absorbed faster resulting in more protein leaving the body.
• Bovine milk maintains slightly elevated blood protein levels for a longer period of time, due to its slow absorption rate, resulting in more effective muscle use.
• Studies show milk consumption results in increased muscle mass gain from resistance training when compared with a commercially available sports drink.
• Milk consumption results in a decrease in fat mass in the same studies.

These claims are similar to those made by expensive commercially available sports drinks and protein drinks.

CONCLUSION

There is strong evidence that milk is as effective or more effective as a sports recovery drink than water or commercially available sports drinks. Milk has vitamins and minerals not found in commercially available sports drinks and it s considerably cheaper than the protein drinks promoted in the sports drink market. Milk is safe and effective as a recovery drink for lactose tolerant people.

NOTE

There are a lot of scientists who feel that drinking milk is actually quite bad for you. I personally did a 30 day no dairy diet to see if I felt any different and my own experience was that I noticed no change in how I felt, levels of inflammation, sleep patterns, etc either before, during or after the experiment. Others however swear they experience amazing benefits after removing dairy from their diets.

I am of the opinion that every day millions of people around the world drink cows milk, and have done for centuries. Modern farming practices may have changed the quality of the cows milk we drink now so I would recommend buying the best quality organic milk you can.

REFERENCES

Roy, B. D. (2008). Milk: The new sports drink? A review. Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition. 5 (15), 1550-2783

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Theo Pickles holds a Master of Applies Science (Sports Coaching), and a Bachelor of Human Movement Science. He has worked with high level athletes both in Australia and around the world. He currently lives in Antwerp and works with the Netherlands Olympic Committee as a strength and conditioning coach.

To read more of Theo's work you can visit his website: www.australiansportsconditioning.com