Is Milk an Effective Post-Resistance Exercise Drink? What do Research Say?

Resistance exercise is a form of exercise that improves muscular strength and endurance. The exercise includes moving your limbs against resistance provided by power bands, weighted bars and dumbbells. Regular resistance exercise can lower body fat, and decrease the risk of heart disease and hypertension, improve cholesterol levels, and improving muscular strength for a better quality of life.

There has been growing interest to use bovine milk as an exercise drink, especially during recovery from resistance and endurance

sports. According to Roy et al.(2008) low-fat milk is a potentially good exercise recovery drinking. Firstly, the carbohydrates (lactose)

content is similar to many commercially available sports drinks (glucose, maltodextrin). Secondly, milk contains casein and whey proteins in a ratio of 3:1 . The slower digestion and absorption of these proteins results in sustained higher levels of blood amino acid concentrations. Whey protein also contains a large proportion of branched chain amino acids which functions in muscle metabolism and protein synthesis. Finally, milk has naturally high concentrations of electrolytes that can replenish those lost through sweating during exercise.

Hartman et al.(2007), in a 12 week randomized trial, compared three post resistance exercise drinks:fat-free milk (500 mL), a soy beverage (500 mL) that was isoenergetic, isonitrogenous and macronutrient ratio matched to the fat-free milk, and a control beverage (500 mL) that consisted of a flavoured carbohydrate beverage that contained maltodextrin. They found that fat-free milk resulted in greatest increases in muscle hypertrophy, as observed through greater increases in both type I and II muscle fiber areas. The fat free milk group also gained the most lean body mass and lost the most fat over the duration of the study.

Shirreffs, et al. (2007) compared the effectiveness of low-fat milk alone, low-fat milk with additional sodium chloride, a sports drink, and water at restoring fluid balance after exercise in a hot environment (1.8% loss in body mass). The volume of each drink consumed was 150% of the volume of fluid lost during the exercise. hours of recovery. They found that low-fat milk was effective in promoting rehydration following exercise induced dehydration. The low-fat milk was superior to a commercially available sports drink in promoting rehydration as indicated by the lower total urine output during recovery.

Scientific evidence support the use of low-fat milk as a post-resistance exercise drink. Fat free milk is as effective as commercially available sports drinks for recovery. Moreover, milk has the added benefit of providing additional nutrients and vitamins that are not present in commercial sports drinks. In conclusion, fat free milk is a safe and effective post- resistance exercise beverage that promote recovery, and is potentially a viable alternative to commercial sports drinks.