Milk takes female athletes from strength to strength
Female athletes looking to increase lean muscle and decrease fat mass may want to add milk to their training program.
A recent study by researchers at McMasters University in Canada suggests that milk supports favourable body composition changes in women undertaking resistance training.
The authors of the study concluded that after 12 weeks, women consuming milk as opposed to sports drink in the early post-exercise period following resistance training gained lean muscle and strength as well as losing fat.
The researchers investigated whether women consuming skim milk versus a carbohydrate drink such as readily available sports drinks with an equal number of calories would gain lean muscle mass and lose fat mass after resistance exercise.
The young women drank either skim milk or a carbohydrate drink immediately after exercise and then an hour later. They exercised five days a week for 12 weeks and changes in their body composition were measured.
Lean muscle mass increased in both those drinking milk and carbohydrate but with a greater gain in those drinking milk, and fat mass was decreased in the milk drinkers only.
Until now, most research on the benefit of milk to athletes focused on men. The scientists wanted to find out whether milk offered the same benefits to female athletes as it does to male ones.
Glenys Zucco, Dietitian at Dairy Australia said, “This study is very positive for female athletes trying to enhance their performance or body composition. Most studies regarding sports nutrition are conducted in men and this shows how the same benefits of consuming milk can be applied to women.”
Ms Zucco welcomed the research saying, “This study provides further evidence of the nutritional benefits of milk for athletes, a product that is readily available, natural, and inexpensive.”
Who are the researchers at McMasters University? Does the word “University” lend credibility to ANY study? Who instituted such a study? Who paid for the time and expertise of the researchers? What other studies has McMasters University done, peer reviewed, independent, objective? To whom primarily did McMasters University hand their findings after the research was published? What about all the ingredients in milk they did not mention? (Thinking of fat, bovine growth hormones, pus, the proven carcinogen IGF1, Bacillus cereus spores consistently isolated from dairy silo tanks, salmonella bacteria found in unpasteurized milk, or the most common antibiotic residue found in the
flesh of slaughterhouse cows, LS-50 (it is illegal to treat dairy cows with LS-50). Then there’s the histamines then mucus formed by milk consumption. And let’s not forget the estrogen, which has been identified as a key factor in promoting breast cancer cell growth. And never mind that the British medical journal Lancet pointed out that a diet filled with dairy products has been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974;2:1061) What about the other study by Raimondi S, Mabrouk JB, et. al.) at the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, which decided that “”We found a twofold increased risk of prostate cancer associated with an increased intake of dairy products.” Oh well, at least that won’t effect the women in this study.