There has been a ton of ideas about what is best for athletes nutrition-wise. It constantly amazes me that we are at this point of scientific enlightenment and we can’t even tell a human what is good for him/her to eat for each and every endeavor they attempt. You’d think by now, it would be down to the gram, of what or what you shouldn’t eat at all times of your life. But, no, it’s not even close.
No one knows whether fats are good or bad for you. Whether carbohydrates are good for exercise or not. Whether to drink water to hydrate or milk.
Griffith University did a study, not a big one, but a study about rehydrating using milk and they found that it was better than Powerade. Now Time and others have reported that milk is better at helping an athlete recover than all sports drinks. I really don’t think that is fair since they only compared milk to Powerade in the study. But, nevertheless, you are more hydrated 4 hours after exercise when drinking just plain milk than Powerade.
Their words from the study –
Milk-based drinks are more effective rehydration options compared with traditional sports drinks. The additional energy, protein, and sodium in a milk-based liquid meal supplement facilitate superior fluid recovery following exercise.
There already was already the chocolate milk study. And they used low-fat chocolate milk for hydration post exercise. What fun is that, low-fat?
A side note-drinking just plain water can add to dehydration by screwing up your sodium levels, thus dehydrating you.
Remember, this is an after exercise study. They didn’t have athletes consume milk during exercise and see if that kept them more hydrated. And they were using full cream milk, not 2% or skim. Bet not many of you have a jug of that in your refrigerator?
