Is milk the ultimate thirst quencher? Yes whey, says study

McMaster University graduate student Kim Volterman monitors research participant Paige Leonard's heart rate for the study.

/ McMaster University

(CBS) Milk may do a body good, but is it the ultimate thirst-quencher? A new study suggests milk is superior to water and sports drinks at replenishing fluids following exercise.

"Milk is better than either a sports drink or water because it is a source of high-quality protein, carbohydrates, calcium and electrolytes," study author Dr. Brian Timmons, an assistant professor of medicine at McMaster University in Canada, said in a written statement.

Who sponsored the study? The Dairy Farmers of Canada. That begs the question - is the science legit, or udderly ridiculous?

Timmons said milk has a high salt concentration which helps the body retain fluid better and replaces sodium that's lost through sweating.

Others like Dr. Dennis Cardone, a sports medicine expert at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, seem to agree. He told CBS News milk was an "underrated" thirst-quencher.

"Milk is an excellent post-activity drink," Cardone told CBS News. But he said, "I wouldn't say one is necessarily better than the other."

For the study, McMaster researchers had 14 eight to 10-year-olds exercise on a stationary bike for 40 minutes, then gave them either skim milk, water, or a sports drink to measure hydration. After a two hour recovery period, 75 percent of the skim milk was retained in the milk drinkers, compared with 60 percent from the sports drink, and 50 percent from the water. Water drinkers also produced twice as much urine than milk drinkers.

The peer-reviewed findings will be presented in September at a conference on children and exercise in Cornwall, England.

"It is important to note that all three drinks did a decent job at rehydrating the kids," Timmons told CBS News in an email. "Water just doesn't have the same ingredients that help kids replace all of what they've lost when they're active." He said milk would be especially handy in tournaments or sports camps, where kids don't have enough time to hydrate.

Cardone says for short-term exercise, water is probably just as effective for kids. But for activity over 60 minutes, he'd recommend a sports drink to maintain electrolyte balance and replenish sodium to prevent cramping.

But don't be surprised if you see football players dump a gallon of milk on coach after a big win...

[Testor1234]

Doesn't lactic acid cause the "burn" in muscles when you workout?

[rf35]

The problem with milk is all the fat and calories. Even skim milk is heavy on calories. That might be OK if the active person is a little on the skinny side but with the percentage of Americans who are overweight or obese, I don't think there are many who qualify. One reason milk is retained in the body longer is because milk turns into a solid in the stomach. If you doubt this, try adding hydrochloric acid (the acid in the stomach) to a cup of milk and see what happens. Sports drinks are your best bet. They contain not just water for hydration, but the sodium and other electrolytes needed after exertion. Gatorade was invented by studying sweat to see what the body loses during exercise. They just added some flavor since very few people would be willing to drink a bottle of sweat after working out.

[Nate650]

Your advice is exactly backwards. First, there is nothing wrong with fat and calories per se. Some of the most nutrient-dense and healthy foods, like extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil, are high in fat and calories. The body needs fat. Nearly 70% of the brain is comprised of fat. People have been consuming raw whole milk for thousands of years with no ill-effects.

Sports drinks are high in refined sugar and are not a good choice.

[msay3]

GOT MILK?

[m0u5y]

More like ultimate diarrhea causer.

[rwsmith29456]

I drink milk when I feel punky and it helps like a small meal or snack. But drinking milk just makes me thirstier.

[jmailbox]

About 80% of adults don't even need to drink milk, and you're better off now. Yes you do get Vitamin D and Calcium, but there are plenty of other non-dairy items that you can get both without all the fat.

Milk is ok to compliment with some amount of things, but 80% or so of adults are lactose intolerant anyhow.

Soda's aren't that great, unless you've eating a big meal, the extra acid in the soda does help a little to break down a big pile of food.

Water is good to, but it has to be a little cooler then room tempature to make it enjoyable. You wouldn't drink a beer warm (well in the USA that is). The only thing with drinking lots of water is to have extra salt to maintain proper liquid retention in the body.

For example, if you have 2 quarts of water, a small amount of salt is good, 1 gallon of water about another 800mg of salt. The body needs extra salt for all the extra liquids, otherwise you get bloated. And you if drink like 8 pints of water within a few minutes you could drown to death.

[Nate650]

There's nothing wrong with naturally occurring fat in milk. People seem to have an unjustified fear of all fat, but really only man-made trans fat is the one to worry about. The body needs fat. You simply can't feel optimal on a nonfat diet.

Second, the main reason most people are "lactose intolerant" is poor quality milk. Industrial milk comes from grain-fed cows living in poor conditions, is pasteurized or ultrapasteurized, homogenized, and often contains hormones and/or antiobitics. Most people have no problem drinking raw milk from pasture-based cows. This is the only milk that existed just 100 years ago.

[jmailbox]

Nate60,

There is a good reason to be afraid of, there's a lot of Saturated Fats in milk, which is unhealthy. I do agree that Trans fats are very unhealthy, but saturated fats occur naturally and are not very healthy.

You comment about olive oil being healthy, yes that's true because olive oil contains monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats, both are good for you, but Monounsatured fats are just emtpy calories. And olive oil contains a lot of mono-fats.

I do agree about poor quality of the milk, because the pasturizing process remove the butter fat and milk cream which contain poly and mono fats, but they don't survive the pasturizing process

[cyberclark]

Having raised two kids through swim competitions, climbing, biking and other assorted high energy sports and, taking advise from dietitians through out I have a qualified comment.

Water is the best for active sport use. If you must have a juice or other such flavor drink, mix it5 parts 1 to 1 of concentrate.

Soft drinks are simply out of the question for a library of reasons.

Straight juices "natural strength" will set up a solution in your body that was cause your body to force water into it. Hence, the runs and dehydration in general.

[m0u5y]

Water is life. Everything we ever need to drink is in a clear unpolluted fresh mountain spring. Just water and essential minerals -- no sugar, no corn syrup, no color and flavors. The rest of the moisture is easily ingested through a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, meats, and legumes.

[MaxK341]

When a "study" is financed and publicized by the very industry that stands to benefit from the findings it has no credibility.

[m0u5y]

It is almost as if both the cow pus industry and the media think we're idiots.