Drinking Milk After Weightlifting Boosts Muscle Mass, Burns Body Fat

Researchers from McMaster University found that drinking skim milk after weightlifting outperforms both soy and carbohydrate beverages (similar to sports drinks) in regards to muscle gain and fat loss. Those drinking soy beverages lost no body fat, while those consumption of milk led to twice as much fat loss as those taking carbohydrates.

The researchers took three groups of young men 18 to 30 years of age - 56 in total - and put them through a rigorous, five-day-per-week weightlifting program over a 12-week period. Following their workouts, study participants drank either two cups of skim milk, a soy beverage with equivalent amounts of protein and energy, or a carbohydrate beverage with an equivalent amount of energy, which was roughly the same as drinking 600 to 700 milliliters of a typical sports drink.

Milk drinkers gained 40% (2.5 lbs) more muscle mass than soy drinkers and 63% (3.3 lbs) more than carbohydrate beverage drinkers. Fat loss was smaller, with those downing carbohydrate drinks dropping one pound and milk drinkers losing two.

To clarify any potential conflicts-of-interest, the study was funded in part by the US National Dairy Council and is published in the August edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The McMaster team is now trying to find out which components of milk account for this difference -- and I hope they exist in chocolate form.

To gain muscle and lose fat, drink milk [press release]