Skimmed milk increases muscle mass

Drinking skimmed milk helps weightlifters to build about twice as much muscle as those who rely on soya beverages. Researchers from the University in Hamilton, Ontario found that powdered skimmed milk is far cheaper than supplements specifically designed to help weightlifters pump up after a workout. They found that milk is 20-30 times less expensive than most protein supplements available. Consuming protein after pumping weights is known to help build muscle mass, but it is not clear whether some types of protein are more effective than others. Quickly digested or fast proteins, including whey and soya, cause a temporary flood of amino acids into the blood, making more of these protein building blocks available for uptake by muscle. Proteins that take longer to digest, such as casein that is found in milk, produce a more gradual and long-lasting increase in blood levels of amino acids. While these slow proteins don't promote muscle formation, they do prevent muscle breakdown. The researchers hypothesised that a combination of slow and fast proteins like casein and whey, both found in cow's milk, would be most effective for building muscle. To investigate, they gave soya beverage or skimmed milk to 8 men who regularly lifted weights after performing a series of exercises with one leg. It was found that for three hours after the workout, muscle uptake of amino acids was significantly greater when the men drank milk than when they consumed soya. The gains were measured in this study after a single workout, but if extended out to 10 weeks the data suggests that gains in muscle mass would be twice as great with milk as with soya. In another study, evidence was found that milk also benefits athletes after exhaustive exercise, such as cycling.