Muscle over fat

I suppose it is no different today than at any time in our nation's history, but why is only bad news considered to be news? Why can't we get daily updates about the success stories from our soldiers in Iraq? Why don't we get hourly news reports reinforcing our nation's farm products as wholesome and necessary?

I am not quite sure other than I realize that we, as humans, just aren't wired to relate to good news as well as that with a hint of a scare. If you are in need of a scare today, you might as well quit reading now. From this point forward, this column is reporting only good news that you otherwise probably wouldn't hear much about; so if you like it, tell all of your friends and neighbors.

"Milk does the body good" has been proven in a whole new sense at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Researchers compared the effects of drinking nonfat milk, a soy protein drink or a carbohydrate drink on muscle building and fat burning after subjects completed weight lifting workouts. The research was done by Stuart M. Phillips, Ph.D., associate professor of kinesiology and an exercise physiologist. The results have been published in the Aug. 1, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Phillips and his colleagues recruited 56 healthy young men, average age 22, and assigned them to drink milk, a soy drink or a carbohydrate drink immediately after their weight training exercises and then one hour later. The milk and soy drinks were matched for protein, fat, and carb content. Each had 18 grams of protein, 1.5 grams of fat and 23 grams of carbohydrates.

Participants weight-trained five days a week for 12 weeks, and all the participants were novices. They had not done any weight training for the past eight months. The exercises were done on standard weight training machines, which worked out all the major muscle groups, with participants increasing repetitions as they gained strength.

The milk drinkers gained the most muscle. "The gains of muscle in the milk group were 8.8 pounds, vs. 6 pounds for the soy group, vs. 5.3 pounds for the control group (drinking the carbohydrate drink)," says Phillips. "The group that drank the milk gained 60 percent more muscle than the carbohydrate group and 40 percent more than the soy group," Phillips says.

Those who drank milk also had more strength gains than the other two groups in two kinds of individual exercises: knee extensions and hamstring curls.

The milk drinkers also lost more body fat. "They lost almost 2 pounds of body fat," he says. "The soy group barely changed, in terms of body fat. It was about a third of a pound. In the control group (the carbohydrate drinkers) it was about a pound of body fat lost.

Experts have responded to these results indicating that they are not really sure why the milk protein is beneficial, but think that the calcium may allow your body to burn more fat. Interestingly enough--as our nation attempts to figure out why so many of our youths are overweight--could it be that we are overlooking some simple reasons: too much couch time, poor drink choices and not enough milk?

The National Institute of Health indicates that fewer than one in 10 girls and just one in four boys ages 9 through 13 are getting enough calcium. Some experts call osteoporosis a juvenile disease because poor bone mass in adulthood often begins in adolescence. Soda and sports drinks not only take the place of milk, but they also tie up calcium and vitamin D so that they are not available for use by the growing body. This results in tooth decay and an increased likelihood of broken bones.

During growth spurts, it is essential that growing children get enough calcium to supply their bones with needed nutrients. In fact, 90 percent of a person's peak bone mass for adulthood is established by the late teen years. The strength and health of an adult's bones largely depends on calcium intake during formative years.

Yet, we have seen a trend of kids drinking less milk every year. Activists have been trying to get milk and dairy products out of our kid's diets. And the results of this study confirm what farm families have known all along: Milk and dairy products are an essential part of your daily diet, no matter how old you are. Of course, naysayers have overlooked the fact that the first food substance we are provided at birth is milk. Would our maker have started us off on the wrong foot? We need to get back to a basic diet that includes milk, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables--and good, old-fashioned hard work--and we can make a big dent in the obesity problem in this country.

Source: http://www.hpj.com/archives/2007/aug07/aug27/Muscleoverfat.cfm