Training & Nutrition - Milk?

I don`t use milk before training, because its messing with my stomach.
And now i`ve heard about the fact that milk effects the burning of food because it creates a layer in the stomach.
Is this true? , just currious :)

Originally posted by toolfreak
I don`t use milk before training, because its messing with my stomach.
And now i`ve heard about the fact that milk effects the burning of food because it creates a layer in the stomach.
Is this true? , just currious :)
I would research this, Mark. It may, or may not, have merit!

:D

If i have any milk before ride then i will vomit later in the ride. Som for the most part i dont drink milk!!

Jared

Never heard about the burning part of milk in the stomach but I've cut milk out entirely. I heard or read that it can add to my asthma problems. Something to do with increasing mucus levels and that narrows my airway. Same with cheese. I'm all about Oatmeal now.

Cannondale

I wouldn't recommend drinking milk before a ride, especially on a warm day- ewww. It really can upset your stomach. Milk doesn't hydrate you like water does. You're better off with water and save the milk for apple pie or cookies.

I've recently become rather sensitive to drinking milk; I find that when I drink any significant amount of it, I end up with, shall we say, the trots. I was up half the night a few nights ago because of that. NO more milk for me! I can use it on cereal or eat ice cream or cheese, but I guess it's not the same as actually drinking the stuff. Oh well, I can get calcium other ways.

After a ride, if I didn't have anything else, I'd drink it.

Mmm, i guess staying away from milk before any sports is not a bad idea :)
Funny to see there are more people who can`t ride on milk, i thought i was the only one.

Hey Cannondale, are you Dutch?, because of the line below your name!

"I hope you find what you looking for"

I agree with the thoughts about milk before a ride,

But about a hour or so after a ride there's nothing nicer than 3 eggwhites, a few spoonfuls of honey and the rest of the pint glass filled up with ice cold semi-skimmed Milk.

:beer: DELICIOUS

While out on a ride today we stopped at an ice cream place. I haven't had any ice cream in ...well, I can't remember when, since the weather has been so crappy. But today we stopped and I had a milkshake (maple walnut). Interestingly enough, it didn't upset my stomach, maybe because I metabolized it right away (we went along for another 40k after that).

well no science here, just my personal experience/thoughts...

i could see that milk could maybe create stomach problems, especially since i believe many people have varying levels of lactose intolerance...

but in my case i usually eat cereal with milk before most of my rides - for my weekday group ride i eat a quick bowl about 15-30 minutes before i ride and almost never have problems. and then my usual breakfast before my commute and before tours or long rides is also cereal/muslei with milk.

now running is a different story where i must not eat anything for an hour or so before i run...

i would say, if you experience problems then don't do it. but if you're like me then it should be no problem -- in 7+ years of 5000+km/yr and lots of racing and long tours too

Originally posted by wabbit

I've recently become rather sensitive to drinking milk; I find that when I drink any significant amount of it, I end up with, shall we say, the trots. I was up half the night a few nights ago because of that. NO more milk for me! I can use it on cereal or eat ice cream or cheese, but I guess it's not the same as actually drinking the stuff. Oh well, I can get calcium other ways.

Ditto, and I used to love to drink milk.

I think eating cereal with milk is different than drinking it- you don't consume that much milk with cereal, usually only about 4 oz and it's kind of absorbed by the cereal. Cereal doesn't bother me- it's only when I drink a significant amount that I have any kind of problem.

Apparently goat's milk is supposed to be easier on the stomach and is just as good for you.

If you have a trader joes they have really good Soymilk. Better than "Silk" or anyothers.. and it will avoid the problems you might encounter with milk.

I drink milk almost every night, but not before I ride, milk is good to drink when your going to bed I think I helps muscle to increase density, I don't know I may be wrong here

Personally, I think that most people -- particularly children -- drink too much milk. Even 2% has a whole lot of fat and sugar [lactose] in it, and the dairy industry estimates that 60% of the milk consumed in North America is whole milk.

I just can't drink liquid milk and even cream in my coffee makes me queasy -- though I have no trouble with yogurt, cheese and the very occasional ice cream. I get most of my colcium and milk-borne nutrients from yogurt, actually. I eat 200 ml of that every day.

I have taken to using goat's milk for my coffee and cereal, though. So far, so good.

Originally posted by velocipedio
I just can't drink liquid milk and even cream in my coffee makes me queasy -- though I have no trouble with yogurt, cheese and the very occasional ice cream

Me too - It didn't worry me when they stopped free school milk, Childhood nightmares of rice pudding, milk jelly etc. but give a nice piece of Brie de Meaux, and I'll say sod the cholesterol :) Seasame seeds are a good alternative source of calcium.

Richard

Originally posted by velocipedio
Personally, I think that most people -- particularly children -- drink too much milk. Even 2% has a whole lot of fat and sugar [lactose] in it, and the dairy industry estimates that 60% of the milk consumed in North America is whole milk.


I have to agree with velocipedio here. There are a lot of questionable things about milk. As I understand it, there are a lot of compounds in milk that we are not sure what they do!

I have that milk does makes it harder for your system to digest food. I wouldn't suggest eating something with milk before a ride because it could put alot more strain on the body

i should use the preview feature. That should say that i have heard that milk can make it harder to digest food and wouldn't suggest drinking it with foods before a ride. it could cause extra strain on the body

"Personally, I think that most people -- particularly children -- drink too much milk. Even 2% has a whole lot of fat and sugar [lactose] in it, and the dairy industry estimates that 60% of the milk consumed in North America is whole milk. "

I have to disagree with that. If you want to reduce fat in your diet, skip on fast food, donuts, or the cockies you would eat with your milk.
Particulary children need tons of calcium when growing up and there is no better way to get it than drinking milk.

Milk contains lots of sugar???

Originally posted by Ben3001
I have to disagree with that. If you want to reduce fat in your diet, skip on fast food, donuts, or the cockies you would eat with your milk.
Particulary children need tons of calcium when growing up and there is no better way to get it than drinking milk.
Milk is a food that infant mammals consume to obtain calories and fat, untiul they are weaned. I agree that children should drink lots of milk before they are weaned -- human milk is best. Once weaned, they should migrate to a post-infancy diet with considerably less milk. Milk is designed to get a lot of fat and sugar into infant bodies very quickly, and it's very good at that. However, you have to remember that cows' milk is designed to do this even more quickly and with a much higher payload of fat -- calves wean much earlier than human infants and grow much more quickly.

A cup of 2% milk contains 121 calories [kcal], 12 g of sugar [that's what lactose is] and 4.7 g of fat. In contrast, an equivalent quantity of a cola soft drink contains 25 g of sugar [sucrose], but it contains no fat and only 100 calories. Contrary to common belief, liquid milk is not a good source of protein; you'd have to drink w whole lot of the stuff to equal the amount of protein in a tablespoon of unsweetened peanut butter. As for calcium, green vegetables are much more efficient sources of most earth minerals, including calcium -- and they don't have to be artificially "fortified."

I have nothing particularly against milk, except that too many people, particularly children drink too much of it. A typical American child will guzzle a litre of it a day, and I've seen kids drinkiung the stuff at lunch, at dinner and I know they had it on their cereal, as well as in a glass, at breakfast.

If you want to raise healthy children, feed them a healthy diet and have them drink mostly water -- the occasional glass of milk won't kill them. If you want to raise an obese kid with stomach problems, keep feeding him a litre of milk -- 500 calories, 50 g of sugar and 20 g of fat -- a day.

concerning milk and the problems it causes:
NOT MILK! (http://www.notmilk.com)

Go a week without eating any dairy products and your body will shed about a pound of casein, which is basically glue that it gets from milk stuff. It's a histamine (that means it gives you snot!)

try not consuming milk products (that includes cheese!) for two weeks and see if you feel better. after a month you should have all the benefits. It's great.

Milk free,
Brent

We are the only animals that drink milk after we are weaned! Milk is a terrible food. I call it chemical soup. It is full of antibiotics, because they use them on cows for mastitis(inflammation of the teats). I could go on and on about milk, but to make it short, avoid it.

What were talking about here is Lactose Intolerance--I mean the various non-sports problems folks have mentioned in connection to consuming milk products. L.I. afflicts somewhere between 40 and 70% of Americans and Europeans and as many as 95% of Asians.

As some have said, milk is baby/child food, not adult food. The body produces an enzyme to digest lactose (milk-sugar). This enzyme production naturally slows or stops as we reach adulthood. I have read (and experienced) that consuming milk products can stimulate the production of the enzyme. In some folks, the enzyme production seems to stop completely and they are unable to consume milk products without supplements like Lactaid. In others, the production remains high enough that they never notice any problems. But, I suspect that with many people the enzyme level is kept (artificially) high enough through their consumption.

Although I have suffered the effects of L.I., I continue to eat a small amount of milk products. My motivation: I like milk on my cereal and I like ice cream.

Milk products have widely varying levels of lactose. Yogurt seems to be rather low, ice cream rather high. I have found that if I put milk on my cereal and eat a little bit of cheese regularly, I can eat the ice cream without any problems. I have considered going vegan, but milk products have certain amino acids which are hard to get elsewhere, especially as a vegetarian like me (since 1985). So, I have found that consuming a small amount of milk products is the healthiest balance for me--especially for keeping me happy with my ice cream.

BTW, my fiancée, who eats essentially the same diet as I do--but even less cheese and yogurt--has no problems with L.I.

Cheers,
Jamie

P.S. Yes, protein is way over-rated in milk and meat. The proteins you get in meat are very hard for the body to digest and make use of. A healthy serving of broccoli has more usable protein in it than one of meat. Protein is necessary, but meat is a rather bad source of it, since most of it comes out in the wash (so to speak).

I think the deal with milk there was that people with ulcers used to drink buttermilk to coat their stomach lining and protect their ulcers. It may have been just a myth.

I don't think that drinking milk would affect digestion one way or the other. Food is attacked by acids and pepsin in the stomach, but absorption occurs in the intestines.

Milk is the perfect food! It has bovine growth hormone to keep you growing, and long-shelf-life additives to help slow down the aging process.
:thumbup:

But seriously, I love the stuff (with meals, not as a sports beverage by any means) and am surprised to see what a minority I seem to be in. At some point I'll probably give brent's suggestion a try and see what happens.

In cases of Lactose Intolerance, milk (or more properly, lactose) definitely does affect digestion. If the lactose is not broken down by the necessary enzymes, it ends up in the large intestine where it becomes a lovely meal for various sorts of bacteria. The bacteria turn the lactose into acids and gasses. The gas leads to bloating and pain. The acids, in turn, attack the mucus coating* of the intestine. Furthermore, since the lactose tends to take up water, the body pushes water into the intestine to keep the osmotic balance correct. This leads to diarhea.

For those who can tolerate lactose, it still it tends to soak up water, and thereby functions as a mild anti-constipation agent.

My conclusion would be that milk definitely does affect digestion, even if one doesn't suffer from L.I. Furthermore, in a sports context, the lactose may well be pulling water into the intensines that your muscles could use instead.

Cheers,
Jamie

*All this comes from a German article on the subject of L.I. I hope that mucus coating is a correct translation of Schleimhaut.

There are plenty of ways to get calcium, from cheese or even ice cream! One food really hgh in calcium- Collard greens! One of the healthiest things to eat. They aren't that easy to find around here, I have to say, but I like them and like their taste.