After strength training sessions, cow's milk makes muscles grow faster than soya milk or a carbohydrate drink. This was the finding of Canadian sports scientists who sent around 60 test subjects, divided into three groups, to the gym five times a week. After each training session, the participants in one group were given half a litre of milk, while those in the other group were given soy milk or carbohydrate drinks. The soya milk had just as much protein as the fat-free milk used in the study; the maltodextrin-based carbohydrate solution provided as much energy as the milk drinks. The training was most successful for the milk drinkers: at the end of the study, they had put on one kilo more muscle than the soya consumers and 1.5 kilos more than the carbohydrate group. On average, they had also lost almost a kilo of fat, whereas with carbohydrates it was only half a kilo and with soya drink none at all. Further studies are now to clarify which ingredients in the milk are responsible for the positive effects.
