Why Bodybuilders Are Pounding Down Breast Milk? Does It Really Help Or Is it Just A Myth?
Post-workout drinks are not a new idea, but drinking breast milk following a workout is. Many fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders are now drinking human breast milk because they believe it helps them to lose weight and build muscle. Are they all crazy, or is there some truth to the belief that breast milk works as an effective post-workout drink?
Why Breast Milk?
Breast milk is basically intended to help babies grow and develop very quickly, so it’s dense in calories and nutrients. An average cup of breast milk contains about 170 calories, 10 grams of fat, 16 carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, and a whole bunch of vitamins and minerals. The milk also contains growth hormones produced by a mother following pregnancy and delivery.
Where To Get It
Unless you know someone who is producing breast milk and hasn’t reserved it exclusively for their infant, human breast milk is very hard to find. There are human breast milk banks, but they reserve all of their milk supply for babies in need, and not adults looking to boost their fitness levels or lose weight. Some nursing mothers may be willing to sell their milk, but buying bodily fluids from someone is very risky and not recommended by any experts. Additionally, unless fitness enthusiasts know where breast milk came from, they won’t have a good idea of its nutritional content. To be nutritious, breast milk must come from a mother who is eating a nutritious, balanced diet. If a mother is ingesting anything toxic or unhealthy or if she has a communicable disease, it can be passed along into her milk.
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Does It Work?
Currently, no research has been conducted to determine whether breast milk is effective in either building muscle or promoting weight loss. The milk is very calorie dense which does not seem to not support the idea that it helps with weight loss, but if the milk does promote muscle gain, it could lead to increased calorie burn and promote weight loss indirectly.
However, although most nutritionists agree that adding a calorie dense drink that is packed with nutrients can promote muscle growth, they typically do not agree that breast milk is helpful for adults. Due to the fact that fitness enthusiasts looking for breast milk generally can’t purchase it from a credible source, they have no idea what is in the milk they’re drinking. The milk may not be nutritious, and people drinking it could contract certain diseases such as HIV if the mother producing the milk has it.
Although there are forums of bodybuilders who claim that breast milk helped them pack on muscle and lose fat, these claims are not supported by scientific research. Most professionals warn against drinking breast milk as a post-workout drink because of the uncertainty of what is contained in the milk and its effect on adults.
