Ok, I have a colleague that thinks carrying around a container of milk will help him gain weight. He is a pretty lanky dude and runs marathon. So it only makes sense that he is a skinny thing.

How do i tell him nicely that carrying around milk and drinking that all day is a dumb idea.

Dunno, if he is even worth my time. Because this same dude said he couldn't make it into work because he got a herniated disk from dead lifting. When I heard this I was highly doubtful. But what do i know.

well, whilst whey and 'designer' proteins are all the rage, good old fashioned milk and egg proteins are very effective.

As with any protein, the body will not use it for muscle growth unless the stimulus recieved from training triggers it.

So a distance runner will use the proteins to repair existing mitochondrial trauma caused by the running, but will not be utilised for hypertrophy.

cool! Now I can give him a scientific answer. :-)

Speaking of milk, I've been drinking skim/low-fat milk for years and year now (I'm 20), and today I just looked at the nutrition facts and saw 12g of sugar . Is it processed sugar to make it taste better? If it is, is there any milk that contains hardly any sugar?

I assume you are referring to lactose? It is a naturally occuring sugar in milk.

Try and bear in mind orginzations like WHO often talk about the dangers of too much sugar, but I believe they usually refer to extrinsic sugars i.e. added/refined sugar.

So far as I have researched (did a short course in Nutrition with a local university) intrinsic sugars such as those that are milk-based or found in fruits aren't much of a concern. The whole "recommended daily allowance of sugar" usually relates to extrinsic sugar consumption.

I will add though I am not a doctor/dietian/biologist, so you may want to check up on the subject yourself! However that is my understanding of the situation and I am pretty sure I have it right.

If he wants to gain weight tell him to eat Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches! Hellooooooo Elvis!

General, read the ingredient listing to see what is in the product. If it just says milk, then it is naturally occurring. Even fruits and vegetables have sugars in them.

Ok, thanks guys, I'll look a little more into it myself

I am of the belief that milk really isn't good for the adult body. Milk upsets many peoples stomachs and the lactose is difficult for people's bodies to break down. I am bias however as I am lactose intolerant, but I still know plenty of people who have trouble digesting milk even without diagnosed lactose intolerance.

I had a history of being underweight and have experience with weight gain diets. Problem is, you can actually lose weight even eating eggs and dairy if you don't go over whatever base calorie minimum your body has set for itself. Figuring out your base calorie minimum may take some tracking of your eating for about a week.

Kathryn