Workout of the Day:
Five rounds for time of:
Wall-to-Wall Agility Sprints (Suicides)
20 One-Arm Overhead Walking Lunge Steps (10 right/10 left) with 35/25 lb. Dumbbell
15 Wall Ball Shots
Why I Like Milk
Written by Mark Riebel
For most of us who want to optimize our health and performance, what to eat and drink is a major concern of ours. And as those of you familiar with our community know, CrossFitters are big proponents of the Zone and Paleo diets, or at least some combination thereof. I just finished reading The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and am in the first few weeks of experimenting with it myself. But, as with all diets, there are a few things I don’t agree with, and in this case it’s the Paleo Diet’s exclusion of all dairy and dairy-derived products.
Cordain bases this assertion on the fact that our Paleolithic ancestors never consumed milk past the infant stage, and most assuredly never created their own cheese or other dairy products. He also notes that milk contains significant amounts of saturated fat, which by conventional wisdom is thought to increase one’s risk of heart disease (I say ‘conventional’ because in the six years since Cordain wrote his first book, this link has come under scrutiny, but that’s another post in itself). Others dislike milk because of allergies or lactose intolerance, caused by a reduction in the body’s production of lactase, the enzyme required for breakdown of lactose, the sugar in milk.
I am not a nutritionist, nor do I believe I am more knowledgeable than Cordain. However, I and many others believe that milk has far greater benefits to health that outweigh any possible side effects, and should be included in one’s diet. First of all, milk is an excellent source of protein and calcium, both incredibly important for active people. Second, for those of you Zoners, milk is a perfect 1-block food, which conveniently comes with varying amounts of fat for however much you include in your diet. Milk is also very convenient. A bottle of milk from the store is very portable and saves you from having to do any Zone math when you’re in a hurry. Finally, milk is a great post-workout recovery food. It contains ample carbs to replace your spent glycogen levels, the aforementioned protein, and is easy to consume. I think a lot of you can attest to not wanting to eat a meal for quite some time following a beast of a WOD, and delaying post-workout nutrition can have a significant effect on your recovery.
If you spend even a short amount of time researching milk consumption on your own, you’ll find thousands of voices on both sides of the fence. I am definitely one who will keep sporting his milk moustache.
Mark, you are a great advertisement for the benefits of milk. Hell, you could probably get people to start smoking if they thought that they could look like you!
2009 CROSSFIT GAMES!!! Barry and I have our spectator tickets and reservations at the RV park in Aromas for that weekend. I expect to be cheering on at least one CFI athlete during the Games!! Maybe an affiliate team, too?
Mark, There is an essay/article in the Science Times section of the NYT today that addresses the notion of the Paleo diet and how the dietary admonition to avoid milk is probably misplaced. About 5000 years ago a genetic mutation occurred in some humans that allowed milk to be well tolerated and digested, and which mutation was accompanied by the rise in dairy agriculture.
It seems simple: if you like milk and it doesn’t make you feel bad and aids your performance, then moderate amounts should be okay. I eat some dairy and it seems to suit me just fine. Also, bear in mind that there are many other reasons folks avoid milk, e.g., distrust of dairy industry about what cows are actually fed and treated with, taste, concern for treatment of animals in confinement, etc., but from a purely dietary standpoint, some folks can stand it and some cannot. Here is the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/health/views/20essa.html?_r=1&ref=science
Cheers
Mark is always good for a quick layman’s chemistry lesson on the benefits of milk (and bananas; he once told me bananas get a bad rap too).
Personally, I like using milk post-WOD a couple times each week (blended with some fruit). Like Mark, I’m not a nutritionist and can only go from my own experience, amateurish research and from reading Robb Wolf’s stuff. I have yet to completely cut dairy from my diet, so I can’t say if Paleo would be better or not.
I can say that over the past year, I have lost body fat and gotten much stronger by steadily CrossFitting and subscribing to a “fairly steady” Zone Diet. Milk, string cheese and cottage cheese have been a small part of most days that I Zone well. I know that there are more than a few clients at CFI who swear by Paleo and its returns (as far as on leaning out and getting strong).
Either way, both dietary prescriptions seem to be extremely beneficial to CrossFit performance and in maintaining steady energy levels throughout the day.
BC
Milk is especially delicious when steamed and added to coffee!
As long as the leche discussion is going on, and Mike brought up steaming it, can I get a Zone friendly ruling on a Grande Soy Hot chocolate. If i have a few almonds with it will that balance out a block or two snack for me?
Courtland,
Thanks for posting the NYT article. I think Ms. Zuk has some persuasive points concerning what we expect from tweaking our dietary habits. And it certainly doesn’t seem far-fetched to me that some groups of people throughout the world have mutations that allow them to process lactose. On that same topic, according to Lon Kilgore, Ph.D. (co-author of Starting Strength and a slew of other exercise books, as well as a regular CrossFit Journal contributor), the decrease in lactase production varies from only 5% in some areas of Northern Europe where milk has historically been consumed for thousands of years, to 90% in areas of Asia and Africa where it has not.
In the near future you’ll get to see some opposing views to my own, at which point you can decide for yourself if you’d like to continue with the dairy. Keep up with the research!
Oh, and POS, if I had to guess I’d say there’s probably quite a bit of sugar in that hot chocolate.
Cynthia…any extra room in the Winnebago? I know a good bartender!
I agree with Mike, milk is meant to be made into a latte or cappucino.
I think that if it works for you then stick with it…
I can only speak from my experiences with milk as a Zoner and now Paleo Zoner. Prior to the Zone I really kept my milk consumption at a minimum, not avoided, but just growing up I knew it didn’t make me ‘feel good’. Once I jumped on the Zone my milk intake went through the roof with string cheese and cottage cheese all day every day for a few months. I didn’t ‘feel bad’ when I was doing this, but I certainly wasn’t leaning up or improving my time in WODs as I thought I should have been.
About two/three months ago I dropped milk completely, I drink my Americano’s black and don’t get any of my protein from cheeses. Since I have done that I am feeling like I’m getting into the swing of things with my CrossFit performance… times are dropping fast and strength is going up!
I’m going to give this a few more months of testing and then slowly start to drip some milk back into my diet… but only in the steamed and foamed form…
Shouldn’t it be Livet instead of Diet at least for crossfiters? I made up yesterday’s WOD, what a joyous one it was. I subbed 155# for the squat cleans because I know the Games qualifier will be here soon enough and they tend to mess with prescribed weights. Time 10:45
While milk’s benefits may outweigh its dangers, it runs contrary to the very point of a Paleo diet – health.
Now, as CrossFitters, many of us are aware of the distinction between health and fitness; Coach Glassman long ago presented a diagram of a linear progression from Sickness – Health (Wellness) – Fitness.
It is my belief that a Paleo, while it can improve performance, will mainly promote proper health (not necessarily fitness). Stomach aches? Gone. Allergies? Gone. So on and so forth.
Zone, on the other hand, will aim for fitness, your performance directly. Implimenting both will get you there.
I think, for many, drinking milk and eating dairy is a speed bump on their road to personal fitness. Does it fit in? Sure. Is it a convenient (nearly mathematically perfect) source of Pro/Fat/Cho? Yes. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be looking for that ratio with other, proven and paleo foods.
I love milk – cheap, easy, tastes good, bulks me quickly. But my skin, gut, and general sense of being is simply better off without it. I know I don’t speak for everybody, but I have a feeling a lot of people have just accepted their stomach aches and bloating as everyday minor annoyances, and don’t realize they can do away with those things.
Courtland,
Thanks for the link. I think the author of the NYT article didn’t read The Paleo Diet. If she did, she would understand that Dr. Cordain does not state that humans were “finished” evolving a few thousand years ago. In reality, 10,000 years is a blink of an eye in terms of evolution. Little has changed to the human genome since then but our diets have changed drastically. The Paleo Diet bases many assertions on the fact that we are now consuming many foods that our ancestors never could have even conceived let alone eaten. Refined sugars, grains, and dairy are common foods that fall into this category. By consuming these Neolithic foods, we have turned into a society filled with ailments such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Studies of modern hunter-gather societies that consume Paleo-diets have found that these cultures are devoid of obesity and heart disease. These issues are far from some “paleofantasy”, in fact they are very much a reality.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in health to read about raw milk. Raw milk is very healthy for you, in fact it is what is known as a “complete food.” Raw milk is easily digestible for those who are lactose intolerant as the milk contains its full complement of enzymes and lactase-producing bacteria needed by our bodies to break down and assimilate the milk sugar lactose.
For more information please check out the site:
http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html
Raw milk can be found at Henry’s and at the OB People’s market.
Sorry, I found this thread a little late. Before you continue to chug too much milk, I strongly recommend reading “The China Study” authored by T. Colin Campbell, or just go the website: thechinastudy.com
Just like everything else these days, the source of ANY information probably needs to be considered before taking it as gospel, because there are fewer and fewer people that have the “people’s” best interest at heart. It all comes down to who you will believe after you consider where their motivations are!
The bottom line is; some people can “tolerate” milk with little to no ill effects, however, many can’t! And…just because you tolerate it does not mean you should consume it. The immediate absence of ill effects does not equate to “healthy!”
Making a comparison between breast milk and cow’s milk seems a little silly – post hoc ergo proctor hoc!
All good things in moderation?