Strange Headlines

"Milk Better Than Water to Rehydrate Kids"

I just read this amazing headline and read through a piece describing this research.  It was conducted at McMaster University and followed 8-10 year old children.  The researchers found that milk led to better hydration after exercise.

The research director, Brian Timmons, states, "Milk is better than either a sports drink or water because it is a source of high quality protein, carbohydrates, calcium and electrolytes...milk replaces sodium lost in sweat and helps the body retain fluid better. The milk also provides protein, needed by children for muscle development and growth, not found in the other drinks."  

There is no doubt that hydration is important.  But from a purely physiological perspective, it just doesn't make sense that milk hydrates better than water.  Discussing the presence of carbohydrate and protein in the context of hydration is a red herring.  Extreme protein deficits can certainly impair hydration levels but after normal exercise for 8-10 year olds, it is very unlikely that there were protein-related hydration issues.

The icing on the cake here is the disclaimer at the end:

"The study is funded by Dairy Farmers of Canada."

One has to ask, "Can this research be trusted?"  The people that make milk funded study to see if milk is better than water.  Surprise!  It is better than water.  

Is this kind of terribly biased research worthy of an actual headline?  I don't want to go into a tirade on milk.  If you've read my posts on milk, you know that it deserves an objective look.  But research like this clouds the picture and is darn near propaganda.  It's marketing under the guise of research.  Ugh.