{"id":228166,"date":"2025-07-01T02:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T02:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228166\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T02:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T02:40:14","slug":"surprising-nutrient-packed-drink-is-better-for-you-than-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228166\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising nutrient-packed drink is better for you than water"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DAISY HODGES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM <\/p>\n

Published: 17:38 EDT, 30 June 2025 | Updated: 17:53 EDT, 30 June 2025 <\/p>\n

You may want to thank your parents for forcing you to drink a glass of milk with every meal. As it turns out, it could be nature’s Gatorade, the unexpected gold standard of hydration.<\/p>\n

Water and sports drinks are lauded as hydrating powerhouses<\/a>, while milk is associated with strong bones, but researchers in Scotland found whole-fat and skimmed milks can do both.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team found the two milks contain significantly higher concentrations of natural electrolytes like potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium than water.<\/p>\n

These play an important role in regulating nerve signals, blood pressure, blood sugar and muscle contractions.<\/p>\n

The more liquids you drink, the faster they get absorbed into the bloodstream, where they dilute the body’s own fluids and hydrate you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These fluids can pass quickly, however, and the sodium in milk acts like a sponge and holds onto water in the body, resulting less fluid loss during urination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Milk also has a higher osmolality, meaning it flows into the bloodstream easier than plain water molecules would. This leads to more effective hydration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, by filling your Stanley Cup with milk instead of H2O, you’re more likely to be hydrated faster and for longer.<\/p>\n

\"Researchers <\/p>\n

Researchers have discovered milk may be even more hydrating than water due to its essential nutrients (stock image)<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

The study, published in 2019 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at 12 young adults who drank water, milk and other sugary beverages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They found milk permeate – a byproduct of milk filtration that consists of lactose and minerals – maintained a positive fluid balance for much longer and a higher beverage hydration index compared to water or other carbohydrate-based drinks like sports and energy drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melissa Majumdar, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, who was not involved in the study, told CNN<\/a>: ‘This study tells us much of what we already knew: Electrolytes \u2014 like sodium and potassium \u2014 contribute to better hydration, while calories in beverages result in slower gastric emptying and therefore slower release of urination.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

While exercising, the body sheds many essential nutrients like sodium and potassium to fuel the muscles and keep you sustained as you work out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Post-exercise hydration, therefore, is vital for your body to recover those lost nutrients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The body loses essential nutrients like potassium and sodium during exercise, so drinking milk may help replenish them (stock image)<\/p>\n

\"Health <\/p>\n

Health experts still recommend drinking at least eight glasses of water a day (stock image)<\/p>\n

To avoid injury, milk supplies the body with about 330mg of calcium, which strengthens bones, decreasing the risk of a stress fracture, and maintains muscle movement and nerve signal transmission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s also been shown to maintain a normal heartrate, which keeps the heart from working too hard during a workout.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For athletes, milk could provide a healthier option than drinks like Gatorade or Powerade, which can contain added sugars and artificial dyes. These have been linked to behavioral problems, cancer, diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n

Instead, milk contains no added sugar and won’t cause a blood sugar spike – risk factors for diabetes.<\/p>\n

For those who are lactose-intolerant or vegan<\/a>,\u00a0non-dairy milks can also have larger water concentrations, though they have fewer nutrients like calcium than regular cows’ milk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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