Lactose-free milk prolonged endurance capacity in lactose intolerant Asian males

Several studies on Caucasian volunteers have proven that milk is an effective recovery drink for athletes. Such benefit, however, cannot be directly applied to the lactose-intolerant Asian population. This study investigated the effects of ingesting water (WT), sports drink (SPD) and lactose-free milk (LFM) on cycling capacity.

Ten healthy young men completed 3 randomized experimental trials. Each trial consisted of an intermittent glycogen depleting session, a 2 h recovery period during which they ingested the test drink, followed by cycling at 70% of their maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) to volitional exhaustion. Each trial was separated by at least one week.

There were no complaints or symptoms of lactose intolerance during any of the trials. The cycling periods were different (p < 0.05) amongst the 3 trials, namely, lactose-free milk (LFM; 69.6 ± 14.0 min), sports drink (SPD; 52.1 ± 11.6 min), and water (WT; 36.0 ± 11.1 min), respectively. The VO2 and VCO2 of LFM (30 ± 4 and 29 ± 4 ml/kg/min) were lower (p < 0.05) than that of SPD (34 ± 4 and 34 ± 4 ml/kg/min) and WT (35 ± 4 and 33 ± 5 ml/kg/min). There were no differences (p = 0.45) in VO2 and VCO2 between SPD and WT. Mean rating of perceived exertion was lowest in LFM (14 ± 5; p < 0.05), while no difference was found between the other two trials (SPD: 16 ± 4 and WT: 16 ± 4; p = 0.18).

Lactose-free milk is likely to be an effective recovery drink for enhancing subsequent cycling capacity in lactose intolerant Asian males.