Rural Banter

Author: ERICA GOODMAN

Forget the Powerbars. Forget the steroids. No, the secret to athletic success is much sweeter.

Milk is more than just part of a balanced diet and a key element to making Wheaties the breakfast of champions. A recent study published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism reported that chocolate milk is the perfect beverage for athletes to refueling with following rigorous exercise. According to the study conducted by Professor Joel Stanger of Indiana University, common sports drinks that claim to quickly recover tired muscles do not hold the same optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein as chocolate milk. In addition, flavored milk contains seven other essential nutrients that are important for an athlete's health - including other electrolyte-replenishing elements and bone-building calcium.

The benefits of the delicious dairy product are nothing new to many athletes. Olympic swimmer and six-time gold medalist Michael Phelps preferred to drink Carnation Instant Breakfast swirled into a glass of milk in between his races. Who knows? Maybe the young men of the George Mason basketball team have also discovered the pathway to success with this athletic elixir.

The makers of Gatorade and Endurox-4 quickly rebutted the report with complaints that the dairy industry provided so much monetary support for the study that the results were bound to end in the farmers' favor. Of course, the dairy farm industry is both complex and not a multi-million dollar enterprise for its producers. In general, farmers only receive twenty cents per dollar of bottled milk sold at the store, meaning that from a $3.00 gallon of milk, $2.40 of what consumers pay go to the marketers and distributors, not to the farmer. Most farmers sell their produce to a "middle-man" who then process the products before sending them to a distributor and finally to the store shelves. The minimum price that dairy producers receive for a complex pricing mechanism determines milk they produce. Why then, would farmers not throw all of their support behind a discovery that would link dairy farms to the colossal money grossing sports industry?

Could the recent acclaim for chocolate milk help to revive the dairy industry, and finally give farmers the money they deserve? Well, milk is a rather dense beverage to chug while in the middle of physical activity. Unless the Bad News Bears of Kansas City miraculously revive their regular season record by downing some milk in between innings, it is highly unlikely that Nike or Reebok will offer to sponsor the dairy industry. But watch your back POWERade and AllSport, for it is milk that really does an athlete's body good.