Question: Does drinking milk before performing an athletic event make the body produce mucus? Our coach told us not to drink milk before a track event because that would cause mucus and decrease our ability to perform. I like milk and have never had any trouble. Would you comment on this question?
Answer: I am amazed at how many coaches think that drinking milk increases the production of mucus and that this is a negative factor in terms of athletic performance. However, there has been little research on this issue, so I have hesitated to make a strong statement against the idea.However, I recently ran across an Australian study reported in the October 1993 issue of the Tufts University "Diet & Nutrition Letter" that seems to clarify this issue. In this study, scientists gave 125 people either chocolate-peppermint flavored cow's milk or an identically flavored non-dairy soy milk alternative but didn't tell them which was which.
Those who drank the cow's milk - many of whom believed the milk-mucus theory - did report significant increases in the sensation of having a coating or lining over the mouth, throat or tongue. They also said they needed to swallow a lot and had thickened, harder-to-swallow saliva.
However, the people who drank the non-dairy soy milk reported the same sensations. In other words, cow's milk was no more likely to create feelings of increased mucus than the pseudo dairy milk.
In a separate study, these scientists infected a group of healthy people with the cold virus and then tracked their dietary habits, cold symptoms and the amount of mucus they secreted. They found no significant link between milk consumption and mucus formation. They concluded that cow's milk does not increase the amount of mucus produced.
One explanation for the tenacity of the milk-mucus myth is that the particular texture and consistency of milk makes many people feel as if they have excess mucus in the mouth and throat even though they don't. When it comes to the nose or chest, where mucus also accumulates, milk is not reported to be troublesome.
Update: A note in the May 1994 issue of Consumer Reports On Health magazine confirmed an earlier note that I had made relating to Eggland's Best eggs. Recently the Federal Trade Com-mis-sion ordered Eggland to stop claiming that its eggs had less impact on blood cholesterol than regular eggs. The FTC also required the company to post a label on certain egg cartons for a year stating that no studies have found a difference between Eggland's eggs and other eggs in their effect on cholesterol levels. These labels are designed to alert consumers who had bought Eggland eggs for a supposed health benefit that really didn't exist and paid about twice as much for the non-benefit.