Breastmilk is a natural and nutritional source of food for infants, given by their mothers, that is essential to babies' growth and development.
No real implications are brought by breastmilk relating to grown men drinking it to quickly develop mass and promote muscle gain in the human body, Men's Health U.K. said.
Bodybuilders go through extensive training and different lengths to achieve their ideal muscular and fit body for self-gratification. However, recently, a couple of myths arose that says breastmilk to be the "miracle" drink to muscle "gains" of grown men. Men went through great lengths and even tried the 'breastmilk myth' to put to the test.
This method makes use of breastmilk as the base liquid in protein shakes. Breastmilk substitutes the use of water in protein shakes that is the current standard for achieving the bulk and mass the body needs alongside lifting weights.
Why is 'Drinking Breastmilk in Bodybuilding' a thing?
This phenomenon is becoming more and more popular among bodybuilders stating that it provides additional nutrients to grown men just as much as it offers to growing babies.
"I think the idea behind drinking breast milk for muscle growth is that it's incredibly calorie and nutrient dense, and it has some additional healthy substances," Brian St. Pierre, a sports dietitian with Precision Nutrition, said to Men's Health U.S.
"Interestingly, there are also several growth hormones in breast milk... Although I'm not sure that they actually benefit a human adult in any way." said Pierre.
Muscle growth occurs when a person takes in more nutritious calories than what they burn, eats sufficient amounts of protein, and performs a well-curated workout specific to enhancing muscles, scientists and trainers say.
Breastmilk Myth in Popular Culture
Insider cites that a new Netflix documentary series entitled (Un)Well, featured in its third episode, a couple of grown men believing the myth. The documentary show bodybuilders are believing and drinking breastmilk as part of their bodybuilding diet plan.
James "J.J." Ritenour is featured in the docuseries and asked if "is it ethical to buy human milk and use it for something that it so far removed from its original purpose?"
To which he answered, "Breastmilk did well for me in the past," Ritenour stated. "Why couldn't it do the same again?"
"If I wanna grow and be the best that I can, I'm going to eat like a baby, I'm going to sleep like a baby, and if drinking breast milk is a part of that, than it's definitely an edge I'm going to take advantage of," he added.
Debunking the Breastmilk Myth
Currently, there are no scientific claims that support breastmilk as a 'muscle gaining' supplement to bodybuilders. A cup of breastmilk provides 170 calories (20 more than whole milk), 10 grams of fat, 16 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein (5 less than whole milk), and vitamins and minerals. With this, dietitians and scientists agree that a nutritional and high-calorie dense liquid, such as this, is beneficial to regular gym buffs. However, breastmilk is still not a viable option.
Dave Asprey Blog says that many factors vary in the production of breastmilk down to when it is being pumped out of the mother's breast. Even experts believe that it may cause different diseases as people would not be sure that it was pumped in a sterile environment. Even HIV and other conditions can be passed through the mother's breastmilk.
Other factors include:
- Rarity
- Expensive
- Unknown Source of Breastmilk
- Contamination
