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Milk Experiment #41: Freeze-Dried Rodents

See also: Milk Experiment #15

From: "Don Harvey" <fle...@i...>
To: <d...@milk.com>
Subject: Please anwser
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 14:49:24 -0500

If a person is de-hydrated,  will milk re-hydrate the cells?

Thanks!

This will settle an argument between my wife and I :-)


From: Dan Bornstein <d...@milk.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 16:49:07 -0700 (PDT)
To: "Don Harvey" <fle...@i...>
Subject: Re: Please anwser

>If a person is de-hydrated,  will milk re-hydrate the cells?

BLRI (the Bovine Lactal Research Institute) in Clovis CA recently published
a study of the effects of spritzing milk onto freeze-dried rodents, which
are about as dehydrated as you can get. In every single trial (there were
several, to make sure there were no spurious results), the rodents in the
experimental group--who where sprayed--ended up being noticeably soggier
than the ones in the control group--who were *not* sprayed with milk or any
other substance--leading to the primary conclusion, namely that spraying
rodents with milk definitely hydrates them in general, or, to be technical
about it, it "milkrates" them. When they sliced open some of the
experimental subjects and scrutinized them under a microscope, however, it
turned out that only about half the total milk got absorbed by the cells,
while the rest just oozed around in the spaces in-between.

Hope this helps.

-dan