Thing is, why does it matter if something exists that hydrates you better than water? Water is abundant and practically free - at least orders of magnitude more free than any marginally better substitute. You don't need a precise and refined strategic hydration strategy. When you get thirsty just drink some water, you'll be fine.

edit: yes, this does not cover edge cases like illness or working under very hot conditions

My husband and I were having lunch in a diner last weekend and by the bar they had a display cooler selling Smart Water. I over heard the lady next table over tell her friend: "oh I need to get some of that before we go. ITS GOT ELECTROLYTES!" she said, unironically. I nearly choked on my lunch. Lol

If I remember correctly, this type of study is inherently flawed because it just measures how long fluids stay in your body before you urinate, which is a useless metric. There is no benefit to a fluid staying in your system for a longer amount of time than the equivalent amount of a different fluid. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Didn't the University of Florida figure this out in the 60s and why Gatorade exists?

Not only does it quench your thirst better, it tastes better, too, idiot!

BRAWNDO!!! IT’S GOT WHAT PLANTS CRAVE! ELECTROLYTES!

Hahahaha!! I love that movie!!!

article links to a yahoo version of 2019 CNN which links to a 2016 study with a URL resulting in a redirect to the new standalone website for the journal now-declared-independence instead of a DOI I had to rescue from the archives which now links to the ScienceDirect hosting of the article instead: https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.114769 (Thankfully open (archive) access)

In summary, the present study describes a novel tool to enable the objective assessment of the effectiveness of beverages to maintain hydration status. The BHI is reproducible and the pattern of response for a range of commonly consumed beverages is consistent with what is known about the effects of their constituents on water balance.

2/3 of the world is lactose intolerant so milk can't be the best for hydration

But water does hydrate you, and its free/cheaper than anything else.

When it comes to alcohol, stronger forms, like whiskey, for example, actually dehydrate, while beer shows better results.

So, drink beer with my whiskey. Got it.

results like this, always makes me think, who paid for the study?

Yeah, nothing I crave more after running 5k than a tall glass of… milk? 🤮

Would have been nice if they had gone into further detail about what they had discovered but sure this seems kind of interesting.

Apparently the mcpoyle brothers were on to something with milk

But tap water has electrolytes, right? That's why we get electrocuted.

100% pure water does not conduct electricity, but who uses that?

ITT: hYdRaTe WiTh MiLk!?

Isn't milk more "liquid food" than a drink? It's meant to provide full nutrition to young, not provide fluids to an adult. Humans drinking milk in adulthood is the weird part.

Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that electrolytes are just as important for hydration as water. Especially if you're doin some heavy activities and sweatin buckets. You lose so much potassium in effort sweat, and you'll just start locking up without it.